this is a rant - aimed at those who deserve it. you know who you are.
i just got back from a trip down the hall to the ladies' room. once again, the dumbass from the office right across the hall, the same one who ALWAYS does this, was in the handicapped stall. yes, i know, it's the nicest stall in the bathroom - nice and roomy. and. nobody on our floor uses a wheelchair, so what's the big deal? i'm here to tell you, k?
the big deal is that the wider door opening and the fact that the toilet is 4 INCHES HIGHER than the toilets in the other EIGHT stalls just happen to make that stall much, much easier to use for the handicapped women on the floor. there are three of us now. we all use canes. easy to spot. i'm sure you've noticed us. and when you use a cane to counteract the balance problems you have, as i do - i'm not sure about the other two women - those 4 inches and the wider door opening make a hell of a lot of difference.
so now you know.
what you also don't know, i'm just guessing here, is how hard it is to come to terms with the fact that you're handicapped. for me, it was verrrry difficult. i was one person for 40 years, all of a sudden somebody else. i don't mean that who you are has changed, but there are way too many ways (too many to list) that life has changed FOR you. that might be why it's hard, you know? YOU'RE not different, everything else is. in a big way. everybody looks at you different. you feel the same, but everyday, in a thousand little ways, you're reminded.
it took me 5 years to get a cane and a handicapped sticker. i just COULD NOT DEAL WITH IT. i used an old golf putter as a cane in the house. i knew i needed it, but could not deal with using a real cane in public. bill or one of the boys would offer me their arm - THEY were my cane. i really don't know how long it would have taken me to get a cane if left to my own devices. matt and mark bought me one as a christmas gift. a really cool one. it was and will always be one of the best gifts i've ever received.
bill pushed and pushed me to get a handicapped parking placard - because sometimes (increasingly less and less, i noticed) i'd be out by myself and navigating curbs were becoming increasingly treacherous. [that's another thing you might not have noticed - the lack of curbs at the handicapped parking spaces. it's not really about the best parking spaces in the lot. which is why YOU want them, i guess.]
i've been letting this build up for a while. but i think i've been a lot nicer than i really feel about this. there are EIGHT FREAKING NON-HANDICAPPED stalls. get your ass in one of those. yes, i know, "ironsides can wait his turn." [i actually saw this comment on another site. over a year ago. it has not set well with me (don't you love how delicately i phrased that?) since then. in fact, i'd like to kick that fucker's ass who said it. a young, arrogant, shithead yuppie lawyer. i can't find the comment, i think the blogger removed it from his post - otw, i'd link to the asshat's (the commenter - NOT THE VERY NICE BLOGGER who wrote the POST) site and let you at him.
Posted by Stacey at July 6, 2004 03:54 PMOMG... Ironsides can wait his turn?????? holy shite where do people get off?
Posted by: Keri at July 6, 2004 04:13 PMI have zero patience for those juvenile and insulting comments, whether spoken or written on walls. My pacifist nature dissolves when I see crude and thoughtless behavior by clueless asshats with crap for brains. One of these days I'm going to get poked in the nose for redressing issues like this. Don't get me agitated... oh, too late. Arrrgh.
Posted by: Philip at July 7, 2004 12:38 PMI have a low tolerance level for people who are totally self-absorbed. You should never have to be in a situation where you have to rant about something like this. I get annoyed when I see healthy people taking a handicapped parking bay or a pensioners parking bay so I can imagine how annoyed a handicapped person must feel when they pull up and there are no available bays for them. You are dealing with so much you should not have to deal with a dumbass like that.
Posted by: Michelle at July 7, 2004 03:08 PMbill,
did you notice how we have the NICEST readers?
you guys are great!
stace
Posted by: stacey at July 7, 2004 03:20 PMHey Stacey, I think you are trying to be all grown up and Dana like.... you didn't even call this person a fucking moran!
I'm so proud of you!
Next time, knock on the door and ask how long she's gonna be in there because you NEED the handicapped stall and want to know how long the wait is..... maybe she'll think twice next time.
- Dana
Posted by: -d at July 7, 2004 04:41 PMOnly because you and Bill are one of the nicest bloggers we know, Stace.
Posted by: Michelle at July 10, 2004 12:11 PMOr two of the nicest bloggers we know *grin*
Posted by: Michelle at July 10, 2004 12:11 PMholy shit. you KNOW you hit a nerve when Philip is moved to typingg 'argh'.
wow...
;)
Posted by: Kathy Howe at July 12, 2004 10:46 PMI often wondered what to do about handicapped toilets. Thanks for putting me straight! Out local supermarket usually has plenty of empty handicapped places. They have a sign which says "If you take my place, perhaps you'd like my handicap too?" (I might have told you that already)
Posted by: Anji at July 14, 2004 05:54 AMStacy I just spent a long weekend at a venue that has a handicapped stall and a regular stall and everytime I used the handicapped stall I thought of you.
I guess if I were in your position, I'd make a sign for the handicapped stall, along the lines of:
Attention ladies on the X floor:
Please reserve the toilet with the wider door and the higher throne for those of us who need those accomodations due to mobility impairments.
Most of what people do that is inconsiderate is just due to cluelessness or not thinking (well, except for parking in the handicapped spots--"Oh I will just be a minute" crap.
Posted by: Liz at July 20, 2004 04:18 AM