My pet peeves

[Andrew Bichard]

I thought I would add a few new peeves, some serious, some not so serious.

Having the top of your bald head patted by a passing genie at the Morocco pavillion.

Rides I cannot get on (I cannot transfer out of my wheelchair). – Test Track, BTMR, Space Mountain, Pirates of Caribbean, AK raft ride, AK Dinosaur ride, Jungle Cruise (whatever happened to the wheelchair accessible boat announced about this time last year? Is it in service yet?)

Rides I can get on, but wouldn’t for a bet. (I ‘ll let you guess which one).

Smokers who think a cupped hand is a ‘designated smoking area’ and walk ahead of me leaving a smoke trail at wheelchair head height.

The person walking in front of you on the way out of Epcot who spots a photo opportunity at Spaceship Earth and stops in front of you while she directs the rest of her family into a group for the photo.

The person in front of you who starts walking backwards towards you, to get all her family and Spaceship Earth into her photo.

The family who say nothing whilst their photographer backs up and falls into your lap.

Being accosted by strange characters in furry suits at International Gateway, of whom you have no idea whatsoever who they are!

The seagulls at the Boardwalk.

Helicopter tours circling overhead while you try to relax at the pool.

Andrew

 

[welovedis]

FIRST-Please let me say that I agree about the use of the handicapped stall/restroom. I have only used it one time for, my then 3 yo, DS who was about to mess his pants & all the other stalls were taken. He went quickly & we left the stall immediately. I would not use one normally because my thought is that someone who needs may come in directly behind me & have to wait longer than I would wait for a "regular" stall.

That being said, I take some offense to the comment

"Btw mom's are taking boys up to around 10 to the ladies room now on the premise that it is too dangerous to allow them to go to the bathroom by themselves. Methinks these women are paranoid."

Being that my son is only 4 1/2 yo, I have no idea what will happen when he is ten, but if I want to bring him in a restroom with me then I will. Some of the restrooms in many places, including WDW, have more than one exit. I would hope that when he is ten he will be fine on his own, but things have changed in our society & don't think I am paranoid because I feel safer making a different choice.

Don't want this to turn into a debate, just wanted to comment about the stalls & the age comment.

 

[JudithM]

Karen, I agree with your comment -" things have changed in our society & don't think I am paranoid because I feel safer making a different choice." Well said!

 

[Jaimee]

Karen I agree with you also, if a mother feels unsafe letting her child go into a restroom alone she should be able to bring him with her. I do take offense to the implication that there is something wrong with me for going into a stall with my 3 year old. He does know how to use the potty by himself at home and at school, but I'd rather go in with him if he needs any help. We do not have a latch on our bathroom door at home so I don't know that he'd be able to get out of the stall by himself, or if he'd have to crawl under the door or something to get out. Again, the issue was the handicapped stall, I stated my view in an my previous post....I admit to using it in some instances when it was unoccupied to help DS, but realize we should not be using the stall and will practice that in the future.

 

[lisapooh]

Sorry I can't agree with you but if our 3 yo special ed children can handle these stalls, any normal child of the same age can do it. Our kids are autistic, mentally handicapped, blind, deaf and a few physically impaired. A few are very tiny but still handle the stalls quite well. (1 deaf child who was the size of a 18 month old that we potty trained at school)
If you are worried that they can't operate the latch then do as most parents did in the past. Hold the door shut yourself.
As to bringing older boys into the ladies rest room. Would you send your same age daughter into the men's room with her father. If you wouldn't do that then your son is too old to be in the ladies room. Enough said. This doesn't include children with special needs although the companion restroom are a better solution and more need to be available.

 

[welovedis]

Oh boy-looks like this is a different can of worms.

