I loved Ireland - being there felt strangely familiar. Ive heard it described as the place fit my skins or something like it but more poetic or lyrical. We’ve been home for paver a month, but I feel it calling and know I’ll be back and to what village or townIwil be staying.
What I didn’t love, about my Motherland, however, was how difficult it was to get around. And ‘m not talking the driving on the left side of the road. I’m talking about the traversing the sidewalks and buildings while in a wheelchair. I didn’t expect alterations to the old buildings;I didn’t expect an elevator in Blarney Castle just so I could kiss a stone to gain the gift of gab (Lord knows I’ve got that already) or even an accessible entrance to the inn in Kilkenny built in 1264 (though strangely enough they had an entrance with a portable aluminum ramp). What was unexpected, however, was the lack of accessibility at some more modern buildings. And it was that oversight that’s has me appreciative of our own ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ADA is something I’ve taken for granted since it’s been in existence the entir4e time I’ve been a four-wheeler. I am grateful to President George HW Bush for championing this legislation because it makes the life of all four-wheelers and Cane-nites just a little easier. We know that we will be able to find a parking spot in closer proximity to the door and then once we get to that door we will be able to access a building. It’s not something most people have to contemplate before they leave home, parking and going into a building, but if you have limiste3d mobility, it sure is something you think about. Because if it’s not available you won’t leave home in the first place or leaving home is a monumental task.
I was working at WOOD TV when the ADA was enacted and I recall the General Manager lamenting the fact that because of “this damn law that doesn’t serve anyone” the station was required to create two parking spaces and automatic doors that was going to cost a lot of money. At the time, I did not have my MS diagnosis and was not familiar with just what those parking spaces and door coyly mean fir a person with limited mobility. But even in my ignorance, I found how comments and attitude callous.
Having now been abroad where there is no ADA, I saw what the world is like without accessibility. In Waterford, a hilly little waterfront town with narrow streets and uneven walks, I was grateful to John was there to push my chair because I knew my arms would have been weary left on my own. I saw a young marina motorized scooter and recall thinking that would be required if I lived there and then later (after checking in to our hotel where there wasn’t an accessible entrance and an elevator that barely fit my wheelchair) wondering hope that young man managed all the other aspects of accessibility in Waterford.
So, now that I’m home, I recognize how fortunate we are that we have the ADA.
But I’m still planning to go back to Ireland!
What I didn’t love, about my Motherland, however, was how difficult it was to get around. And ‘m not talking the driving on the left side of the road. I’m talking about the traversing the sidewalks and buildings while in a wheelchair. I didn’t expect alterations to the old buildings;I didn’t expect an elevator in Blarney Castle just so I could kiss a stone to gain the gift of gab (Lord knows I’ve got that already) or even an accessible entrance to the inn in Kilkenny built in 1264 (though strangely enough they had an entrance with a portable aluminum ramp). What was unexpected, however, was the lack of accessibility at some more modern buildings. And it was that oversight that’s has me appreciative of our own ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ADA is something I’ve taken for granted since it’s been in existence the entir4e time I’ve been a four-wheeler. I am grateful to President George HW Bush for championing this legislation because it makes the life of all four-wheelers and Cane-nites just a little easier. We know that we will be able to find a parking spot in closer proximity to the door and then once we get to that door we will be able to access a building. It’s not something most people have to contemplate before they leave home, parking and going into a building, but if you have limiste3d mobility, it sure is something you think about. Because if it’s not available you won’t leave home in the first place or leaving home is a monumental task.
I was working at WOOD TV when the ADA was enacted and I recall the General Manager lamenting the fact that because of “this damn law that doesn’t serve anyone” the station was required to create two parking spaces and automatic doors that was going to cost a lot of money. At the time, I did not have my MS diagnosis and was not familiar with just what those parking spaces and door coyly mean fir a person with limited mobility. But even in my ignorance, I found how comments and attitude callous.
Having now been abroad where there is no ADA, I saw what the world is like without accessibility. In Waterford, a hilly little waterfront town with narrow streets and uneven walks, I was grateful to John was there to push my chair because I knew my arms would have been weary left on my own. I saw a young marina motorized scooter and recall thinking that would be required if I lived there and then later (after checking in to our hotel where there wasn’t an accessible entrance and an elevator that barely fit my wheelchair) wondering hope that young man managed all the other aspects of accessibility in Waterford.
So, now that I’m home, I recognize how fortunate we are that we have the ADA.
But I’m still planning to go back to Ireland!
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