FROM A WHEECHAIR EYE VIEW

I am still in the early stages of recovering from my foot operation. Yes, I was aware of many of the difficulties that disabilities present in daily living, also, I am aware of what measures  can ease the path for many.  Being aware is not quite the same as first hand experience.  Imagine then, my dismay when I was confronted with little or nothing where I would have expected a minimal something.

Sitting in a wheelchair - it needs pushing by an able-bodied person - I am about the height of an average 10 year old. It provides an interesting viewpoint. Now, I cannot see over some sales counters. If an assistant is standing,  I can see the upper torso and head, a speaking head, not always a pleasant one.  It's a similar experience at the store checkout.

I cannot browse in a store from a wheelchair unless whoever is pushing the chair does not mind doing it as well. I am dependent on my driver to place me so I can either reach for something, or, check it, if whatever it is, is within my grasp. Anything else is reliant on being in a position to see what there is and asking for it/them to be selected for me.  Patience is in high demand by all parties.

In one store, which mostly sells household goods and bedding - not too big a store - I attempted to use my alternative crutches with my new foot dressing, (a story for another time).  To save energy and time I asked  directions to my department of interest from an assistant who accidentally came in view. When I specified what I wanted, she left me standing to ask advice from someone shelf-filling and hidden from view.  It was the girl's first day....anyone who knew the stock was elsewhere. The store did not have a chair available for me to sit on while we waited for another member of staff....'sorry', she said.   A sour assistant who eventually turned up directed me to the opposite of what I asked for.  She didn't know much, if anything.  I was fed up and gave voice, very politely, to my thoughts. 

There were plenty of these chairs for sale and plastic ones too.

A fellow patient, who, like me had been fitted with new footwear and crutches that day, told me she had the same experience a bit earlier in the same store.  The store sold chairs, albeit,  picnic seats of all types.  Surely one could have been dedicated for customer use.

This would have been nice to sit on .

A SCOTTISH ENGINEER'S VIEW OF THE SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM

Hi Folks,

I'm not vastly politically motivated, but being of an engineering background/profession I tend to see/prefer things in black and white. Deal with/anticipate things based on factual information and act on it accordingly etc.

Now, I'm all for independence, the only slight snag is that the "Yes" camp has no formal, factual, researched/detailed solution to address:

Monetary/funding of an independent currency;
Pensions, Healthcare, Welfare.
Defence, Nuclear Decommissioning, Nuclear Assets in general.
Ownership/division of North Sea Oil/Gas.
Potential loss of Jobs in sectors where confidence is being lost by outside investors.
Border Control, Immigration.
Postal Services, Communications services, etc.

If they [the "yes" camp] were to go and spend say 3-5 years on a full Option/Scoping mission, getting the appropriate buy-in and support and producing a real and viable package, then I would be motivated to consider/vote towards it.

Until then I see no reason to vote towards breaking a working,(reasonably harmonious)Union. A clear-cut vote to give license to consider the options/produce a reasonable package in the first instance would have been far better. As it is, there are a large cross section of the people who are taking it for read that if it is a yes vote we shall be splitting up.

In any event the country shall not be the same again; this cause has created endless debate, division and resentment to some. I hope whatever the outcome we can,(especially the more militant in each camp),live happily and work through any resultant policy changes that will no doubt occur.

Thursday will be interesting, as will the aftermath, times they are a-changin......

Alec.


Post reproduced in its entirety with permission from the writer.