After 11.333 years of observing life from a different vantage point, I've learned that most modern conveniences are really not that convenient. Take parking decks for example.
They're great things for cities or hospitals or other places that see a large traffic volume but have limited land spaces for parking. But evidently they're expensive to build, and companies hope to recoup some of the costs through parking fees. There's nothing wrong with that. It makes good business sense. But the modern method of using machinery to speed things up creates a problem for disabled drivers.
You drive up, roll down your window, and either pull a tab of paper or else press a button to get a tab. Seems simple enough. But it's not if your fingers don't work. Every time we go somewhere that has one of these things, it requires me getting out of the passenger side, crossing over in front of the van (and making sure your spouse is not mad at you before you do :)), grabbing the ticket while the person in the exit booth is staring at you trying to figure out what on earth is happening, crawling back in the car, and trying not to notice the line that has formed behind you while this few second ordeal takes place. Exiting is somewhat easier as you don't have to grab things, though trying to handle paper and money while maintaining balance in the seat or wheelchair is still a chore.
And the reality is, as long as there is a passenger riding with a disabled driver, it is not a big deal. Yet this is one of those silly things that stress me out. How stupid is that? It's not that hard to do; I understand the reasoning behind the process, and yet it always seems to frustrate me. Perhaps I worry too much about what the ticket person is thinking about us, or the agitated people behind us. They could easily employ a person to hand the tickets out upon entry and lift the gate as they do at exit. Yes, it would take more time and slow things down and require hiring another person, but it would make the process a little more humane and disability friendly, not to mention assisting a little with the unemployment rate.
Not that anyone ever asks me for my opinion. :)
You drive up, roll down your window, and either pull a tab of paper or else press a button to get a tab. Seems simple enough. But it's not if your fingers don't work. Every time we go somewhere that has one of these things, it requires me getting out of the passenger side, crossing over in front of the van (and making sure your spouse is not mad at you before you do :)), grabbing the ticket while the person in the exit booth is staring at you trying to figure out what on earth is happening, crawling back in the car, and trying not to notice the line that has formed behind you while this few second ordeal takes place. Exiting is somewhat easier as you don't have to grab things, though trying to handle paper and money while maintaining balance in the seat or wheelchair is still a chore.
And the reality is, as long as there is a passenger riding with a disabled driver, it is not a big deal. Yet this is one of those silly things that stress me out. How stupid is that? It's not that hard to do; I understand the reasoning behind the process, and yet it always seems to frustrate me. Perhaps I worry too much about what the ticket person is thinking about us, or the agitated people behind us. They could easily employ a person to hand the tickets out upon entry and lift the gate as they do at exit. Yes, it would take more time and slow things down and require hiring another person, but it would make the process a little more humane and disability friendly, not to mention assisting a little with the unemployment rate.
Not that anyone ever asks me for my opinion. :)
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