Most people who know me, know that I went for knee surgery nearly two weeks ago. Since then, I have been in a straight leg brace and I am using crutches. I never realized how hard it is to use crutches!
Two days ago, I had to go to our Rochester office for business. Until then, I had been working at home and since I’m connected to HJMT‘s office printers and servers, it really was no problem conducting business from my home office. To make me feel like my home office is a “real office,” I even had some special staff appearances from Kristie Galvani, Lori Alexy, Allie Herzog and Mike Kytoski.
Going to the airport was a trip! I had car service pick me up and drive me to the Jet Blue terminal at JFK Airport. Once there, I asked one of the “red caps” to get me a wheelchair and I was on my way. Boy, the world looked so different from the rolling chair. Not only, did I feel that everyone was looking at me wondering what was wrong with me but when I went through the security check, it was more embarrassing because the security guards checked everything!
Once I got to the gate, I found out that my flight was delayed. “I’m sorry lady but I get off my shift at 9 pm, so I’m going to leave you here,” the “red cap” who pushed me through the airport said.
“Okay,” I said, “I’ll just sit somewhere close to the gate and I’ll be alright.” I gave the gentleman a five dollar bill and he was gone before I could blink an eye.
A half hour went by…. An hour went by…. I decided to get myself up on my crutches with my Vera Bradley backpack on my back to look at the board and see what was going on.
“Flight 36 to Rochester will now be at gate 14 not gate 2,” I heard the loudspeaker say.
I quickly hopped over to the nearest person who looked like he worked there. The first person I asked answered me with “No habla englis!” I hopped over to the next person who looked like he had some type of authority. “Where am I going and how far away?” I asked.
“Far…” and the next thing I knew, another “red cap” with a wheelchair quickly scooped me up and drove me to gate 14. “Here you are…” she said and left as quickly as she came!
I’m was sitting at gate 14, thinking that I have to go to the bathroom, but because I was in a brace and used the crutches and was so incredibly tired, there’s no way I would be able to make it. So I waited. I wait until the plane came in…
As I was sitting there, I started to think about really being disabled and how it must feel. My mother is disabled. She wasn’t always disabled. She has post polio syndrome and in recent years, it’s become more and more intense. She’s now in a scooter and when she visits New York, we always have to consider if a place is handicapped accessible or not.
After this experience, I’m getting a sense of what she goes through every day. Doing everything is a struggle from eating at a restaurant to going to a new business lead where the place isn’t handicapped accessible and there are stairs and long hallways galore!
I really look up to my mother! She’s such a strong woman and although she has all these physical problems she doesn’t let it stop her from doing what she wants to do! She is a really special person whom I admire.
I remember when the ADA (American’s with Disabilities Act) became a law in the early 90’s. I was working at Altro Health and Rehabilitation Services, an agency that helped people with psychiatric disabilities get job placement in competitive employment. (Altro later merged with Federated Employment Guidance Services or FEGS.) This passing of this law was very important to all of us.
Since then, I always felt I was an advocate for ADA. but after my mother started to suffer from her disorder, I became more and more supportive. When I saw someone who didn’t have a handicapped sticker park where he wasn’t supposed to, I would say something to him. Whenever I walked into a restaurant that wasn’t handicapped accessible, I wouldn’t go back, and I started to help various non-profit groups get exposure in the media. Some of my clients included: CURB, Coalition of Mainstream Employment Programs, United Spinal Association, UCP of Queens, the Guide Dog Foundation and more.
Now I have a little taste of what it’s like to be disabled. It gives me a greater understanding of the struggles that people go through every day when they are permanently disabled. And with that said, I would love to see our society do more for people with disabilities and be more aware of their struggles, so that we can try to make life easier for everyone!
