Disabled for a Day
Posted: Tuesday, November 29, 2005
by Loraine Thompson
Artemis Media
I injured my spine 8 years ago and had to walk on sticks for quite a while afterwards. Eventually I recovered my mobility to a level where I can manage most of the time. However, when it does flare up I have to use the sticks for anything from a few days to a few months.
Now I count myself as fortunate. Yes I have an injury and over time it gets worse but at least I get the option to put my sticks away.
A friend challenged me to go a weekend using my sticks and take notes on how I was treated.
As a psychology student I was intrigued by the idea that simply using a walking stick might change someones perception of me as a person, was it possible that I would be treated differently?
My parents live live to the adage 'There but for the grace of god go I'. Meaning that you never know what life will throw at you so consider the feelings of others because it could be you in the same situation tomorrow.
I do like a challenge so last weekend I did a few little shopping trips, with my walking sticks and without my walking sticks. The two experiences should have been the same, apart from the inconvenience of using the sticks that is. Let's look at what actually happened.
My first shopping trip was with my Mother. I took her to Asda to do her weekly shopping and decided that in here I would use my walking sticks.
I slowly made my way round the store on what was a busy Saturday morning. I walked mostly with my head down, not making eye contact with many other people in the store. There were two sides to the shopping trip to Asda.
One was the reaction of other customers. Very few customers were helpful, most were impatient and muttered (some commenting loudly) on how slow I was or they just barged past me, with some actually attempting to walk through me.
One lady (and I use the term loosely) commented that I should have been shopping through the week when I wasn't in anyones way. She clearly made the assumption that the walking sticks meant I didn't work.
I was actually quite offended by this attitude. I do work, I pay my taxes and national insurance and I contribute to society. And in addition to my usual work I also help out charitable organisations often sponsoring a website for them out of my own pocket. I'm a busy working mother, a single parent who struggles with the obvious pressures of childcare, the school run, dog walking, making my business work and trying to look like Claudia Schiffer in the process (haven't managed this yet but if an of you have can you tell me your secret?). I can't always take time off during the week to do my shopping whether I walk with sticks or not.
The Asda staff, however, were amazing, offering to pick out products for me if they were too high up or lower down, to help with my packing and at one point I had my own dedicated assistant following me round helping with my shopping.
In Iceland staff were not easy to find around the store so I didn't get any actually assistance with my shopping, but I didn't buy a lot so it didn't matter to me. The staff were helpful at the checkout and customers were much nicer than in Asda earlier the same day. I used the sticks but with head up rather than down but still moved slowly. Customers in the store moved out of my way and asked me if I needed a hand as I went round, they helped me lift up the lids on the larger freezers to find what I wanted and were very friendly.
At the checkout another customer took my basket and put it down for me and stacked my groceries on the counter then got on with sorting out his own shopping.
I'm sad to say that if you are slow moving or display even the slightest lack of confidence you get treated badly by customers in the main supermarkets but in Iceland they were lovely.
Reseach suggests that the Iceland customers tended to be those who were price oriented, families with kids and often with low incomes. That may be the case but they certainly the nicest people to be around and it was a pleasure to shop there when I was 'disabled for a day'.
Next week I'll be visiting Tesco and using one of the electric wheelchairs, I'm expecting to have people talk over me and ask my companion if I take sugar rather than ask me directly.
Let's hope the Tesco customers are like those in Iceland who were kind, considerate and always happy to help someone less fortunate than themselves.
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