Buddhist Marketer

Coming To Times Square

She heard I was moving to Midtown, so my big sister decided to put herself on a big ad that’ll be playing in Times Square in November.

Awww, just to be closer to her li’l sis! How sweet :)

Click here to learn more the American Association of People with Disabilities.

Back Of The Bus

I will never forget the obvious facial expression of annoyance that someone representing 315 Fifth Avenue displayed when I asked, “Is this elevator large enough to accommodate a wheelchair?”  (It was hardly big enough for four people.)

Once he was able to arrange his face back into something feigning “Not A Douchebag”, he replied, “Well, I’m sure that the freight elevator would be big enough.  But if you send me wheelchair measurements I can get back to you.”

The problems with his reply are so deeply encrusted that I’m not sure where to begin.  But frankly, I don’t like the idea of relegating anyone who happens to be in a wheelchair to have to take the stanky, stinky, stuffy freight elevator up to my office.

As Virginia Woods writes in “let’s talk. (about ableism)“, it all comes down to:

Do I make a space where other people with disabilities can feel welcome?

It’s funny, I was just thinking about whether or not to recommend the full-on captioning for client website videos.  ”Do I really need subtitles and narration of the video activity for the visually impaired?” I can imagine them asking.  ”Is it worth the extra expense?”  

I suppose that depends on the currency you value most. 

When does thoughtful consideration become coddling?

My older sister posted an article entitled “Disability couldn’t stop Michigan woman’s quest for romance” to Facebook the other day. With it, she included the following comment:

One interesting aspect of the article, the idea that ramps and accommodations are “coddling.” Insight into the dominant cultures perspective.

Naturally I had to read:

Shannon Wiltse … was born without several standard parts …

“You need to know,” Shannon told Allen, [a man who she met online with whom she had been chatting for six weeks and was preparing to meet in person] “that I’m missing everything from the knees down, on both legs, and on my left arm from the elbow down, and on my right hand I have one digit, just one finger.”

The article continued, under the subhead of “No coddling allowed”, as follows:

But the Wiltses never … pitied or pampered her. Their home had no ramps, no easy door handles, not even a stool to help her into bed.

Uh, Beavis?

coddle: to treat with extreme or excessive care or kindness

I don’t think that a modicum of effort to meet the unique needs of your own child is coddling, pitying, or pampering. In fact, I feel that making your kid conform to norms to which she is physically unable is plainly unkind.

Geez, if I had to, like, do a pull-up before getting dinner each night? Or, if my parents had door handles that were too high for me to reach?

Being considerate isn’t pampering or babying.  Rather, Shannon Wiltse’s dad comes off as sounding kind of like a bully in the article.  Yuckers.

But maybe I’m reading too much into it. ?