Ablism: United Airlines

[logansrogue]

They treated this passenger with utter contempt, it seems. How dare a passenger with an invisible disability require assistance in travelling on their airplane!! Service on a plane! The very idea!

Comments

[amireal.livejournal.com]

I spent 2 - 3 weeks with a cane after I threw my back out (like serious crawling to the bathroom till I got the good meds). We ended up going to walmart to stock my kitchen with no effort foods. It was the closest and the one I knew the layout of pretty well and could navigate my mom around it while in a fair amount of pain.

I didn't get one of those motor scooter thingies at first, but about 15 min in I really needed it. So I go back to the front and ask about it and the lady is incredibly unhelpful. THEN I drop my cane trying to maneuver to get in and all she does is STARE at me. Like yes, this is all a show so I can get the vroom vrooms.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

:O That's fucking shocking. We don't have motorised scooters in shops for use here in Australia. You have to have your own. I've never tried taking a scooter into a mall but I really don't think they'd like it much. lauredhel may know how they feel about them better than I (she has one, I don't and I've never tried to take one anywhere).

[lauredhel.livejournal.com]

Some of the larger shopping centres like the Westfields do lend mobility scooters and wheelchairs.

At Whitford City I've mostly had pretty good experiences with service from face-to-face store staff, though I could rant for hours about displays piled in aisles. Other than that and tricky cornering at the back of the store, I've been ok scootering through places like Big W and Target and IGA. Smaller stores are trickier and many don't have room to scoot around, though they're probably wheelchair accessible. However I've found the staff of some (the craft store, one of the kitchen stores, a clothing store or two) have been pretty eager to come over and assist me even when it took a bit of time to show me things so I could decide what I was buying. I usually see a few other scooters users in the centre every time I'm there, so it's not an unusual event for the staff.

Fellow customers have typically more annoying, for me. Don't grab my stuff out of my hands when I've said "I'm fine thanks" to your offer of help. No, really, hands off!

I don't actually shop much, and I haven't really scootered through shops other than Whitford City. I've no doubt people with more contact have more bad stories to tell.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

I think I'd just park my scooter outside the shop and walk inside. It'd be easier that way cause the shops in Claremont are not accessible in general and are filled to the brim with expensive, breakable things. I have no idea what people do if they're more disabled than I am.

I guess the shop keepers around here figure there aren't rich disabled people.

[lauredhel.livejournal.com]

Oh, in Claremont, definitely.

This is something that is particular irritating about the "Buy from little local shops! It's good for everyone!" movement - it's only the giant ubercorporate shops that are making any visible efforts toward accessibility, from where I sit.

eta: That and little online businesses/internet cottage industry, which I patronise as much as possible.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Right. I try to go to little shops as much as possible (like Jacksons for art supplies, which really is the only place to get good art supplies anyway) but sometimes you just need to be able to bloody ACCESS a place.

The new Claremont shopping centre is lovely, though. Way more accessible than the last one. The last one was a nightmare. This one has those awesome travelators in it. The first thing out of my mouth when I saw those things was "THANK CHRIST!" I both embarrassed Mum and took the Lord's name in vain, which she *hates*. Was way lulzy.

[nephron.livejournal.com]

United has massive, massive customer service issues with everything ever. A friend of mine has a theory that they go through a training program in "how to piss off, frustrate, and bring your customers to tears".

[hotclaws.livejournal.com]

Frell me thats bad,I've spread it all over my blogs,Twitter ,FB etc.

[melalucci.livejournal.com]

Fuck them! That made me so mad to read! I'm really glad the lady who wrote the post is getting attention and positive feedback. I hope United learns a lesson.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Oh, they're back-peddling furiously, apparently, but it doesn't matter. Bad news spreads.

[starfyre01.livejournal.com]

Honest to God, if I have to keep boycotting airlines, I'm not going to be able to fly anyplace for my job, :-P Ever since the deregulation of the airline industry, people get treated more and more like cattle - and if you're disabled in any shape or form (even if invisibly, like my mom is?), it's even worse.

*wants to thump airline customer representative people like this soundly with clue by fours*

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I feel sorry for you that you have to deal with companies like this. It's nightmarish, really. :(

[starfyre01.livejournal.com]

The customer service on most airlines has just really gone downhill the past 9+ years that I've been flying for business/leisure. I'd say, of the airlines I've flown, domestically, JetBlue has been my best experience, and British Airways & Lufthansa have been very nice, too.

I don't really have any issues with flying (aside from occasionally being a little too short to put my bag into the overhead bin, but I've never had a problem with somebody helping me, like evilpuppy did), but Mom can't lift anything up over her head due to both of her rotator cuffs being totally shot and her arthritis in her hands and back give her lots of pain, making it difficult for her to carry things. Also, Dad, when he was alive, had his back problems (broken back, two steel rods in his spine) as well, but he didn't "look" disabled because he didn't walk with a limp. So, we've tended to take advantage of the "people who need extra time to board" call when it's announced.

I'm sure that it probably looks somewhat ridiculous to see two able-bodied women helping an older woman down the jetway, but Mom needs the time, and this way we're sure that she doesn't get jostled, etc. when the rest of the passengers come onboard. However, not all airlines are doing this now, and it worries me that the next time that we travel as a family for a vacation, we'll run into this issue. Mom has enough to worry about without getting a good whack in the leg or something like that.