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Same thing with ESA dogs. Because that was abused, the public is now not as able to declare they "need" their dog. Really? Prove it.
Well, that's a whole different (and somewhat complex) discussion... ESAs aren't given the same rights as service animals, but neither are required to show proof unless they're flying. And that is Federal ADA law in the US, so there is no negotiating on the details. They're very clear.
Both the city and school bus drivers, do an incredible job of serving the public. As a former bus commuter, I saw them work hard every day. Todays busses are large and cumbersome. They are our heroes!
As for this particular situation, I am just not sure. Most of the busses I rode had more than one wheelchair spot. Not sure if this woman had some sort of disability herself. Not enough information. I am sorry the wheelchair passenger had to wait for the next bus; I have seen that happen when the wheelchair spaces were already taken.
I live in the Phoenix area and we have a good number of wheelchair passengers because of the generally dry and sunny weather [the summers are HOT though].
However, unlike poster #10, who lives in a city where he/she supposes the busses run 10 minutes apart, where I live, the regular daily routes run way less frequently than that. I do not know bus frequency in Gardena, CA, hopefully another bus came along within 30 minutes.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 13 days ago)
35,646 posts, read 18,006,664 times
Reputation: 50687
Quote:
Originally Posted by simplepeace
If, if, if.... what IF it were your grandmother/ mother/ uncle who just decided to get on the bus one day in her dementia filled mind? Where is COMPASSION and kindness for mentally ill people? Actually I really wish they would have called police “for her safety”.
My grandfather could have died wandering when he snuck the car out in the fall to watch football practice 3 blocks away.
Luckily it was a small town and someone was KIND enough to look for their address in the glove box, and he allowed the guy to drive my GF home after practice. Yes, they locked up the keys and doors after that for the few months until he had to go into care. It happens fast....
This is NOT about entitled people with fake ESA dogs.
This may be a real wake-up call for her family. If she is unable to process a request (that appeared to have been made in both English and Spanish) to switch seats, she herself is not safe in public.
Often it takes families a situation like this, to realize their family member needs more help/support than they are getting.
In Vancouver, WA it's a law you MUST make room....They'd have had the cops out and on her fast...
They are not going to arrest one disabled person to make room for another. Period. If they wanted to do that or felt they had the moral high ground, they would have done that. They didn't. Not only does it appear that she suffers from some form of dementia, it has been reported that she also DID NOT APPEAR TO UNDERSTAND ENGLISH.
So here we have an elderly woman suffering from dementia, who, according to the bus staff, appeared to be frightened and confused. Not entitled. Not "a prick". Not an "a$$". A frightened and confused old woman alone on a bus.
And you guys want to pillory her. The milk of human kindness has clearly curdled in some of us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KCZ
Speaking as a disabled person, I find it really offensive to be told I need to carry a placard around and pull it out to proclaim my disability to everyone in sight. I, and many other disabled people, work very hard every day to minimize the effects of our disability so we can take care of ourselves and not inconvenience anyone else. Maybe we should all wear scarlet "D's" on our chests as well.
Speaking as a disabled person, there is no such thing as a "disabled placard" ON TOP of the above. Maybe we should start wearing gold stars. So you healthy people can pick us out in a crowd and shoot us first. Pretty soon that would open up all those disabled/elderly seats for the only ones who REALLY deserve to ride a bus - young healthy folks.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 13 days ago)
35,646 posts, read 18,006,664 times
Reputation: 50687
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyewackette
They are not going to arrest one disabled person to make room for another. Period. If they wanted to do that or felt they had the moral high ground, they would have done that. They didn't. Not only does it appear that she suffers from some form of dementia, it has been reported that she also DID NOT APPEAR TO UNDERSTAND ENGLISH.
So here we have an elderly woman suffering from dementia, who, according to the bus staff, appeared to be frightened and confused. Not entitled. Not "a prick". Not an "a$$". A frightened and confused old woman alone on a bus.
And you guys want to pillory her. The milk of human kindness has clearly curdled in some of us.
On the video, there was someone speaking spanish to her.
