Able Bodied Ignorance.



I know some people are going to slate me for this post and say that I’m only saying this because of my current situation with being in a wheelchair temporarily but that is not the case and if you think that, you don’t know me at all so I genuinely don’t even care any more.

Previous to my accident, I was a very able bodied person. I was fit and active, like many people are. However, one thing I didn’t do was use lifts when it was unnecessary. Of course, I’ve used lifts when there was no other way or if I was with someone in a wheelchair (such as my great aunty) or if I was with someone who had a pushchair, but I’ve never used them just for the sake of using them, because there is no point.

Don’t get me wrong, if someone has bags of heavy shopping or are of an older age, I have no problem with people using lifts. I don’t even have a problem with able bodied people using lifts if that’s what they desire to do. What I do have a problem with is abled bodied people being completely ignorant to those who are in wheelchairs, and only thinking about themselves.


The last time I went out before today, the place I went to had a big sign on the lifts that said ‘If you are abled bodied and without a pushchair, please use the escalators’ yet I had to wait 20 minutes to get in a lift because perfectly able bodied people without pushchairs or heavy bags were queuing for the lifts. It’s not even like they would have had to climb a load of stairs – it’s all escalators!Today, I found the ignorance even worse when I went out. I had been waiting for a lift for a short amount of time and was at the front of the queue. When it arrived and the door opened, before I could get to the lift, it was full of perfectly abled bodied people who had ignorantly pushed in front of me. This happened three times in a row. Three lifts came and went before I could get in one, and they were all full of abled bodied people who were just too blind to notice that I was sitting there (at the FRONT of the queue) waiting. One woman stepped back out of the lift and told me to go in, but she was on crutches herself so I didn’t feel that was fair. The others watched her do this and none of them offered to move.


I also had quite a few people barge into me today in my wheelchair and one knocked my bad leg which of course causes me severe agony.  I even heard one girl today, who was about twelve or thirteen, say very loudly in front of me – “I don’t know why she’s buying sexy underwear, nobody is going to shag a spaz.” – and they both laughed before running off.
Although my situation is terrible at the moment, the reality is that I am going to be able to walk again one day, even if I don’t recover well enough to dance like I hope to. It’s abled bodied people’s ignorance that upsets disabled people, and especially comments like those stupid teenage girls made. To me, I found it funny as I know I will recover and I also know the extent of my sex life, but to someone who is permanently in a wheelchair and possibly doesn’t have a partner, it could be so hurtful and knock their confidence so much.


People really need to think people they speak and be considerate of other people’s feelings. I also think people need to be respectful when queuing. What gives you the right to push in front of anyone, whether they’re in a wheelchair or not? Queues are there for a reason – so that the person who has been waiting the longest gets whatever they’re queuing for first. It’s the fair way of doing things, and it’s just plain ignorance when people choose to ignore that because they only care about themselves and not anybody else.

I just wish people were more considerate and respectful towards other people in today’s society, regardless of whether they’re in a wheelchair or not.


Clare
(twitter / instagram)

xxx

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