La Estrellada said...
I read the article and told my mom about it. She said, "wait... doesn't Ian have a car? Why would he drive it on the sidewalk?.... Oh! You mean driving with a wheelchair..."

Yeah, it's all about awareness, heh. These things just don't occur to you! On a semi-related note, I just had a conversation last week with someone who wasn't sure if it was okay to say "so this morning when you walked to class" (note: yes. People in wheelchairs talk about going for a walk, just like deaf people talk about hearing the latest rumors, just like blind people express understanding by saying, "Oh, I see"). Always entertaining, especially if (didn't happen this time, but ...) they get that deer in the headlights look, you can see 'em going through the mental thesaurus, and they suddenly realize: "Oh! I know! Go should be a safe word, right?"

This being Boston, though, people actually do drive on the sidewalk ... or at least, they park there. I live right next to the ROTC building, and their bus is occasionally parked halfway on the sidewalk. Makes for a very funny scene when you're wondering how to squeeze between the bus and the fence with all these students milling around loading drill rifles and such into the bus, and all of a sudden you hear a student leader yell: "EVERYBODY FLAT AGAINST THE BUS, AT ATTENTION, NOW! NOW, PEOPLE!" and suddenly there's all these folks in uniform standing with a ramrod straight spine at attention for you as you walk (or drive, I suppose :-P ) by. A bit unnerving, actually, heh.

"So we've been having a lot of dry ice bombs setting off our fire alarms recently ..."
"A dry ice bomb? What's that?"
"It's a water bottle filled with dry ice and water and capped."
"Oh, yeah. [grins] I used to make those all the time at work."

Cafe Vittoria is awesome.

"Wheelchair users nationwide risk their lives daily by being forced into the street because their communities, despite the Americans with Disabilities Act, have not bothered to install curb cuts or maintain sidewalks."

"And in what can only be called a bigoted double-whammy, wheelchair users often risk arrest for traveling the streets in their wheelchairs. Local communities' responses to the "problem" of wheelchairs in the street is not to provide curb ramps and safe sidewalks but to cite and ticket them for operating an unlicensed vehicle in the roadway."

And although it's not mentioned in the article, the situation only gets worse in the winter, when the streets are cleared daily and the sidewalks are not.

"It's not that hard! Install the drivers, click on the thing, load the guy ..."
-PA

"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different."
-Vonnegut

Great quote courtesty of a Daily Kos poster: "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." - Mark Twain

In other news, I was looking at the list of non-credit workshops being offered during IAP (January term). One of them is being taught by a resident scholar who lives here in Simmons. The guy flew 321 combat missions. Anyway, it's called "The Art of Dogfighting 1915-1983: A How-To Course". Here's the description:

Tired of being a strafe panel when using an online flight simulator game? Having trouble keeping your barrel roll attacks from turning into vertical rolling scissors? Wonder why, since air combat began, 20% of the pilots have gotten 80% of the kills? Do you just want to watch the good parts (i.e. dogfights) of classic flying films like "Wings", "Battle of Britain", and "Top Gun" and hear an explanation of what these guys are doing and why?

Is that a riot or what?

From a BBC messageboard:

Check your potential workplace out first - ask for their Equality Policy, check out their web-site, do not humiliate yourself by applying to an organisation that is not Disabled friendly.

Check out where they are advertising in the first place - if they are advertising in the Disability Press then they are more likely to value your experience - see what they have on the bottom of their advertisment [...] see if they ask on the candidates application form or letter before an interview that they have asked you if you have any requirements - such as more time to prepare yourself, BSL [British Sign Language] signer, material in large print or on tape.

I[f] they at least match some of these requirements then you know at least they have an inkling of what they are about!

Job hunting advice from a disabled poster on a disabled issues messageboard. For crying out loud, what Cthulhu-inspired hell of a future are they dreaming of? The UK in particular (it's primarily a UK board, with a few of us Yanks and a handful of people from other countries) seems to be going backwards in their legislation and attitudes. Example: the "Two Ticks" program lets a company put use a logo on their advertising, recruitment literature, etc., that says they're "disability friendly" (disabled employees, that is) if they meet certain criteria and agree to interview every disabled individual who meets the qualifications they state when advertising an open position (the system includes a checkbox on the form).

One, all companies should be open to disabled employees. Saying that you shouldn't bother interviewing at a company that isn't advertising themselves as such is just stupid. You could be the first experience they have in dealing with the disabled, for one thing. Self-advocacy is a wonderful thing, and no accommodations are going to be cookie-cutter perfect, so you're not really saving yourself any work. The message being sent (that disabled people can't get a job without direct help, or at least, pre-arranged assistance in getting accommodations) is insulting and old-fashioned. And it sends the message that it's acceptable to not comply with the various applicable laws: the DDA and ISO in the UK, the ADA and ANSI in the US, and so on.

I said earlier that the UK in particular seems to be going backwards. That is a general trend I've noticed (and I'm not the only one), but it's certainly not limited to the UK (nor are they moving backwards on all disabled issues). I've seen similar attitudes here, as well. It really gets me ticked off - whether they're disabled individuals, able-bodied career counselors, or anyone else.

Paraphrased as well as memory allows:

Chris: "For example, at EC, the halls are very active - they have parties that attract people from outside the hall, they-"
Ian B: "Yes. Naked parties."
Josh: "Still traumatized?"
Ian B: "Yes. But, anyway, the point is ..."

[several minutes later]

Chris: "Other halls generally elect people to do that. Like at EC-" (note: this is becoming a refrain)
Ian B: "I think the point is that we're not EC."
[someone]: "Because we don't have naked parties?"
Ian B: "There are many, many reasons we're not EC. That's just one of them."

So much for a productive committee meeting, heh.

And history just keeps coming 'round. Screw the cycle - let's write a new chapter.