Ok talk time. I went to London coffee festival today. The brochure said ‘all levels are wheelchair accessible’. I was sent up stairs to enter (I have a paralysed lower leg and use mobility aids - I can just about manage stairs). Once inside I was in pain and needed to
use a lift - I couldn’t manage any more stairs. I am DISABLED and require accessibility. I asked 4 different people where the lift was. All of them passed me on to the next person. The final security guard laughed at me, pointed to the stairs and said
‘here you go, much quicker’. He could clearly see I had a walking stick and a leg brace but just laughed in my face and mocked me. I stood with a disgusted look on my face and spoke back to him - and all the others. For them to just legit offer me no solution at all
They told me ‘oh well I have seen people on this floor in wheelchairs so there must be a lift’ - but did nothing to accommodate me. I honestly cried lol. I’m sorry but I cried. The blatant disregard for me and my needs - because what? What is it? I don’t look disabled?
So I had no choice but to struggle up and down the stairs? I haven’t felt like this for so long. And to top it off? I was invited here? As VIP and press? Ok - here’s your press - you don’t give a shit about disabled people.
when you add this to the fact when I arrived in London at a ‘step free access’ station & walked to the lift it was closed off ‘out of service’ I legit cba. What’s the point lol. I’m tired. I’ve put on a smile all day to enjoy my time with my able bodied friend but I hurt inside.
I really promise you guys I tried to fight, I said it was so wrong, I said I AM DISABLED. And nothing was done at all - no care at all. I was a nuisance! One person said, ohhh I saw that thing in your hand, thought it was an umbrella ha ha ha. No.
Looping back round to this - not all disabilities can be seen, I should have been allowed the accessibility I needed simply by asking it, regardless of whether I had my mobility aids, a wheelchair, or no visible aid at all
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