Text 402, 84 rader
Skriven 2006-09-30 14:20:12 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
    Kommentar till text 398 av George Pope (207.survivor)
Ärende: recreation
==================
Hi, George!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

[Re Moms with kids in strollers]
AH>  IMHO we have some potential support there, because
AH>  whatever makes it easier for us to get out & about
AH>  makes it easier for them too....  :-)

GP>  But, of COURSE!!! Seems simple when you SAY it! ;)


          It's more in the forefront of my mind, I guess, because I was once a
Mom with a kid in a stroller.  I grumbled even then about various streetcorner
ramps which forced us out of the crosswalk... and I considered mounting a flag
on the stroller, as I'd seen other people do with scooters & wheelchairs.  :-)



AH>  Many people seem to be handicapped by lack of empathy
AH>  and/or by inability to connect the dots, but I wouldn't
AH>  say that about you.  I find it easier to be patient when
AH>  I realize parts of their brains may not work....

GP>  True -- often the TABs(Temporarily Able-Bodied) aren't
GP>  altogether non-handicapped, too!


          Some handicaps are readily apparent, others aren't....  :-)



AH>  So if they want to put a display where other customers
AH>  can't miss it... well, you couldn't miss it either.

GP>  I love it!  I'm gonna use that line if ever I'm in a
GP>  confrontation with a manager about my destruction --


          Glad you enjoyed it!  Unfortunately, however, those who decide where
such things are placed may not be the ones who do the cleanup.  There's a fast
food joint near us with a recycling bin inside the front door, where it blocks
the entry for people with walkers & wheelchairs & strollers.  Every time we go
to this place I move the bin to another location which is about as awkward for
the staff as the original location was for us... and I tell them why I did it.
The store has a rapid turnover of staff, many of whom have a limited knowledge
of English.  But we've also explained the situation to the manager.  He's been
there for some time & understands English quite well.  Nothing has changed WRT
the recycling bin.  While the employees stare at me as I move it, it's kept in
the same location & nobody lifts a finger to help... the manager just retreats
to a back room now when he sees us coming.  Maybe the teens who come in droves
at noon & after school are a more profitable market.  We still have the option
of voting with our wallets, and we usually go elsewhere... (sigh).

          There are various other sources of food... including cheap eateries,
delis, and bakeries... where the staff are more helpful & responsive.  They'll
come out from behind tall counters to speak to people in wheelchairs.  They'll
bring things right to you although able-bodied customers are expected to fetch
their own.  If you've told them only once where you find it comfortable to sit
they'll remember, and cheerfully rearrange the furniture as needed thereafter.
We don't have to ask... they just *do* it.  So we keep going back, we tell our
friends, and we see they get a lot of repeat business from folks like us.  :-)



GP>  Well, you HAVE to pee, anyway, and if you aim into a bush
GP>  or tree or someting, you hide your spoor from enemies that
GP>  could be tracking you. . .


          Ah... that makes sense!  It may not help very much with animals near
the top of the food chain who regard homo sapiens as food.  IMHO a majority of
them probably have a better sense of smell than we do.  It may throw others of
our own species off the track, however, if they're not around to notice what's
going on at the time.  In a hunting/gathering/dawn of agriculture society many
women would stay closer to home, especially if they had young children to look
after... and deep down we may be a lot like them even now.  I had to laugh one
year at an oncology family campout, when the adult males sat around discussing
their strategies for building the evening campfire while the girls kept asking
me which of the berries were edible.  How did these kids know I knew...?  :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)