Jaimee--I am in total agreement with you about being in the stall. I choose to stay in there while in public so that in case he needs help with anything, I am there. This is my choice & don't think that position needs to be defended. I run a daycare with infants, toddlers & pre-schoolers plus school-age children & their needs are all different no matter what their ages. Sometime they ask for help & sometimes they don't. At home I am always right outside that bathroom door in case they need help. In public restrooms make the choice to stay in the stall with him & he is 4 1/2! Can be there by himself-yes, Do I choose to let him in a different, public place--no.

lisapooh--Comparing men's & ladies rooms are like comparing apples & oranges. Urinals are right there out in the open & much less discreet than the stalls in women's restrooms. That being said, yes, my DH has taken my 9yo niece in the men's room with him at a local mall when he took her for some Christmas shopping for her mom. They discussed it ahead of time & she said her dad just says to look at the floor or close your eyes. Not a perfect solution, but the best he had at the time. There was no way he was going to leave her outside the restroom at that age. Perhaps his hearing impairment made him feel that way, but obviously her dad would not leave her by herself either.

So I guess like I said before, society is very different now & just because someone chooses to do something that they feel is safer does not make them paranoid.

Getting back to your discussion about your pet peeves, I think we all agree the handicapped stall is for the those who need it, and should only be used in case of an emergency for someone who doesn't need the handicapped features.

 

[Jaimee]

Lisapooh...I'm not sure how many children you have (you keep refering to them as "all of our" children) but I'm sure every child is different. If I don't want my 3 year old in a stall by himself thats my option. I'm sorry to hear you feel he's deficient some how because he doesn't measure up to all of your children. My son is extremely intellegent, I just do not choose to leave him in a dirty public bathroom stall all alone, touching God knows what on the floor or the toilet (he is 3 and they tend to do stuff like that) when I could help him and we can be in and out quickly. Allowing time for the next person to use the bathroom. This is totally off the original subject but I didn't like the attack on my son's abilities........

 

[Gillian]

My son is still in a stroller, so if I have to go while I'm alone, he goes into the disabled stall with me. I try to be fast. I've never encountered a line while he has been with me, but I will remember in the future to be aware of others who need it more than me.

One thing struck me about the wheelchair gripes -- they are very similar to the stroller complaints! I'm not saying this is a good comparison , but if you read the stroller threads, you will see people complaining about constantly being ignored, cut off, tripped over, etc. . Also, stroller pushers have been attacked here on the DIS. I think a lot of it is people not being aware of their surroundings (at least not the stuff near their feet!).

I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but as a new mom learning to deal with a stroller I have developed a real respect for people who get around in wheelchairs. I see how stupid the building designers are sometimes! It makes me appreciate my mobility so much.

 

[Kay1]

I'm pretty sure LisaPooh was talking about the disabled kids she works with and didn't intend to put anyone down in any way. Unless I'm wrong, she is mainly expressing her frustration at having to wait for the only stall she's able to use while people who are able to use any stall at all are in there. Really, a mom and a three-year-old can fit into a small stall, right?

You know, Lisa Pooh, I sure wish you were at my son's school - we've had some problems with abuse up here. When I saw you live in Perrine, my favorite restaurant in the world flashed into my mind - Captain Crab's take-a-way. I used to live in Cutler Ridge but that was in the eighties. I know the Captain closed up but it was great while it was there. If you ever decide to move to St. Petersburg, give me a jingle - I want you to apply at Scott's school first!

I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but those family bathrooms are heaven - I wish they had more to go around.

 

[lisapooh]

Oh my goodness! Cap't Crabs was one of my favorites. It is gone along with all the other stores that were in the island in US1 there. It's now a car dealership.

No plans to move to the St Pete area. Maybe Orlando later when the girls are gone. I can only sub now due to my medical problems. I work at Gulfstream Elementary on Gulfstream Rd in Cutler Ridge. Must likely where your son would attend if he were still here. We have 8 to 10 autistic units now, as well as 3 TMH, 2 PI, 2 HI, 1 profound and several VE along with several resource classes. Oh and 3 Pre-K classes, one which combines regular Pre-K with SPED Pre-K.

