[Risby]

This is one of my biggest peeves!

In addition to the MS and associated issues with heat, I had major knee surgery on the 5th and am just now beginning to get around with one crutch. Can't use 2 crutches cause the left arm can't control the crutch [MS issue]

DH had purchased a lightweight power chair and we drove to pick it up. Of course we missed our exit and had a wonderful tour of downtown Brooklyn NY.
We finally got the chair and were making our way back home & stopped at a rest stop on the turnpike.

It is hot and humid as heck and I had been in the car for quite a while, so I was not ambulating very well.
I am walking?? up the ramp into the building, after having people breathing down my neck....Hey are you BLIND, can't you see me barely making it up the ramp,I am using CRUTCHES, and I can't go any faster!!Duh!

I make it to the ladies room, after being cut off by a young mother and her toddler. Of course the HC stall is occupied.....yep by young healthy Mom & toddler. The only other HC stall is at the other end of the rest room, no way I could make it there.
I must say quite a few people offered to help, as I was now swaying in the breeze & struggling to stay upright.

My reply to those who offered to help was "Thank You but I am waiting for the able-bodied person to finish using the HC stall"
Finally out pops yuppie mom saying "Other people use the HC stall also!"
Yes I reply but there is no reason you have to use the stall nearest the door, You can get to the farther stall. I can't!!
Yuppie Mom's reply was "Deal with it"
My reply was " I was once in your shoes, healthy and with young children and would never have used the HC stall. Just remember Karma is a b%*$h.
I may have been rude but I had had it and had to vent.

[Kitty]

You weren't rude......yuppie mom was. She'll reap the benefits of Karma. Maybe not right now.....but trust me, she will. And you're so right. Karma is a beeotch!

Maybe this incident will cause her to stop and think before using a HC stall next time. I hope you're feeling better.

[FinLady]

I'm still relatively mobile - but totally understand your frustration. My mom was in a wheelchair most of my life. I find myself wondering at the rude people - and find myself wanting to strap the people who develop these "accesible" restrooms to a wheelchair and see if they have any success navigating!

It still reels my mind that some places would put the changing table in the HC stall. There are some new soap dispensers around here where you have to push at the top of the thing to get the soap out. How in the world is someone in a wheelchair supposed to reach that????

[Kitty]

The people who design these restrooms should do so from a wheelchair! It should be a mandatory requirement.

[Erin524]

I agree, the lady should not have been using the stall.

I'm not disabled (yet, tho I expect to be one day), I do get some bad back pain occasionally. (had a car accident in 99, I think the chiropractor I saw after that did more damage to my back than the accident did) The pain isnt something that happens all the time, but when it hits, I can barely move. So, I have used the handicap stall on a few occasions because the toilets in the handicap stall are usually taller and I dont have to painfully scrunch myself up to sit down on one of them. (why dont they just put the taller toilets in all the stalls? I swear, some places have toilets that would be too low for even a small child)

Plus, the rails are helpful when my back has been really bad.

Thankfully I havent had the horrible back pain in several months (been walking as a therapy for it) and I havent had to use a handicap stall for quite awhile because of that.

[Dejibo]

many young moms feel its a great way to keep all her chickens in one stall. That way you dont have 2 girls and one boy using separate toilets, and she can keep an eye on them all at the same time.

her response was RUDE and wrong! She should have simply said "oh! Im sorry, I didnt realize someone disabled was waiting." and kept going! why does she have to engage and be rude?

I am glad you made it safely home.

[karousel]

While I understand why the young mother used the HC stall because of her child, she should have used the one farthest away from the door. And what she said to you was rude and nasty. What comes around goes around - maybe she should remember that. Obviously she is someone who feels her life is more important than others.

[Debbie D]

Sorry the mom was rude to you...great role model heh?
Even though I don't use a cane, etc., I occasionally use the HC rest cubicle because I feel so stiff that I have trouble getting down and up from the regular toilets.
I just love the HC toilets...the knees especially love them!

[Becca44]

Originally Posted by Risby

Yuppie Mom's reply was "Deal with it"
My reply was " I was once in your shoes, healthy and with young children and would never have used the HC stall. Just remember Karma is a b%*$h.
I may have been rude but I had had it and had to vent.

Good for you. Politeness is LOST on clueless people. You sent her the message loud and clear in the only language she'd understand.

[Dejibo]

I keep thinking I can be kind, and tolerant, but when faced with over whelming heat, fatigue, being lost, and almost wetting myself, I am seeing that you were MUCH kinder than I would have been.

Alot of folks dont see a big deal with walking an extra 10 feet till they cant. then all of a sudden its an AHA moment. Till she walks a mile in those shoes, she wont get it.

I hope you are feeling better now.