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 .