In a message dated 3/7/2002 5:56:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
> Way to go Betty ... changing one store in Alexandria will set you up for
> more
> successes later. I feel great whenever I ride over any of the 20 curb ramps
> I've gotten my city to install. And it makes me smile to know that other
> crips will be able to travel safely, comfortably... Soon I will travel
> further, notebook in hand, looking for more curbs the city needs to install
> curb ramps in. mag
>
By the time I needed curb ramps they were already there, thanks to people
like you. I am so glad you said this because I have to say that Alexandria,
for all my complaining about inaccessibility, is ramped. For the most part
it is. Old Town is a challenge for accessibility by design, but they have
done things to make it better.
It's the small business sector that is being left behind. Other than the
usual reasons businesses don't get around to creating accessiblity until they
are made to, many of these businesses are frustrated by the old construction.
Much of it is considered historical, and that's going to be protected. Even
if the individual business owners were willing to make structural
alterations, historical organizations wouldn't allow it. The ADA isn't going
to work in our favor on that score. Exclusion and public opinion make it
black letter.
There is a challenge there to be sure, and I don't even know how much I will
be able to do. When I look back, I can see that I've done a few little
things here, but there is so much more, and I really don't know how long I
will be able to hold out for what I want to do.
I've got to change the subject for a second. Yesterday it came to me that I
would not be able to give Bundy a good home forever. I didn't think it would
turn out this way, but things have changed too much this winter, and I can't
really take care of him properly anymore. He has gone to animal welfare
league, and they will keep him until they can find a suitable home for him.
I know them, they know birds, and the man who will take care of Bundy has two
parrots at home. He also has a number of contacts in the area so I'm
confident for Bundy.
I'm sick at heart though. I only want him back. I don't really care about
disability rights or anything else right now. These things still need to be
done, but right now I'm not as interested in this as I would like to pretend.
I just want by kid back.
That doesn't mean I didn't pay attention to your post, Mag. One of the first
things I noticed living in disability land was that because of other people's
hard work, I could move around town easily. Really, the hard work is done on
so many fronts. The way has been paved for people to talk about disability
access more easily now, it seems. I can walk in a store and introduce
myself as someone who advocates for people with disabilities, and get
attention. That doesn't mean I'm going to get results but it's got to be a
whole lot easier to cold contact somebody in this way now, than it was twenty
or thirty years ago.
Betty
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