For those who wonder I have 2 living children as well as many special kids from school. Plus one son, I lost at 3 months gestation. My oldest just graduated from college this spring with a degree in music performance in spite of numerous obstacles including ASHD, LD, PI, EH and numerous severe food allergies (only the stuff on paper so far). She starts grad school next week. She is also gifted which is not the blessing one would think. Her younger sister is a music major at Florida Internationsl University. They both attend there. She auditions for Disney in January.

I have diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and neurofibromas and am hard of hearing. I use canes as well as a power wheelchair. For communication I use Lipreading, ASL, English and when necessary several foreign languages. And unfortunately due to an inability to twist easily a handicapped stall is the only one I can use and properly care for myself on my own. I still prefer to remain as indedpendent as I can possibly be.

 

[Figaro]

Since we are talking about using handicapped stalls, I thought I would share one incident that happened when we were at WDW a couple of years ago. I was using the handicap stall in a bathroom near Fantasyland when a woman came up, banged on the door and said (in a very loud voice): "You need to get out of there right this minute. My children need to use the bathroom." Since hurrying wasn't possible at the moment (smile), I didn't respond, so she pounded on the door and demanded that I get out immediately. When I exited the stall, there was a woman with two kids (non-disabled and quite embarassed by their mom). She then told me that I was "rude" not to get out of the stall immediately(smile).

I chose not to respond, because in my experiences with people, I have found that most people are decent and kind. I actually found the entire incident somewhat amusing(smile). Other people in the bathroom were quite upset about this, and I did thank them for their concern.

 

[SueM in MN]

Figaro, I think that is a very funny story and that woman certainly behaved in a pretty strange way!
I always worry that someone is waiting who needs the stall when my DD and I are in it. She is so pokey and because of her spasticity, unless she gets quite relaxed, she can't go. When the stall is fairly small it's so much harder for us and I'm always worried about hurting my back trying to manouver in the small surroundings. We seldom have anyone waiting for us, luckily.
They do need a lot more family/companion stalls and more fully accessible handicapped stalls.

 

[SueM in MN]

I forgot that I have a funny bathroom story too.
One night we were at MK for E-night. My DH had gone on Space Mountain. Younger DD (Katrina) can't go on that ride (she'd love it if she could, but we can't transfer her on and she couldn't sit by herself at any rate). My other DD (Megan) and I don't like the ride, so we all went to the bathroom. I felt really lucky to find the companion bathroom near Space Mountain was empty and Katrina and I went in.
Megan is 19, so she went into the regular bathroom by herself and then came out and talked to us thru the door while we finished. She told us how spooky it was to be in that big bathroom all by herself and that it was really dark outside with no one nearby. It was also near park closing. When I tried to open the door, it would NOT open. The knob wouldn't turn and all I could think of was being trapped in the bathroom all night. Megan tried to open it from the outside, but couldn't. She was about to look for a CM, but we tried one more time with her pulling the door open and turning the knob and me pushing and turning the knob. It finally opened. We did see a cleaning CM and told her that the door was broken (didn't want her trapped in there when she went in to clean it).
I was just happy that Megan had not gone on SM or we would still be in the bathroom since no one would know we were in there.

 

[MouseLover]

I understand your frustration. However, I'd like to add another point of view. My 4yo child uses a regular stall and I stand outside the door, or leave it open to help her. But if I need to use the restroom, I'm not leaving her outside alone, even if it's just on the other side of the stall door. If the regular stalls are not big enough to accommodate both of us, I will use the handicap stall and keep her safely inside with me.

