self-appointed handicap police
Oct 3, 2015, 12:09 pm
#16
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Maryland
Programs: United, Turkish
Posts: 640
You can count me amongst the many who take serious issue with the person who preboards, along with their 24 family members, because of a "seemingly convenient" disability. I am someone with an invisible disability, who should be the most forgiving. But I'm not. Even I judge. The 100% able bodied will be more harsh than I.
My wife is 100% disabled. It's neurological . She looks fine but she is totally confused. Getting on a plane is much more confusing than getting off. Yes she preboards with me. I carry her carry on luggage. Yes she uses wheelchairs for connections. Yes she can slowly walk by herself on and off the airplane but it takes her far longer to get settled and I need to handle the carry on and have a quick word with the flight attendant about her disability . Yes We move off "in our turn" to connect with the wheel chair transfer service.
sheesh
Oct 3, 2015, 8:09 pm
#17
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
" There is a reason we refer to the "jetway miracle cure" .. those people who desperately need assistance to get on the plane with pre-boarding, but are able to hussle their a$$es off the plane by themselves upon arrival."
My wife is 100% disabled. It's neurological . She looks fine but she is totally confused. Getting on a plane is much more confusing than getting off. Yes she preboards with me. I carry her carry on luggage. Yes she uses wheelchairs for connections. Yes she can slowly walk by herself on and off the airplane but it takes her far longer to get settled and I need to handle the carry on and have a quick word with the flight attendant about her disability . Yes We move off "in our turn" to connect with the wheel chair transfer service.
sheesh
My wife is 100% disabled. It's neurological . She looks fine but she is totally confused. Getting on a plane is much more confusing than getting off. Yes she preboards with me. I carry her carry on luggage. Yes she uses wheelchairs for connections. Yes she can slowly walk by herself on and off the airplane but it takes her far longer to get settled and I need to handle the carry on and have a quick word with the flight attendant about her disability . Yes We move off "in our turn" to connect with the wheel chair transfer service.
sheesh
I have seen, and known, those who only use wheelchairs for convenience at airports. They really don't listen to me tell them that's abusive - they feel somehow they're entitled.
And it's tricky with disabilities - some may be visible, some with visible disabilities don't want accommodation (some with artificial limbs or prostheses, various aids, etc.) and many others are invisible. How can a quick look reveal someone has congestive heart disease, COPD, dementia, traumatic brain injury? It can't, of course, but it's sometimes difficult not to want to judge.