Disbelief

I am truly in disbelief to learn about this blog from what a contributor to a very liberal, progressive publication. Unbelievable. My head is spinning:

http://www.thestranger.com/blog/2006/11/should_the_handicapp.php

Is someone really writing this in the year 2006?

In case the link doesn't work or is eventually taken down, this woman is writing about how she was late for work and blames it on the "handicapped" riders taking too long to board an express city bus in Seattle. She muses about the possibility of being able to ban wheelchair users from express buses, since in her opionion they render the bus "non-express" and cause the non-disabled riders stress and discomfort and potentially make them late for work as well.

To which I reply:
Get over yourself, lady.

And, "Its 'people with disabilities.' Not 'the handicapped.'" We're not a nameless, faceless group, or inanimate objects. We're people. And we have every right to be on that bus, or anywhere else in society.

I am so sorry you were inconvenienced. Perhaps you should take an earlier bus. Perhaps you should drive youself to work. Perhaps you should spend a day in a wheelchair, and be observant of what you encounter. Sidewalks with poor curb cuts, if any. Bus operators who don't know how to work the lifts properly, or secure a wheelchair properly. Bus riders who stare, mutter under their breath, or take their sweet time moving their feet or property out of the way of the chair. Pedestrians who don't watch where they are walking. People who don't hold doors open. Buildings that are inaccessible. Other facilities that claim to be accessible, but aren't. Drivers who park in van accessible parking spaces. Should I go on?

I was going to post a comment on her blog, but many other people already did. They pretty much said everything I would have said, and said it better than I would have.

One good thing to come out of this whole thing...I discovered a bunch of bloggers with disabilities out in cyberspace. I knew they were there, I just had not done the research yet. One blogger provided links to a BUNCH of them. I checked out a few, and plan to look at more.

Writing is like a muscle. If I want to be good at it, I need to exercise it. And I need to get past the mental barrier of feeling like I'm not good enough to be doing it.

librarianintx