Briefly: On The Importance Of Word Order
Feb. 25th, 2010 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinPop quiz:
Q.: What's the difference between someone you see using a device to assist their mobility or an accommodation for people with disabilities who doesn't obviously need it and one who obviously doesn't need it?
A.: Nothing that you can tell by looking.
Therefore, if you find yourself saying something along the lines of "It makes me mad when I see someone using a wheelchair/motorized cart/priority bus seat when they obviously don't need it." or "Motorized carts are fine for people who need them, but most of the people I see using them are just lazy", you might want to stop talking as the sounds that are coming out of your mouth are clearly gibberish and you're in danger of embarrassing yourself.
For extra credit:
Q.: Under what circumstances is it appropriate to mock/snark/judge/stare at/comment on/interrogate somebody using such an accommodation or assistive device?
A.: Never.
Not even if you've seen the same person walk, stand unaided for a long period of time, or dance a merry jig... the world doesn't divide neatly into perfectly able-bodied people and people who need devices to aid their mobility all the time. You don't know what it cost that person to dance a jig or why it was worth it to them to do so. You don't know what trade-offs they're making every time they decide to do something you do for granted or accept what assistance is available.
If you judge someone for using a scooter or cane after you saw them go ballroom dancing, what is the lesson that you (as one small part of a larger society that is also sending this message) are sending people? That some people have fun and other people have wheelchairs, but nobody gets to have both?
Not even if the person is fat, to a degree that you--with your in-depth medical training and ability to take in a person's medical history with a glance--have determined is unhealthy, their fault, and easily fixed by anyone with willpower. Seriously. You don't know why your fellow shoppers might be using a motorized cart. You don't know why their bodies are shaped like they are. The only thing those two things are guaranteed to have in common is that neither one is any of your business*.
Not even if you're doing it in private, at home, with only one other person who knows that you don't have any prejudice against those with disabilities and wouldn't be mocking/judging without good reason. First, even if you're alone you're not doing this in isolation. You're participating in (and reinforcing and spreading) a larger meme, one that has actual consequences for real people. Second, your judgment does not magically become more insightful, necessary, or appropriate just because you waited to get home to express it. Third, if you couldn't conceal your scorn any longer than it took you to get to an audience you know will be sympathetic and appreciative of it, what makes you think you were concealing it that well in the first place?
The fat person on the scooter at Wal-Mart, the person without any crutches or cane who plops down in the priority seat, the person who explains how their chronic pain, depression, or anxiety disorder impacts their life one day while talking about how much fun they had doing A Thing That People Do the next day... these are all pretty much considered to be "socially acceptable targets". Snarking them isn't being edgy, it's buying into a mindset that is relentlessly mainstream and conformist. Someone calling you on snarking them isn't calling "The PC Police" on you or oppressing you... if marginalized people did have a police force and the power to oppress, they wouldn't be marginalized.
*I say "guaranteed" because someone might point out that the two things could be related; i.e., the same medical condition that limits mobility might be directly or indirectly contributing to the individual's weight. But you know what? It's still nobody else's businesses, and a person doesn't need that kind of "excuse" to be fat and have a disability at the same time.
Q.: What's the difference between someone you see using a device to assist their mobility or an accommodation for people with disabilities who doesn't obviously need it and one who obviously doesn't need it?
A.: Nothing that you can tell by looking.
Therefore, if you find yourself saying something along the lines of "It makes me mad when I see someone using a wheelchair/motorized cart/priority bus seat when they obviously don't need it." or "Motorized carts are fine for people who need them, but most of the people I see using them are just lazy", you might want to stop talking as the sounds that are coming out of your mouth are clearly gibberish and you're in danger of embarrassing yourself.
For extra credit:
Q.: Under what circumstances is it appropriate to mock/snark/judge/stare at/comment on/interrogate somebody using such an accommodation or assistive device?
A.: Never.
Not even if you've seen the same person walk, stand unaided for a long period of time, or dance a merry jig... the world doesn't divide neatly into perfectly able-bodied people and people who need devices to aid their mobility all the time. You don't know what it cost that person to dance a jig or why it was worth it to them to do so. You don't know what trade-offs they're making every time they decide to do something you do for granted or accept what assistance is available.
If you judge someone for using a scooter or cane after you saw them go ballroom dancing, what is the lesson that you (as one small part of a larger society that is also sending this message) are sending people? That some people have fun and other people have wheelchairs, but nobody gets to have both?
Not even if the person is fat, to a degree that you--with your in-depth medical training and ability to take in a person's medical history with a glance--have determined is unhealthy, their fault, and easily fixed by anyone with willpower. Seriously. You don't know why your fellow shoppers might be using a motorized cart. You don't know why their bodies are shaped like they are. The only thing those two things are guaranteed to have in common is that neither one is any of your business*.
Not even if you're doing it in private, at home, with only one other person who knows that you don't have any prejudice against those with disabilities and wouldn't be mocking/judging without good reason. First, even if you're alone you're not doing this in isolation. You're participating in (and reinforcing and spreading) a larger meme, one that has actual consequences for real people. Second, your judgment does not magically become more insightful, necessary, or appropriate just because you waited to get home to express it. Third, if you couldn't conceal your scorn any longer than it took you to get to an audience you know will be sympathetic and appreciative of it, what makes you think you were concealing it that well in the first place?
The fat person on the scooter at Wal-Mart, the person without any crutches or cane who plops down in the priority seat, the person who explains how their chronic pain, depression, or anxiety disorder impacts their life one day while talking about how much fun they had doing A Thing That People Do the next day... these are all pretty much considered to be "socially acceptable targets". Snarking them isn't being edgy, it's buying into a mindset that is relentlessly mainstream and conformist. Someone calling you on snarking them isn't calling "The PC Police" on you or oppressing you... if marginalized people did have a police force and the power to oppress, they wouldn't be marginalized.
*I say "guaranteed" because someone might point out that the two things could be related; i.e., the same medical condition that limits mobility might be directly or indirectly contributing to the individual's weight. But you know what? It's still nobody else's businesses, and a person doesn't need that kind of "excuse" to be fat and have a disability at the same time.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Another Perspective
on 2010-02-25 10:28 pm (UTC)In our store we have 6 of the mechanical carts. And it's very frustrating when a customer who does need the cart can't get one because they are all in use. And without a doubt there are people who do take the carts who don't need them. It's not my place (or anyones place) to judge who does or doesn't need the cart, but at least it is recognized that it does happen. It happens a lot less then people complain about though, as people are wont to complain about anything. I've had to discipline associates in the past for issues relating to this topic, and I am with you 100% that it isn't ANYONES place to judge who needs the carts. The only person who can judge that is the person themselves.
To me people using the chairs who don't need them is something you need to treat like theft in the store, and by that I mean it's something that you recognize does happens but that it should never change how you treat any of the customers. People steal, but I'm not going to treat my customers like thieves; just as some people use the carts that don't need to, but that is neither a reason nor a justification to make that judgement or to ever treat the customer any differently.
There is no way to really tell what someones real need is, nor would I want there to be. Only an individual can judge whether the cart is necessary. I just think those people who don't need the carts that use them anyways really should think about who else they might be hurting.
Re: Another Perspective
on 2010-02-25 10:37 pm (UTC)The frustration is that there isn't enough carts to go around. The idea that this is the fault of people who are lazy/greedy/not actually needing them is just supposition. It might be true at any given time, but it's hard to do any good entertaining that viewpoint and easy to do harm.