Wheelchair Grumbles

[davidgillon]

Wrapped up the eBay chair last night (bubblewrap and clingfilm), and damn-near killed myself just getting it from the lounge to the hall (having necessarily bubble-wrapped and clingfilmed the wheels in place). My god, that's an awkward package - only practical grip was to pick it up by the footplate and dangle it in front of me. God knows how eBay expect me to get it to the Post Office, my facetious 'balanced on my head' actually looks like the most practical method available!

I filled in the eBay Customer Service feedback form immediately afterwards. I snarked.

Current situation with eBay and picking up the return is the US eBay twitter team have prevailed on the UK side to look into it again. UK eBay's initial response was 'didn't the vendor say they would pick it up in message X', to which my reply was "message X actually says 'OMG you're three hours drive away, I can't do that'" and I'm waiting for a response.

I was explaining this to friends at lunch today and remarked "the only people I could ask are sitting round this table" - one works in London, one isn't really close enough to ask favours of, and in any case spends a lot of time babysitting his grandchild in London when he isn't haring all over the South East ringing bells, one is even less able to carry it than I am, and her husband said "I can do it if you need me to, but it'll have to be this week". It'll have to be 'this week' because next week is when he has his bone-marrow transplant, which is precisely why I'm not asking him under any circumstances!

And it's depressing going back to the old chair, it's so inefficient and uncomfortable and clunky in comparison to the eBay one, even though that was the wrong size :(

And what is it about wheelchairs that terrifies pedestrians? I was wheeling back to the car, someone came out of a doorway a good six feet in front of me, saw me, flinched two feet sideways and said "Sorry!" before giving me a wide berth! I was parked a little further out than usual and the two friends who were heading back that way actually decided to follow me back to the car after I'd said goodbye even though it's off their direct route home. Aw, sweet!

(Edited because apparently my spelling now sucks!)

Comments

[capri0mni]

And it's depressing going back to the old chair, it's so ineffecient and uncomfortable and clunky in comparison to the eBay one, even though that was the wrong size :(


Been There. Done That. My Condolences.

And what is it about wheelchairs that terrifies pedestrians?

I have no idea. But that sort of reaction is what inspired my "Monster on Wheels" icon.

[davidgillon]

that sort of reaction is what inspired my "Monster on Wheels" icon.

Aha! And {grimace}

[capri0mni]

Well, that was part of my inspiration.

I came up with the original design as a tee-shirt for a five-year old kid (my aide's other client), who is non-verbal, and has slow reflexes, so he had no real defense against adults patting his head and calling him a "little angel."

... meanwhile, his favorite humor is the Three Stooges, and his favorite spectator sport is Monster Trucks -- he's no angel. I figure he needed a warning label/truth in advertising. ;-)

[davidgillon]

Nods approval!

I've only had the patting on the head thing once. I was too damned startled to take his hand off at the elbow! Anyone else who tries it is likely to regret it.

A friend actually got patted by a senior government minister - IDS, the one with ultimate responsibility for disabled people. He knew she was one of the leading disability campaigners, opposed to everything he stands for, and he patted her and told her 'it'll be all right'. Condescending arsehole.

[capri0mni]

Hey, don't insult decent body parts by comparison with self-serving ignoramuses!

[maramcreates]

I'm sorry that eBay is being ridiculous about all of this. You'd think that any reasonable person would see that an accommodation was in order.

I take meds for adhd, and the single most important one (that helps me stay on top of things, executive functioning-wise) requires that I physically pick up a paper script from my dr's office every month and the hand deliver it to a pharmacy that has it in stock (which varies, and if they all need to order it, then that can take a while depending on the national supply). No refills or multi-month fills allowed. It would be difficult *even if* I didn't have adhd, and as it stands I often have to go weeks without the med while I refill it. Bah!

[davidgillon]

I've heard of other acquaintances having near identical problems, both here and in the States, but to have them with ADHD on top, for the ADHD medication?! That's definitely Murphy's Law at work.

[capri0mni]

Nope. Not Murphy's Law -- deliberately penned Anti-Drug laws. 'Cause it's more important to keep drugs away from people who don't need them than it is to make them accessible to people who do.

[maramcreates]

Well said!
And: nor are these measures particularly effective.

[capri0mni]

They're not even benignly ineffective -- they actually make drug-based crime more prevalent and harmful!

[kaberett]

As best I can tell, they're used to attendant-propelled chairs which have shit for manouevering, are incredibly cumbersome, and while they're slow they also have Momentum. So they expect you to be moving slowly enough that they can blithely step in front of you and you won't have to brake hard -- but they also expect you to be incompetent enough to run them over. WHO KNOWS.

[davidgillon]

Ha! Though this time I was in fact out of the chair and using it as a walker - long uphill stretch. And he still jumped sideways.

Anyway, while I have you on the subject of chairs...

My friends were asking about power-assisted chairs at lunch today. Bit of essential background: They're both in their early 60s, she's a part-time chair user of long standing (polio, wears a caliper, walks with sticks). The chairs they've had have been manual self-propelled, folding, same kind of thing I'm stuck with at the moment. But when she uses it she doesn't do much in the way of pushing, he's always done it for her. I'm not sure whether she actually has the strength to push herself effectively. They're now at a point where they can't necessarily rely on him being able to push, so were asking about power-assisted options, mostly trying to figure out how stuff works rather than looking for specific recommendations at this stage

I mentioned the eMotions, and the RGK version with a separate push-rim, plus that there are the clamp-on auxiliary setups. Anything you can think I'm missing? He was suggesting he'd prefer something he could control, she wasn't quite as convinced. I didn't think to warn them about the weight, so I definitely need to send them a follow-up, probably with a few links.

[kaberett]

Alber eMotions are the bigger heavier version -- longer range, longer battery-life, and consequently heavier batteries. There's a lighter-weight less-adjustable version called the twion, and the other thing to look at is efix. (Website!)

Otherwise, yeah, clamp-on auxiliary set-ups -- or looking into getting a fully powered chair & adapted vehicle.

Nothing else immediately springs to mind, alas!

[davidgillon]

Ooh, thanks for that! I hadn't realised Albers have more than one option.

I'm really not certain what's best for their situation, need to think about it some more.

[jesse_the_k]

Yeah, when you travel in disability rights circles running errands can get nasty. Hope your pal's bone marrow transplant goes well.

Wheelchair flinching is SO annoying. A minority of humans seem driven to perform I've noticed something/someone is different! Whether it's sweeping wide on the pavement, or becoming wallpaper in the hallways, or shouting at me, "Stop! Wait! I have to hold the door for you!"

But then I know I've performed, I'm so sorry to have insulted you so let's spend the next ten minutes talking about how sorry I am! Not proud, mind you. Humans, what can you do?

[slashmarks]

Re: the wheelchair thing, I can't speak for abled people but I tend to give people in wheelchairs a wide birth because I'm chronically clumsy and bad at keeping track of where my body is, let alone my mobility implements, and I would hate to trip into someone's lap or accidentally hit them with a crutch.

Then again I try to give people who aren't in wheelchairs a wide berth for much the same reason. TBH I'm a little weirded out by the idea of *not* doing that with strangers, but I have a vague sense personal space norms are different between the US and the UK.

[davidgillon]

I don't know what personal space norms are in the US, but 8 feet+ certainly isn't normal in the UK!

I'd expect exactly the same space you would give anyone else, weithin the restrictions of the chair being a touch wider than most people (though not as wide as I was on crutches).