Step back!

There is one thing that I always see at bus stops that drives me absolutely insane; I'm not sure, however, if there is anyone to blame for it. Sometimes there is, sometimes there is not. What annoys me so much? People who do not realize that the wheelchair ramp on a bus swings out.

Why is this such a big deal? I will give you a scenario. Imagine you are at a bus stop. A wheelchair user is waiting there and the bus arrives. The front door opens. The wheelchair moves back a few feet. You assume that means that the wheelchair user is not getting on, so you step forward to board...

...only to be staring at a half-deployed ramp. You are now caught in an awkward position between a ramp that is threatening to smush you and a wheelchair user who is wondering what exactly you are doing (and perhaps several other bystanders staring at you).

Remember to step back: the ramp swings OUT.
(Photo credit: US Department of Transportation)

I see this too often when taking the bus. The weird part is that there are plenty of warnings: the loud beeping noise coming from the bus, the fact that other passengers nearby are standing back as well, me calling "WATCH OUT" repeatedly, and so on. (Strangely enough, nobody ever heeds my warnings, either on or off the bus. It is quite frustrating sometimes.)

So for able-bodied passengers who see a wheelchair user waiting in front of a bus with its front doors open, that person might be getting on. Just remember that the ramp swings outwards. Listen for the beeping noises.

I hate public transit

When I was able-bodied, I was a big fan of public transit. I enjoyed how unique every bus route was, how you can "hop on, hop off" any time you want, how it saves you money and the hassle of driving, and especially the atmosphere on board if it's the same group of people who take the same route every day.

But since I started using a wheelchair, things changed.

There is a reason why I started this blog.

Many able-bodied people may find this shocking (or not, depending on who you are) but I believe that public transit has the most discriminatory atmosphere towards people with disabilities.

People with disabilities face a LOT of crap on public transit, moreso than anywhere else I have seen. Most of that crap is not something that can be controlled by the bus driver or transit agency because it often comes from other passengers.

Here's a small sample of what happens on a regular basis for me (approximately once or twice every ten days) on public transit:

• When boarding a bus, a passenger will say audibly, "Great, a wheelchair on my bus." Some will shake their heads at me instead. I'm not blind or deaf...
  
• While waiting for an elevator at a SkyTrain station, one person will express their displeasure at having to share it with a wheelchair user. Some of those people will physically cut in front to prevent it.
  
• For some odd reason, when I board a SkyTrain, some people are not happy about it. I have seen people swear under their breaths at the sight of me. Strangely, getting off never causes an issue.
  
• People hate giving up their priority seats on the bus, even for those who do not need it. Just ask this athletic guy. I could understand if they were elderly or have disabilities as well, but young and muscular athletic-looking people?
  
• Wheelchair users are often the scapegoat if the bus is late. This is true even if you boarded at the very first stop, during a layover WELL BEFORE it was about to leave. I have heard people who get upset at the bus being late saying, "It's because of the wheelchair" to their fellow passengers before – MANY times.
  
• Threats. For a variety of reasons: "making" someone late, or having to "make" someone move from a priority seat, or completely random reasons.
  

Bear in mind not all of these are guaranteed to happen, but at least one of them will likely happen during the next ten days.

Some may see this as "whining" but I do not particularly care because in society, every time someone with a disability points out a problem like this, they are immediately labeled as "whiners" – so it is nothing new.

But reading the above incidents (which occur regularly), don't you think I have a right to whine? There is no other group on public transit that receives the brunt of this abuse more than people with disabilities – not people with baby strollers, not people with bikes, not elderly people, not kids.

Unfortunately able-bodied people do not understand that and sometimes I fear they never will.

When I write something that upsets people, it is very predictable. There will be two groups: one that is very upset, and one that is in agreement. The former is often the able-bodied transit fans online and the latter is often people with disabilities or disability allies. And this pattern comes up EVERY TIME.

Quite often, someone from the disability community will tell me that it's hopeless to try to "educate" the able-bodied people (who I upset) about disability issues because they simply "will never get it."

I don't believe that. That is why this blog even exists. There needs to be a better understanding and awareness of people with disabilities on public transit, who seem to have a target on their backs simply because they chose the bus, SkyTrain, or SeaBus as their mode of transportation.