If she has such dementia she can truly not understand the situation, then she's a danger to herself and would be at great risk going out in public alone. As she was on that bus, where it was about to come to blows.
On the video, there was someone speaking spanish to her.
If she has such dementia she can truly not understand the situation, then she's a danger to herself and would be at great risk going out in public alone. As she was on that bus, where it was about to come to blows.
That's true. It DOES NOT make her evil, or an "a$$", or a prick, or "entitled", or any of the other pejorative terms people have been throwing around.
The rush to judgment is awful. I hope none of these folks ever get on a jury.
You should look first with the eyes of compassion, not the sword of vengeance.
Thanks, Cloudy. I haven't ridden a bus since I was a child, so I have no idea how the seating works today. She could have done the nice thing and changed her seat, but she was within her rights not to. The angry passengers should learn to control themselves in public. Speak if you must, but don't shout and threaten seniors. We live in an angry, "me first" world.
This type of thing didn't happen when I was a kid either. First because no transit busses were wheelchair accessible at that time. Even if the person could have gotten out of their wheelchair and climbed the steps to get on the bus, there was no place to stow their wheelchair. They were SOL. Which was very unfortunate, because many of them were working and paying taxes for public transit service that they couldn't even use.
So it was a good thing when they started making transit service accessible. But it created a lot of problems too. First, all of the seats that had traditionally been reserved for seniors and disabled people were turned in to fold up seats to make room for wheelchairs. So when two wheelchair passengers ride at the same time, it throws all the other seniors and disabled people out of their seats. Which is the problem you see in this video.
Then the problem got even worse when they started switching to low floor buses, to eliminate the wheelchair lift. That eliminated all of the seating over the bus wheels. Nowadays the busses have remarkably less seats than they used to. Which creates the problem of so many passengers having to stand, which you can see in this video.
I think they made a big mistake when they started making busses wheelchair accessible. They should have just provided segregated door to door van service for all wheelchair passengers. That would have been cheaper and would have provided better service for everybody involved. But that will never happen now. We are too far down this road now.
Then there is the matter of the angry passengers like those. It just makes me happy that I don't have to use transit service anymore.
One minority making life hell for another. If she were a white woman, she would be called a racist. Rosa Parks is rolling over in her grave.
Why make every single issue about race? Two human beings regardless of color. This woman was not making life hell for anyone. What does people of color being made to move to the back of the bus during Rosa Park's lifetime have to do with this incident? What if it had been two white people - what difference would it have made? One would still be sitting in a wheelchair waiting to board the bus and the other would be sitting there refusing to give up her seat.
The woman, like so many others have sensibly pointed out, may have been disabled in someway herself and even if she wasn't, those seats are for the disabled and SENIORS. She was not legally obligated to give up her seat, but it would have been nice if she had been gracious about it and done so. Who made those passengers the "bus police?" They had no right to berate the woman and threaten her.
The man in the wheelchair would have had to wait for the next bus if both wheelchair areas were occupied and this situation was no different: one spot was already taken by a wheelchair-bound passenger and the other spot by a senior. It is unlikely that the next bus would have both areas occupied, but that is a chance you take when you ride public transportation.
Hindsight is 20/20, but I wonder if one of the passengers who were actually kind enough to make room for her had also gotten up and approached her with a smile while offering an arm for assistance.. well I just wonder if it would have been a better day for all involved.
On camera, she did appear to be a jerk, and there are so many out there these days, but after reading all of your opinions, the above is what I came up with.
It's been a long time since I rode in a bus but the ones I did ride & that were wheelchair accessible had clear signs stating people were to move it a wheelchair was in use. These seats are designed to fold up and have seat belts for the driver to secure the wheelchair.
If a person refused to move and caused such a rucus, she should have been told to get off the bus and if she refused, call the police to get her off. I don't care if she's an elder. These are the ONLY seats available to wheelchairs. They don't have choices, she did.
The sign over her seat clearly says reserved for seniors and people with disabilities, which she is probably both. I agree she should have moved to another seat, but she was under no legal obligation. That is why the bus driver and his supervisor allowed her to remain in the seat. She was probably hoping they would call the cops and had her removed. Then she would have sued them for violating her rights.
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