It may seem a little ridiculous in 2016 but there are only a few tables at most restaurants where someone in a wheelchair can sit comfortably. I’m not complaining, I’m just stating a fact. High tables don’t affect you at all if you’re not in a wheelchair. Most people who eat out are totally able to use them. I was out with my family this weekend for lunch and the table we were seated at didn’t work because it blocked the aisle so that other customers and the waitstaff couldn’t get by my chair.
The waitress did not understand why this was a problem until I demonstrated it to her. The comic today is funny but I’ve actually been in that exact situation many times.
I’m may be in the minority here, but I don’t actually believe that it is a restaurant’s responsibility to plan for every different type of disability. I actually think it’s my job to plan smartly and be able to adapt to any situation. I actually had a woman tell me that she didn’t want to go out with me, because it would take too much planning. It hurt me at the time, but it’s actually true. I very rarely leave my house without a plan. I know what I want to do, and have some idea of the path I need to get there.
It’s very rare that I go into a restaurant with no accessible seating, but it does happen. It’s even rarer still, in that situation that the staff isn’t willing to do the extra work for me to have a comfortable experience. Whether that means moving a table, or actually moving a party that is already seated, I’ve had both happen.
Thing is if I happen to go into a restaurant with no available seating that suits me, finding another restaurant with similar food that I want usually isn’t hard. I usually don’t find it useful to complain at all. When I roll into a room, people already have some idea of what they think of me before I even speak. I don’t think it helps their perception of me if I am rude, or if I let them know that I feel I’ve been discriminated against. In my mind that puts a bigger barrier between them and me then the one that’s already there from the start.
I know that’s probably not a popular position in today’s world. Everyone feels as if they have the right to speak up and be wherever they want to be. That maybe true, but I believe I have to pick my battles every day. If I can’t get into a certain restaurant that’s not really the end of my world. In my experience when you look at life that way, it becomes much less complicated.
Evie would you pass me some pancakes please? Thank you for another fabulous comic.