This may sound paranoid but think about what kind of situations I listed above. Right now there is very little understanding and quite a lot of hostility – and many the able-bodied people who are part of that do not even know that they are doing it. It is not always their fault but when they refuse to listen or learn more about what goes on, it effectively becomes a social barrier to inclusion.

This post will also upset a lot of people (as I expected with my previous post). I will be called a "whiner." I will likely be sworn at through e-mail (which is on the right, by the way, for the people with legitimate questions). Many people will unfollow me on Twitter. Some will block me.

But this is the cold hard truth. And the truth is never easy to take.

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month

This has little to do with public transit, but I would like to put it out there just the same – October is Disability Employment Awareness Month.

So it is with a touch of irony that my month started out with a phone call this morning cancelling my scheduled job interview for early this week because the interview and job locations are both inaccessible.

It is hardly the first time I have been denied a job (or a job interview) because of my disability. It has happened so often now that I'm no longer surprised. But that hardly dulls the disappointment and the general bad feelings that come along with this every time it happens.

One of the previous potential employers was outright discriminatory by saying, "We don't hire people in wheelchairs." That in itself is likely violating several discrimination laws. I could have reported him but if you are someone seeking a job, would you try to ruffle some feathers and cause future employers to wonder whether you are a loose cannon?

The more common situation is when they call you, schedule you for an interview, and then either decide or realize that they cannot accommodate you or make the workplace (or even interview location) accessible.

To be honest, that is what bothers me more than the overt discrimination I mentioned earlier.

It bothers me because it shows that there is a real lack of awareness of what is needed to make a workplace accessible. For example, if you see on a resume that the potential employee has first-hand experience with disability issues, it might not be a bad idea to consider whether your workplace is accessible or not. Or you can even send an e-mail to the potential employee, stating that it is for determining whether or not accommodations are possible.

But phoning up the employee, asking him/her the standard screening questions, scheduling an interview time, etc. but not even checking or considering the accessibility issues that are obviously involved – that is when it feels that there is a big gap between awareness and understanding. And to be told, "We have to cancel the interview; we can't hire you because our workplace isn't accessible" gives a much worse vibe than a call earlier saying, "We just want to check whether we can accommodate you. Can you please describe your abilities?"

With the latter quote, I would like to segway into the next biggest issue that I have found – the assumption of one's abilities. I have had previous interviews (not screening questions) where we did not touch on any of my job abilities at all, but rather what I can and cannot do as a person with a disability.

There were a lot of assumptions about that. Some of them sound like a bad joke. For example, I have been asked whether I can use a computer. Obviously I can: I run not only this blog but several others, my background is very much based in online work and multimedia, and I have full use of my hands and upper body. Despite my insistence, some employers were not convinced that I could use a computer because of my disability. Like I said, it sounds like a bad joke but it has happened before.

It is funny how I can take public transit as a wheelchair user going from the western edge of Metro Vancouver to the eastern edge all the way to Maple Ridge (something some able-bodied people would be hard-pressed to do without collapsing from exhaustion), but somebody will assume that I can't press a few keys on a computer!

If you are unsure of whether someone with a disability has the capability to do something, ask him/her. Think of it this way – if the person knows that he/she cannot do it, then why apply for the job in the first place? If someone needs accommodations for using a computer or something else, he/she will mention it; that person might even know which organizations are available to help the company in this process! I certainly do, and I don't need accommodations beyond ramps and elevators.

The key point in all of this is disability awareness. Awareness does not mean bending over backwards to make sure someone with a disability gets in the workplace, but rather being aware of what is expected when you encounter a potential employee with a disability, as well as what attitudes both sides should bring to the table.

To recap...

It is NOT offensive to contact the applicant to ask about his/her abilities, but it CAN be offensive if you book an interview time and make it appear as if things will go ahead before realizing you should have done that in the first place. Doing the latter makes the person feel like the employer is unaware about or unsympathetic to the idea of workplace inclusion and adds to the feeling that your company is inadvertently discriminating against people with disabilities.

