Out of Sight, Out of Mind...Literally

The Philadelphia Eagles just signed a player who ran into and possibly knocked over a 66-year-old woman in a wheelchair last year after the Super Bowl as he ran to join his brother on the field.  This made the news because he has been indicted on the charge of something like "endangering a senior citizen" or "endangering a disabled person." 

I suspect few of us, even those of us who are disabled know such laws even exist. That is, not if we note how our environment is set up to be only marginally friendly to able-bodied let alone disabled  and elderly people, (unless you have a car). Check it out in your town. 

- When it snows, how easy is it for you to navigate on foot if you're a fully able-bodied person? What percentage of the sidewalks are cleared? How easy is it to get to the street from the possibly shoveled sidewalks?

- If you are walking along a sidewalk, how many obstacles do you encounter or rather, would you encounter if you could not nimbly avoid them? (bushes and tree limbs that hang over the walkway, trash cans and toys left in the path, cars parked on sidewalks, etc.)

- How helpful are traffic lights?  If they have a button to push to cross, how long does it take for the light to change, if it changes at all?  How much time do you have to get across?  Can you make it without running or walking very quickly?  If you couldn't see, could you tell when the light actually changed?

- How easy is it for you, able-bodied to navigate public buildings?  Are directions to where you want to go clear?

If we are honest, we will admit we do not do particularly well preparing for and interacting with disabled and older people.  For the most part, members of these groups are not seen.  There are a few tokens in TV shows, even sometimes in significant roles.  But often these roles are played by able-bodied actors or young performers in make-up.  That was true when I was a kid 50 years ago and it is only a little less true today.

It takes a little while for a bus driver to help a wheelchair user to get on and off a bus, so for many these riders are a nuisance.  An automobile  driver sees a blind person or cane or wheelchair user and will either speed up to get past before the person starts to cross or will stop short so the offender knows full well the driver is being inconvenienced.  

I am not totally defending the action of the new Eagles signee, but I can understand.  In his enthusiasm, he didn't see the woman who was already invisible, the recipient of the largess of special parking, seating, and other benefits people are not sure are deserved or needed.

Maybe this case will help disabled and older persons become more visible, but I don't count on it.  Unemployment rates for disabled persons are high.  Many older workers find work only as greeters or baggers.  I've lived with these challenges all my life.  Those I have sympathy for are those who did not know they could be on the receiving end of thoughtless snow plowers, poorly synchronized traffic signals, hazardous sidewalks.  They will feel the blows.  I just hope they are angry enough to get something done for the rest of us whose efforts are generally dismissed as "just call Uber or Lyft."