Birthday Dinner

Friday night some of my family and I went out to dinner. It was a nice evening, and we were able to pull into a handicap parking space. The ramp was right there old, and narrow made of wood probably to go with the ambience of the building. When my son opens the door the situation of getting in the building occurs.

The ramp is on the left side of the building and the door opens to the left with stairs probably four feet from the door. What we had there was a ramp, stairs close enough to tumble down if a balance mistake was made plus the traffic getting in the door was coming from two different ways meeting at the door. Next, they had a step to go up to get in the building that was in very poor shape and nowhere for a wheelchair to go. Thankfully my son was with us, and we could turn my wheelchair off and put it in manual which allowed him to lift me into the building.

The food, servers, other customers were great. However, my mind was on the accessible things for me. This is not unusable trying to measure my surroundings planning my next move how many inches from here to there and can I make it by myself. Do I dear go up to the salad bar or should I ask someone to go for me? I remember being in fourth-grade math class and he would say some day you will need this math little did I expect to use it to get around.

The other thing I am noticing since being back to New Jersey is not seeing other handicap people around. I realize it is expensive to repair buildings and make them handicap accessible but folks you have had since 1990 when the American with Disabilities Act came into law. Let me say that I had a wonderful time but would have never made it without my son. As a disabled person I want to go out have my fun and come home. Not be the center attraction of confusion in getting me in and out the building.