Do NOT make assumptions about one's abilities. We know our own abilities, just like how most job applicants know if they are qualified for a job before applying. If there is an issue that could play a factor, we will mention it. This applies in real life as well.

The final and most important thing I will mention is if your company has an "equal opportunity employer" statement, be sure you follow it. While I am not a big fan of these statements (since ALL employers should technically be equal opportunity employers by law), there is nothing worse than seeing a statement like that and then seeing it ignored or violated. It makes the statement meaningless and simply a fashion accessory for the company.

This has been a rant by yours truly. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Invisible/subtle disabilities and transit: Not always a good mix!

As a wheelchair user, there are certain perks on public transit. The most obvious one is that we usually get loading priority as well as first dibs on the space at the front of the bus. It does not matter if there is a stroller or a walking person already in that place -- we trump everyone else.

The general hierarchy is generally, from top to bottom: wheelchair users, people with disabilities, the elderly, and those with strollers. To be honest, sometimes I do not feel very good about this hierarchy because it sometimes puts some people who actually need or deserve the priority seats at a disadvantage.

Before I go further, I have a confession to make. I can walk.

Okay, I cannot walk very well and it takes a lot out of me in terms of strength, energy and stamina (not to mention there is a significant risk of losing my balance and falling). But as long as I'm wearing my leg braces (sometimes accompanied by crutches), concentrating hard and going slowly, I can walk to a certain extent.

However, people often do not realize that not all wheelchair users are unable to walk. Some just have great difficulty walking or find that they cannot function fully without the use of a wheelchair or other assistive devices. Some may not need those devices but may have other limitations that restrict their physical abilities.

Where am I going with this? The other day, I boarded a 16 bus in downtown Vancouver heading towards Arbutus. A passenger boarded the bus and from my angle, it was quite obvious that she had some sort of condition that affected her muscles (my best guess was cerebral palsy). She had some difficulty with balance standing on board a jerky trolley bus and since her hands were affected, holding on to a pole was possible but still not optimal.

Since it was during peak hours, the bus filled up quite quickly and at one point, several elderly passengers came on board. Some healthy-looking young people did not surrender their seats for some reason (some were immersed in their Blackberries and some were even sleeping). Eventually the young woman gave up her spot since nobody else was doing it.

As the bus started to move, she tried to hold on to a pole but had difficulty doing so since the bus was absolutely packed. Since I was paying attention, it was obvious that it would be better for safety if she had a seat. However, people are so accustomed to giving their seats to people who are either visibly aged or use mobility devices that she was more or less ignored or overlooked.

Since there was a fold down seat in front of my wheelchair spot that would not impede me and I was getting off near the end of the route anyway, I immediately folded it down so I can offer it to her. Right away, someone thought, "Oooooh! A seat!" and tried to take the seat for himself. I had to assert myself at that point and say it was specifically for that woman. It was interesting how confused everyone looked; they did not understand why she would need a seat, until many stops later and after much visual scrutiny.

This is not the first time I've seen someone with an invisible or subtle disability ignored or overlooked. The most common situation in this category is younger people with conditions requiring more subtle assistive devices, such as a blind cane or walking cane. (Yes, some younger people have to use canes to get around too.) Theoretically they could ask for a seat, but this is Canada. We are often almost too polite to ask.

I guess the point of this story is to show that while it is a challenge to take public transit as a wheelchair user, it is a million times more challenging to do it as someone with an invisible or subtle disability because those people are often seen as "able-bodied" even if they use certain assistive devices. So if you are young and able-bodied and sitting on a priority seat, please stay alert (and awake) and be on the lookout for anyone who may need it.

P.S. -- other points:

• Even for wheelchair users, some people actually do not realize that they need to give up their seats. I have had to be assertive and actually tell them what to do (no matter how obvious it may be).
  
• I have tried going on public transit without a wheelchair before, wearing leg braces and using crutches. Not impossible but not something I ever want to do again.
  
• If you're young and able-bodied, please do not fall asleep in the priority seats. How do you know if someone needs them if you're unconscious?
  
• Know your bus: it makes things a lot smoother if you notice where the wheelchair seating spots are on the particular bus that you are on, so you know if you need to move.