One of those great pop psychology sayings that's making the rounds a lot these days is that anger is actually grief in disguise. Maybe that's what is meant by someone giving you grief when they piss you off? I don't know. But if there is any truth to that sentiment, then I must be feeling one hell of a lot of sadness over the way people with disabilities are treated.
Actually saying that I'm angry (or grieving, insert which ever you prefer, I'm going to stick with anger - what feeling like ripping someone a new one has to do with crying I haven't quite figured out yet) over the way disabled people are treated isn't quite accurate. It implies that people actually consider the disabled when they make decisions. The truth of the matter seems to be that disabled people don't even merit any thought.
Oh sure, you'll see the occasional wheelchair ramp to get into a building, or handicapped parking (two spots out of three hundred, and they are usually occupied by someone who's just stopped in for a second so didn't think it would matter that they used the handicap spot), and even Braille numbers in elevators (if a blind person doesn't know they're there in the first place how are they going to "see" them to use them?).
But quite frankly that's just like fancy wood veneer covering rotten wood. There's nothing of substance underneath that façade of caring. Somehow or other the disabled manage to slip off most people's radar screens when they talk of minorities. Maybe it's because disabilities don't limit themselves to any one group of people. They have the best affirmative action program going. There is no convenient label to stick on ability discrimination like there is for race, sex, and religion.
Maybe I've just put my finger on the problem. With no label, people are lost. How can there be systemic discrimination against people with disabilities if there is not a catchy word for it? Hell, they even have one now for discriminating against people due to their age. If you can't accuse somebody of something like abilityism than you may as well not even bother trying to point out the problem.
Article comments
1 - Nancy
The parking lot thing is what always gets me. How is it that the disabled spaces are always 'way far away from the nearest entrances? They're almost always "conveniently" located squarely equidistant from all the doors, and therefore equally inconvenient for those who need them. Obviously, someone who has no troubles moving about designed these. And don't get me going about those who use HP spaces 'just for a second', or hang up one of the temporary cardboard tags legitimately used by a family member, and then leap out, obviously in the best of health! I'm mean & small-minded enough to wish on those assholes that someday they NEED an HP space - and there won't be one because some asshole has taken the one they need. I'm lucky: most days I can move around OK & anyway it does me good to move my fat butt the extra few yards, but I do feel for the elderly or really, honestly HP I watch painfully crutching or inching along with their walkers past the spots occupied by ignorant, selfish jerks.
2 - Jared
I've been blind since birth, and I'm now a freshman at college. It's great to know that people such as yourself are mindful of these issues. I think I speak for the majority of the blind community at least when I say that we don't want preferrential treatment, handouts, or an inside track to all of life's glories. We just want a level playing field. Some situations are very accommodating of lack of vision. Some others are less accessible. And the best way to make progress on that front is through awareness. So seeing posts such as this are appreciated.
3 - larry
i have read your blog several times. i am onof the invisible persons you mentioned. i dont appear handicapped when i am standing still.. when iam walking or using stairs it is obvious.or wehen my defibrillator shocks me. then people notice me. i am pleased that you have noticed some of situations we run into.the walker and the cane do present a situation, what do i do with this in coffee shops,you are correct with the parking spots,they are not close to the entrances.people have watched me struggle opening doors. i have heart disease,joints pinned together. i do admit that the people who use the electric grocerycarts are very arrogant in the stores to the point of being rude
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4 - larry
apparently we are still invisible.
5 - rh
I have a neuromuscular disease which varies greatly in what level of disability I have at any particular point in time. It is invisible in the sense that there are still people I've known for years who make a comment about "hurt your leg?" when I limp.
As for parking spots, the worst part is that others seem to think that blocking a handicapped spot is somehow okay, yet they won't pull into a spot for fear of a ticket! I don't know how many times I've seen people parked on the blue diagonal lines, effectively blocking two parking spots instead of just taking up one. Do they think a cop would say "okay, as long as you're not in a spot"?