It is 2014. I am still struggling to go into certain shops with my crutches.
It is 2014 and there are still shops that only have very large steps at their entrance. It is 2014 and there are still shops that have doors too small for me to get through. It is 2014 and there are still problems. I would love to have your help to fix that.
I love to crochet, and I love vintage things. I had a little money to spend, so thought I would go to the vintage market along Camden Passage at Islington's Angel. Ignoring the over-priced items, and ignoring the dirty looks that were flying in my direction from the general public, I had an awful time.
I recently found online a crochet and knitting shop called The Loop, so since their shop was based fairly locally, I thought I would take a look in there. The step to get in was high, and the door was only half standard size. This means, with my crutches, I had to go in sideways. The door was also heavy, and had to be held open by a customer and my mother. My troubles were nowhere near over.
Once I got through, I then had to go up more steep steps. Putting aside, again, the over-priced items, they had a sign saying "More Upstairs" at which I laughed. If I didn't laugh at it, I probably would have cried. It was a struggle to get into the shop, and then I couldn't even get access to all of their stock.
This was not even the worst shop along that street. Each one either had steep steps outside, or steps inside. I saw a few places with both.
This is 2014, and disabled people are still being discriminated against. Am I not good enough to buy your items? Is my money not worth as much as everyone else's?
I will rarely ask things of you, the reader, but I would like to ask this of you.
Go to your local shops. Do they have a ramp outside if there is a step? If not, do they have a temporary one that can be placed down if someone in a wheelchair wants to go in? If not, why not?
Do they have stairs inside? If they do, do they have a lift? If not, why not?
Is there enough space to move around inside? If not, why not?
If I find a shop that is not disabled friendly, I speak up because it is against the law for them to discriminate against the disabled. By not allowing us to move around inside, or even get inside in the first place, that is discrimination.
I'm asking you to speak up with me. We have a voice, and we can be heard. Share this everywhere you can. If enough people - able bodied and less able bodied - speak up, maybe these shops will actually listen to us. Many times I have been told "It is an old building" and I always give the same reply. The secondary school I went to had a Victorian listed building. It had a working lift. If a listed Victorian building can have a working lift, a ramp outside, and disabled toilets, then so can a high street store.
This is my promise: I will never use a shop from now on that is not disabled friendly. Even if they have a website to go with their shop, I will not buy from their website.
I am disabled. I have a voice. I will use it. It is simply not good enough that in 2014 I am still being excluded from shops. There is no way that is good enough. Something needs to happen. Something needs to change.
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EDIT: 3-March-2014
I had 101 hits on this post in the five hours after posting it. I can't keep track of Facebook shares, but it has been retweeted on Twitter several times. Proof of that is here and here (where it was retweeted by companies specialising in disabled access) and here. We are creating noise, and if enough of us create more noise, there is more hope of there being change. I'm also emailing a link to this post to as many of the shops along that road as I possibly can.
See you tomorrow with an official post!
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