If you were in a wheelchair... part 6

Dear readers,

 

1. When I moved to Paris, I started looking for a flat. After an unfruitful demand to the city council, I decided to look for one on my own. How greatly disappointed I was when I realized that looking for a flat is far from being easy. Especially when you’re looking for a flat in a building with a lift. Moreover, you cannot always fit the wheelchair in the lift, so you sometimes need to dismantle it… I am sure you know what I’m talking about, those tiny lifts where you cannot even turn around and that barely fit two people inside. I am of course aware that these cannot be changed. This would need tremendous work, so one simply needs to look a little longer.
2. Handicapped toilets are much appreciated when they are provided for. Fortunately, you can always find them in recent buildings. The usual problem, likewise for regular toilets, is when they are in use. But it’s scandalous when they are being used by a valid person. My experience is that each time a valid person uses handicapped toilets, he or she leaves a terrible smell and an unbearable vision behind. Another reason why it is important to leave handicapped toilets free is that we do not have the same capacity to "hold in" as well as valid people… Keep this in mind…
3. I recently went to Disneyland resort Paris for the first time – it’s never too late, you might say! I could generally access all attractions (which is not always the case depending on the handicap). I was consequently really surprised when I was not granted access to one of the most recent attractions: Crush’s Toaster. In fact, it’s supposed to be accessible. Well, in theory, because it’s not the case in practice. When I got to the entrance of the then most recent attraction, I was asked to "walk" for 300m on an authentic assault course with a lot of stairs and a very large crowd making my moves difficult and even impossible. I was told that this was a security measure and a sort of security test. You can imagine that this was the end of it and that I didn’t see the attraction. It’s a real shame for a new attraction that is said to be accessible and adapted.

See you next week for some new adventures...