Wheelchair access in shops

Anubis_2

Lum wrote: »

It's always amusing when I tell them "speak to her, not me. She's the one spending the money". They tend to go all :eek: for just a moment.

Yes... I usually let them rant on then respond with eloquence in a (put on) posh voice :rotfl: to say they go :eek: is an understatement

charleyzee

Oh I wish this was true in my case! Our Dunelm Mill actually has a disabled staff member -who the manager likes to point to every time I complain, as if having a disabled staff member somehow balances out the fact that the rest of the store is inaccessible! This staff member is based in the fabric section - the only accessible section in the whole store. I'm glad they have made allowances for her but sadly they don't share the same consideration for their customers.
Oh and Jethro, we're not playing so move along & find someone else to irritate.

formaldehyde_perfume wrote: »

It's amazing what having a disabled member of staff can do to a store. Our local Tesco has a manager (or other high up position but still on the shop floor) who is in a wheelchair and I've never had problems with accessing the store in the way of distribution cages/wrapping etc. I don't think that's a coincidence as I have had trouble in other Tesco stores. It's usually the bloody idiot members of the public which cause most problems though!

SingleSue

My eldest found being in a wheelchair had a peculiar impact on how other people saw him.......people actually wanted to talk to him and didn't treat him like a neanderthal teenager (he is a typical long haired, hoody wearing 18 year old)!

My middle son tends to be my wheelchair pusher and he has it down to a fine art now (he was like a young Schumacher when he started) but we both get frustrated by too high steps into shops, only one door open with the other locked (and the open door only a narrow one), baskets and displays in the aisles, too narrow spaces between racks etc.

Mind you, he still has the annoying habit of moving me on when I am still looking at something as he has seen something he wants to look at...that is the Aspergic impulsive, obsessive in him.

formaldehyde_perfume

SingleSue wrote: »

My eldest found being in a wheelchair had a peculiar impact on how other people saw him.......people actually wanted to talk to him and didn't treat him like a neanderthal teenager (he is a typical long haired, hoody wearing 18 year old)!

Funny, I got the same! I was pretty gothy/punk through my teens and started using a stick when I was 19/20, people are not so wary and actually make eye contact in shops etc. I used a mobility scooter at disney a couple of times and a wheelchair at universal (no scoooters, boooo!) and when we were just going round the park people acted totally different towards me in a positive way, but when I was 'pushing in' to get on rides and didn't have an obvious disability I'd be dead 100 times over if looks could kill. Luckily my mother brought me up to have a thick skin when it's people I don't know.. sort of "as long as you think you're doing right then stuff 'em" attitude. Little did she know it would stand me in good stead when my health deteriorated!

LadyMorticia

I get it where people in shops will talk to my husband, even when I'm asked them a question (which actually takes alot of courage with the anxiety issues!). They also talk to my husband and ask him questions, even when it's about me. He just says "I don't know. You'll have to ask her yourself".:p

Then you get the ones who will speak really slowly to you, like being in a wheelchair means you're deaf. I so wish I had the courage to say "Being in a wheelchair doesn't mean I can't hear you!".

charleyzee

Lady Morticia, I can relate as I too have anxiety issues. I'm lucky in that I'm actually more assertive in my wheelchair, not less! I've taken so much crap from other people that it just makes me bolshy! My worst anxiety is using the phone, which utterly terrifies me!

I like your hubby's attitude - it makes a big difference when you have someone to stand up for you! Yesterday, my carer almost lost it with an idiot porter in our hospital - we had nowhere to park in the waiting room so had to park close to an exit. There was enough room to pass us with care but, instead, the porter just stared at me - no smile, no 'Excuse me', nothing. Just staring - my least favourite thing!

kingfisherblue

Charley, have you ever tried just staring back? My son uses a wheelchair and we rarely have any problems. When we were on holiday in Wales a couple of years ago, we found that numerous people stared - and I don't think disabled children are an uncommon sight in Haven camps during the school holidays! The adults were as bad as the kids. I found that if I stared back, they turned away first.

charleyzee

Hi Kingfisher - I did actually stare back yesterday, funnily enough. I girl aged about ten stared blatantly at me. With most kids, I usually smile but I just felt she was too old to be staring at me so blatantly, so I stared right back! I generally smile actually cos that really throws people off & makes them see me as a real person.
I find the most stares cocme if I actually get out of my chair.. I can walk a few steps & used to get out of the chair in restaurants. I stopped though cos I get fed up of the entire place stopping mid-fork to gawp at the disabled woman who can actually walk, lol!

LadyMorticia

charleyzee wrote: »

Hi Kingfisher - I did actually stare back yesterday, funnily enough. I girl aged about ten stared blatantly at me. With most kids, I usually smile but I just felt she was too old to be staring at me so blatantly, so I stared right back! I generally smile actually cos that really throws people off & makes them see me as a real person.
I find the most stares cocme if I actually get out of my chair.. I can walk a few steps & used to get out of the chair in restaurants. I stopped though cos I get fed up of the entire place stopping mid-fork to gawp at the disabled woman who can actually walk, lol!

I get that too. I have M.E so suffer from severe exhaustion, hence why I use a wheelchair when out, but I can manage to hobble around to the back of the car to get in my wheelchair and people just gawp. It's like they believe only those who are paralyzed or missing limbs use wheelchairs!

Lum

My partner used to get that before she got the folding wheelchair that will fit inside her car.

Apparently watching someone get out of a car on crutches and struggle to the boot to get a wheelchair out and assemble it is a riveting spectator sport.