Just got back from my usual Saturday morning Access Bus jaunt.
I was in Sainsbury’s when somebody behind me said, very loudly “They shouldn’t allow wheelchairs in here when it’s busy.”
Luckily I couldn’t swing the chair round fast enough to see who said it or I might have been banned from Sainsbury’s for bad language.
Clearly I’m only allowed to eat if Sainsbury’s are quiet – perhaps I should ring ahead of time to check.
ooo, how chuffin` annoying! These ignorant people are the ones who shouldnt be allowed out…ever!
Pity you didnt catch her shins with your wheels. Grrr!
much luv Polllx
i would have shouted back ’ NO and they shouldnt let stupid ignorant ,loud mouthed idiots OUT AT ALL,should they now lol ’ grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr it makes me so angry, the idiots.
jaki xx
Thanks Jakki and Poll. I’m still smarting a bit about it. It’s a good job I’m not a sensitive soul or I might be put off going into Supermarkets etc. Actually the reverse is the case. I feel as though I want to seek out the busiest places and barge in with my chair.
Most people (at least 95%) are absolutely lovely and make going out a pleasure but I suppose you get mouth breathers everywhere. There are one or two people who get impatient with the wait when I get on and off the service bus but stuff em! Lucky them if all they have to get bent out of shape is a few minutes delay while I get parked on a bus!!
Jane
dont even give them head space, Jane, they are so not worth it, i have had a few comments myself,i get more looks of disgust from some of the idiots.but its best just to ignore tham all,hard i know,when i do i say out loud to my other half ‘just look at that, she/hes a face like a smacked arse’ or ‘I havent always had to use a w/c, but youve always had that ugly face’ lol,i like being naughty,can you tell.but like you say most people treat us ok,its just the minority,thank god.
A pity that you couldn’t spot ‘The Mouth’, 'cos something I’ve been known to say is, “I’m rehearsing for your old age and infirmity”. " They don’t like it up 'em" (RIP Clive )
Wb
-have also noticed scooters are not allowed so in their ignorance people stop dead in front of mine. Also whilst walking with stick people refuse to budge often walking in 4/5’s across the width of the path. I now look down at my feet, stop and refuse to move. Hence they have no choice but to walk around me, but their faces are a picture - angry and frustrated. Lately attitudes are dreadful yet what is our government concerned about ‘the plight of the happy bunch’. Fair enough but lets get priorities right, surely all vulnerable should be priority?
Excuse my ignorance but I would have thought the vulnerable and less able need protection from the ignorant, or else we shall be metted out more angst as people think we are all a waste of space. Government retoric doesnt help either, nor do the draconian assessments leaving lots of us on the edge. We are definitely going backwards, protections eroded and security unsure.
Disgusting what happened to you. People with big gobs need massive plasters prescribed by the gp’s for offence caused to us ‘normal/ish’ people living with ms just trying to get on with our lives the best we can. Excessively loud horn I think may shift the offenders but if nothing else would give you great satisfaction.
bren
x
I went xmas shopping recently 1st time in about 10 yrs (always done it from the comfort of my own home,warmth, no stress etc) Mum convinced me it would be good to get out & about!! Never ever ever again took my scooter & can honestly say I could have done with a flashing siren on my head to alert people I was there. Never come across as many ignorant people in all my life, one woman had her blinkers on and almost fell on top of me. So in future I will be doing my shopping as usual & staying at home to do it. x
Bravo for restraining yourself in the face of what seems to have been blind ignorance… unless it was said in jest, which is just a possibility.
Anyway, now for an essay
Remember when racism was truly, truly dreadful and rife in the UK? Sitcoms like Love Thy Neighbour and Rising Damp and Till Death Us Do Part, etc., came along and gradually we learnt to laugh and then shudder AT racism, and racism has been fading all the more quickly ever since.
Yes, racism’s still out there, despite laws and effort - though anyone expressing racist views today should remind themselves that their ancestors were probably immigrants once, but that’s by the by. The point is that humour has helped to further the development of the identity of naturalised immigrants as an integral part of society.
Back to disability discrimination, The Office and Little Britain and I’m Spazticus# are making bold moves forward on the comedy front. If we can show our superiority as human beings by endorsing the comic aspects of disability [errr, not that disability is actually comic], then maybe we can move on gradually.
A disabled person reacting to ignorance in an aggressive manner is potentially going to compound that ignorance and possibly encourage the ignorant one to be aggressive too. [But I’m sure it’s fine to think aggressive thoughts whilst smiling.]
So, next time somebody complains that you’re in the way, how about saying something witty in a light-hearted way, with a smile and a laugh. I can’t actually think of anything witty, but this might do for starters:
“Fortunately most of the UK’s 750,000 wheelchair users are at home right now, so I snuck out while I could get a parking space.”
Lolli xx
Very annoying Jane
Forgive me if I’m telling this story again but one of my elderly friends was told in no uncertain terms by 2 elderly women that he should not have a wheelchair with him whilst on the shopping coach to Canterbury, he did give them a mouth full but they probably wouldn’t have been so keen to bully him if his wife had been with him (she was upstairs). He said that in the many years he has had MS he has rarely met with rudenss 99% of people were polite. It only takes the 1% to upset people and ruin their day.
Wendy x