Have you ever heard a story – a real life occurrence – that left you so dumbstruck that you had to take your hand to force your jaw, closing your mouth before the proverbial flies made use of the space? I’m sure you have….but I have to say at this point in my life, it doesn’t happen to me too often, but…
This week, a colleague shared an appalling act that is occuring on a frequent basis! I still can hardly believe it! My heart cried out, “No, people would never let that happen.” My eyes filled with tears as she told me her tale. My ears burned with heat from disgust. Muscles all over my body tightened as I froze in disbelief. Stunned into silence, my body like a steel post, I stood like a statue next to the copy machine and listened, flabbergasted.
She told of an organization that provides transportation for adults with disabilities. I’m sure they mean well and most likely run on very little staff, but the events she mentioned left me dumbfounded. Her words were few, but my mind ran wild with visions.
I saw a joyful adult with cognitive challenges waiting for his ride, excited for a fun day out on his own. He walks out to the sidewalk at the end of his yard and stands there happily anticipating the sight of his driver pulling up. The pickup time passes and many minutes tick by….no driver…no understanding of why. Standing alone, I see a confused and frustrated man whose day turns from a happy sunny-side-up egg to burnt toast, as his body slumps forward in disappointment.
I envision a woman with blindness who walks to her pickup stop, biding her time – for three hours – in the pouring rain for her driver. She knows she must wait for these hours, so she endures the unending shower. Why? The business has explained the only driver that is able to pick her up has other passengers and cannot give an exact time, only a three hour minute window. Would you wait one hundred eighty minutes for a ride as the rain pelts your umbrella, sending echos of its drops vibrating through your body?
These adults, and many, many others like them, have no other choice. They are grateful, as my coworker shared, that groups exist to provide this transportation. Really? Is this how our communities value their inhabitants? For whom do we provide the highest level of service in our society – to those who need it or to those who can afford it? Do we realize the vast discrepancy between peoples with and without dis-abilities? This is just one aspect of the discordance in our culture. Who are the dis-abled? Those of us who are not able to help others, perhaps?
I am shocked.