I don’t know how I will find it in me to forgive the selfishness of individuals this past year, how they threw disabled/vulnerable people under the bus for their own comforts; for vacations, restaurants, & gyms.
I am heart broken. This will define how I trust ppl moving forward.
When I can get back out into the world and start making new local friends my pre-requisite will be “If in response to the pandemic and a failure of a government, you voluntarily did things that put yourself and others at risk, then DONT TALK TO ME”
My new BumbleBFF bio.
“SEEKING: New friends in the area but only message me if you took the pandemic seriously and did everything you could to keep yourself, loved one, and community at large safe.
(Essential workers, you can come too obviously, as long as you did your best with your circumstances)”
*gotta disclaimer essential workers all the time because for some reason it gets lost that I’m referring to people who were doing non-essential things and risking people’s lives to do it.
Speaking of.... my neighbors are having giant unmasked parties (sigh) in Florida.
I can’t believe how much death has been caused by pure selfishness.
Mass unfriending people like I’ve described.
I don’t trust you if you don’t care about people, that your actions can harm/kill others, or when “only disabled & elderly”will be affected, which is false but the fact that you believed it and didn’t care, that says it all to me.
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Feeling kinda frozen and nauseous that some relatives of mine are spouting "covid19 is a conspiracy" rhetoric and refusing to wear masks...
It makes me scared for them and it makes me feel like they don't care about me or people like me who are high risk.
This has triggered my anxiety to the point of physical symptoms (dizzy, nauseous, tachycardia) especially that I have to take my sister to another doctors appointment today, in FLORIDA, where the numbers are climbing.
I'm sick at what this kind of thinking means for so many people.
I'm shocked at where this is coming from, from people I miss, from people I thought were careful.
"I miss you... but your actions put me and people like me in danger"
Saw yet another video of someone trying to use ADA to force their way into a store without a mask.
That's not how it works.
They can accommodate you by getting you what you need a different way but you can't endanger others if you cannot wear a mask.
And this is assuming you have a disability that truly prohibits you from wearing a mask, they do exist, and we have to try to continue believing people when they say it VS distrust and hostility as an initial reaction.
Its upsetting that so many people continue to abuse ADA, producing fake documents, certificates, identification, etc. that genuinely disabled people often DO NOT have or own.
This behavior fuels the prejudices and treatment of people who genuinely need these protections.
It's funny how when I refer to how casually ableist language is used, a common response is, "Its not used that way, we don't mean it that way"
But it is extremely clear that you do.
That you will use ABLEISM to mock someone you don't like doesn't make it less ableist!!
There are people witnessing you mock:
-needing two hands to hold a glass, maybe holding it from the bottom
-an affected or slow gait (walking ability)
-wearing diapers
...who also experience these things or know someone who does and now they know where you stand with THEM.
"I won't make fun of it if he discloses his disability"
No no no... no one OWES that to you.
And you don't hold the safety of disabled people over their heads until you're satisfied, until they perform disability the way you want or expect them to.
Do cops, like, not understand that their flashing red/blue lights are essentially strobe lights and (especially while stationary) are an epilepsy seizure trigger and at best just dangerously bright and distracting??
Or do they just not care?
This cop car was parked at the end of a huge trick or treating block with flashing lights and like CONGRATS?!
You possibly just forced some parents to pick up their child covering their face and run back to the car when they just wanted to trick or treat with everyone else?!
I barely made it through with my sister because of our sensory processing issues.
It was so over stimulating that after passing it we did one more house and decided to go home; it was too much.
If you participate in handing out candy to Trick-or-Treaters, try these tips to be more accessible to trick-or-treaters with disabilities:
Have a well-lit path to avoid accidents/injuries, particularly for those with low vision and mobility disabilities.
If there are bumps or raised sidewalks/pavement, try marking it with glow in the dark tape or paint to prevent falls.
Clear a path from the sidewalk to your home.
Walk the path from the sidewalk to your home and be alert to whether the path is wide enough (minimum 32 inches) and smooth enough (free of debris, obstacles, etc) for wheelchairs/mobility aids, wagons, & strollers to come and go.