I am a special education teacher. I have taken my kids (students) on many field trips and here are my pet peeves:
1) Holding a door open for my student in a wheelchair and having someone else
about trip over her chair as they try to rush in ahead of us.
2) People who park in designated handicap parking spaces when they
a) have no handicap tag/sticker
b) are not accompanied by the person with the handicap -- I know that many
handicaps are not visible, but I know people who actually do this. I know someone
who has a legitimate handicap hangtag but allows her Mother to take the
tag when she goes anywhere, whether she accompanies her or not.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[lisapooh]

Don't jump to conclusions when an able bodied parks in the handicapped lot at Disney. My daughters often meet me with my car after going to one of the offsite parks like IOA. They are sent to the handicapped parking when they tell the castmembers they are picking me up.

Also just a warning if you use the handicapped stall and the bathroom is narrow. I will leave my wheelchair blocking you in if I have to struggle into a regular stall. Trust me on that and I won't feel back about it either. I've done it before and I will again and you won't be pushing that monster out of the way. BTW if I'm not in it, the power chair is locked and no one can move it without my key.

 

[LindaDVC]

I am able bodied but typically use the handicapped bathroom for two reasons.
One as an OT I like to see the variety of places they put grab bars and toilet paper so I can have my clients practice appropriately.

The second is because I have an insulin pump. Once when in a crowded bathroom it unhooked and landed in the toilet of a not so clean facility. I had to get a new pump a few years ago because of this! So I prefer a little more room to make sure this does not happen again!

However as the wife of a quadraplegic I know the needs of the handicapped and would not use it IF any person with an obvious disability needed it.

Linda

 

[MouseLover]

Obviously I would not use the handicap stall ahead of an individual with a visible disability, but I would in NO WAY leave my small child to wait outside the door while I use the restroom. I certainly would not feel bad about that.

In regards to the parking matter, I wasn't referring to Disney parking lots, just parking lots in general. And I don't "assume" just because someone does not have an apparent disability that there is none. When I see someone park in a handicap space and get out of the car and appear to be nondisabled, I assume that person has a physical handicap that is non-apparent. I was referring to people who do what I stated, and I know of some who do it, one routinely.

By the way, when you enter a restroom and the handicap stall is already occupied, how do you know whether or not the person is truly handicapped?? (you know, in order to block them in)

After having a caesarean delivery, I had to use the handicap stalls everywhere I went for some time, because I HAD to have the rails to pull up on. You just don't know why a person may be using that stall.

Also, as someone else mentioned, many public restrooms have baby changing stations installed in the handicap stall only, making it necessary for many parents to occupy that stall routinely. Why do places do that? Probably because that's the only space available without blocking the entire restroom.

 

[lisapooh]

Something you able bodies don't seem to comprehend. When someone in a wheelchair to go it is frequently an emergency. It wouldn't matter who was in that handicapped stall. I would rather trap them for a short time than soil myself. And if the restroom is that narrow it will happen. Too bad. At least I can struggle on my sticks and semi use a regular stall. I don't like it but if I'm desparate I can do it. Some of us can't! If it were another handicapped person I would apologize after. An able bodied probably would not get that courtesy. A mom who is using it as a convenient way to watch there child. No way. They should know better. A regualr may not be convenient but a mother and child can fit. If they can't maybe its time to teach them to stay put. You're proabably fortunate. YOu can talk to your child and assure yourself they are there. Some of my friends can't do that. All they can do is watch feet and as one of our deaf Mom's does. Have them hold the bottom of the stall door.
I'm waiting to see what my deaf blind friend will figure out for her son. He's way too small now. Not even 5 lbs yet. Maybe make the kid hold on to her guide dog.
reminds me I need to pick up a kangaroo pack for Dad so he can pop the baby in it and move around. He's deaf and wheelchair using.

 

[MouseLover]

Sorry if you don't like it. If I use the handicap stall to keep my child safe, that's just the way it is. It's not because my child won't behave and stand against the door. It's because it's too easy for someone to grab her and be out of sight in no time at all. This is not done for convenience but out of necessity.

 

[SueM in MN]

Please keep playing nice. Bathrooms and parking seem to be topics that bring out the most contoversy on this board, but let's all stay friendly, please.