#but i don't think they'd appreciate me parking in the cart bay | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bread-tab · 2 years

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i'm in love with scooters

today i went grocery shopping after work and used one of the motorized scooter carts for the first time.

i walked in, realized i was there for more than two items, and turned around to get a cart. Lo and behold, there were like ten scooter carts sitting there with no one using them.

i hesitated.

my hip joints nudged me and whispered, "yo, wanna see us race to find out which one can dislocate faster?"

i sat.

being a responsible driver, i read all the instructions before turning on the cart. and then, like an intellectual, nearly backed into a wall instead of going forward.

it really made me think about the accessibility of grocery stores. I.E., i had to stand up at one point to to reach a bag of chips. what if i didn't have any legs? no chips for the legless. (or, idk, you get really good at using those grabby claw things.)

at one point i was like, man, i wish these things went faster. i could walk much quicker than this. and i said to myself, would you rather be walking?

no.

would you be more likely to run over some toddler or innocent old person if it did go faster?

...yeah.

i reconciled myself to a steady 2 mph.

zooming around would probably drain the battery, anyway. i reflected on how much it might cost the store to charge and maintain these things. and then i realized i'd been in there twice as long as i would have stayed otherwise and had ice cream and milano cookies in my cart which i wouldn't have gotten if i was in pain. so that's probably a net profit

the logistics of using the self check out machine was different. i had to lean way forward over the controls to unload my groceries and then back up approximately fourteen inches to get my receipt.

an employee came over and helped me pack up the groceries which was good because they were a little hard to reach. there was one of those little check-signing surfaces at approximately my eye level that i had to awkwardly reach around. (i'm used to being short. i'm not used to being that short.)

i've been eying the scooter carts with longing every time i go into a store for...uh... years, at this point, but holding off because i "only" had ortho hypo, and i also have social anxiety which gives me imposter syndrome about just walking into a store on my own two feet. and i've heard too many horror stories of disabled people being mistreated because they didn't "look" disabled enough to be using such accomodations.

but I've been having pretty bad joint pain (i blame the wildfire smoke) and i figured if anyone gave me shit about it i could just be like "my hips dislocate when i walk :)))"

and you know what? nobody gave a shit! in fact, on my way through the parking lot, two separate people approached and politely asked if i needed help getting things into my car.

i'm glad i overcame the nervousness and did something kind for myself. and i think i needed reminding that most people are nice.

#i did feel a little weird walking back to my car after that but that's the imposter syndrome talking #if i couldn't walk at all i wouldn't have been able to get into the store where the scooter was in the first place #which is a whole different problem #if you think about it a car is basically a big wheelchair #and my car is technically probably small enough to squeeze through the automatic doors #but i don't think they'd appreciate me parking in the cart bay #disabilityblogging #breadtab life #orthostatic hypotension #unidentified joint problem #positivity #assistive devices #swearing

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