Home » Health & Wellness » Disabilities » Hercules? Where are you when I need you?

Hercules? Where are you when I need you?

© Michelle Struik

1. Why is it that mall's always have heavy doors on the bathrooms that leave you stranded crossing your legs in the hallway looking for Hercules?

2. Why is it when you are having a horrible day and head to the grocery store the electric scooter's batteries are dead because the box boys have been drag racing them on the night shift?

3. Why is it when you finally DO get to use the scooter the grocery chain never took into account the size of the scooter when they renovated those check outs and you end up getting stuck between the "National Enquirer" and the turntable because the"Handicapped" checkout is closed.

4. Why is it that stores stack excess items in the aisles and you feel like your running a "bumper scooter ride" and you wipe out the Potato Chip display?

5. Why is it that they always stock the "good stuff" on the top shelves out of reach if you are seated in a scooter or have mobility/range of motion problems.

I find it interesting that stores go to the trouble of providing handicapped parking stalls and yet seem to have difficulty extending their disabled awareness within the confines of their stores?

Think about it? It's not just disabled persons who would benefit from awareness but also elderly persons, and even young mother's with strollers. Or do store managers really enjoy marking down all those Potato Chip's you just wiped out just so everyone else has a Tuna Casserole topping?

If you really look at these situations they all have one thing in common .....someone didn't use their common sense :) Little improvements correcting these glitches can improve the shopping experience not just for the disabled but for many others as well. Yet when I attempt to talk to store managers about these circumstances they usually get a glazed look on their faces and mumble something to the effect that it's a great idea but head office won't let them make changes.

So I head home, contact head office and usually get the pep talk with the typical "I have a elderly mother who doesn't have any problems with our stores" conversation. When I ask how old "Mom" is she's usually 50, not so elderly! :) So, why are stores so resistant to change? I don't think these situations are isolated to me. Speaking to other disabled friends they have run into similar predicaments. Maybe it's a case of companies putting their heads in the sand and thinking that if "it ain't broken why fix it"? Well....guess what......it's broken! My money will be spent in the stores that accommodates me and shows some good "common sense". I'm not a big fan of Tuna Casserole.

The copyright of the article Hercules? Where are you when I need you? in Disabilities is owned by . Permission to republish Hercules? Where are you when I need you? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.