Is it Stupidity?
Just read about a "no-wheelchair" policy being enforced in a well-known shop. I really cannot believe that people can think of such silly policies, which to me, don’t in the least make sense. The shop claimed that they have this policy because wheelchairs may hurt customers and damage property, and the shop may get sued. Isn’t it ridiculous??!
I mean, I have had encounters with many people who bumped into me, stepped on my feet and sometimes hit me really hard with their shopping bags in shopping malls, and yet didn’t sense it, or rather, pretended not to realize it. These people can also inflict injury on other customers within the shop, without having to be wheelchair-bound! I believe kids running around in shops are also a common sight, and they sometimes knock into things in the shops too. If the shelves within this particular shop cannot withstand a small ‘touch’ from a wheelchair, what makes them think that they can withstand the wear and tear inflicted upon by clumsy customers and playful kids, considering the ratio of wheelchair-bound customers to physically healthy customers?
Moreover, I believe that physically challenged individuals are in fact more mindful and have better visuo-spatial orientation compared to the other customers because they have to constantly gauge their positions wherever they go. Most people would also make way for wheelchairs, as what I have always seen on MRTs. Whoever cannot see a wheelchair coming should have their eyes checked. Wheelchair-bound individuals would also be posing danger to themselves if they bump into people and shelves (things do drop, you see), so I wouldn’t feel that anyone in the right mind would be crashing into people and things unless their aim for going into the shop is to hurt people and destroy things (isn’t it getting more exaggerated)?
Again, as I’ve mentioned, the ratio of wheelchair-bound to physically healthy customers is probably 1:50, or even less. To me, it is plain discriminating and selfish not to let them into shops. If healthy individuals can shop anywhere, wheelchair-bound people have the rights too. It is every individual’s attitude and behaviour, and not the physical wheelchair that would make the difference. A person mindful of people around him or her would hardly cause any injury or damage. I would think that in the case of this shop, coming up with this policy is very mindless - convenience at the expense of wheelchair-bound customers’ rights.
P.S. I wonder if they have this perspective because they are one of those who inflicted injuries on me in the malls? Oops.
