walking . is . overrated

Thanks to Honor for submitting this piece, have any of you had a similar experience? Let us know in the comments below! - Red

I visited Hunter’s Plaza the other day with two friends who rely on wheelchairs to get around, and because I (to put it bluntly) don’t, they recommended I borrow one from the Mall, otherwise I would spend the entire visit unable to keep up with them - these are two very fast-moving ladies. Now, I have encountered difficulties at Hunter’s Plaza before while trying to do this, so I was reluctant; but, not wanting to spend the entire day floundering around behind my friends on my crutches, with sinking heart, I agreed and went off in search of the office.

First thing I encountered, to my absolute amazement and anger, was the spectacle of three flights of stairs leading up to the office. Unable to conquer this barrier, I called up the stairs in case anyone could hear me. Alas, after many loud ‘Hello’s’, nobody came, and because I really needed a wheelchair, and because my two friends were waiting for me quite a long way away in the Mall itself, I eventually had to resort to asking a passing stranger to dash up the stairs for me, to alert Mall management to the fact that I was downstairs wanting to get their attention. This she kindly did, and returned presently to tell me nobody was around, and the Office door was locked. Thanking her profusely, I left and wandered aimlessly along the hopelessly long corridor leading back to the Mall.

On emerging, I found a Security Guard at his post at K-Mart, who advised me to go to the K-Mart reception desk and ask them to call the Office. This I did. Remarkably, the staff who a few minutes earlier had been oblivious to my cries and to another customer’s presence at the top of the stairs, were available to answer the phone to a K-Mart staffer, and my request for the wheelchair was relayed. Did I have any I.D., they asked? One of my friends had driven me to the Mall, so my driver’s licence was in my car at her place. Offering my house and car keys, even my crutches (both of which are perfectly acceptable whenever I hire a wheelchair or mobility scooter at Westfield West City where I usually shop), I was told no, they needed I.D.

Luckily, I had my Community Services Card on me, or the whole exercise would have been a waste of time, as my friend had given me a lift that morning, so my Driver’s Licence was in the glovebox of my car at her place. The card was duly despatched upstairs, and the wheelchair brought downstairs, by another Security Guard, who then made what must be the stupidest remark I’ve ever heard in my life - “When you’re finished with it, do you want to come upstairs and bring it back?” I can’t remember what my reply was. I think “Grow a brain” might have had something to do with it.

All this time, the two lovely ladies who had invited me on this excursion were waiting for me outside K-Mart. I learned later that the same security guard who had asked me if I wanted to bring the wheelchair back up three flights of stairs had at one stage that day asked them if they needed wheelchairs (this remark made to two ladies who were sitting in wheelchairs). This would be funny, if it weren’t so annoying.

My point (and I do have one) is, why doesn’t Hunter’s Plaza do what every other Mall which hires out wheelchairs does, and have a place downstairs from which to hire them? After all, people with disabilities sometimes like to go out independent of our able-bodied friends, and it must be obvious to everybody with even half a brain that three flights of stairs provides most of us with a pretty impassable barrier. Also, speaking of brains, why do their staff have so little intelligence that they can’t figure out that if they have to go upstairs to the Office for someone, that person pretty obviously doesn’t have the ability to go upstairs themselves? Who hires these people?!