Constructive Deconstruction

What’s wrong with me using facilities for the handicapped?

November 3, 2007 on 11:48 pm | In Random | 8 Comments

I’ve been meaning to write this for some time but only got the impetus to write it after reading Jean’s entry.

I’ve more than once bumped into articles of people saying how evil it is for us normal people to use handicap facilities(like toilet cubicles) and sit on seats for the elderly. In fact, the articles i’ve read in the past seem to give off that vibe of utter shame for committing such things myself.

Yes. I sit on those special seats and I oh-so-love to use the cubicle that’s meant for the wheelchair bound because they’re oh-so-wonderfully spacious I could probably have a picnic in there(ok, maybe not a picnic.).

But the question is…”What’s wrong with that?!”

Obviously, money was spent to build such facilities so why should they only receive a utilisation of like 2% everyday? (i’m plucking numbers from the air here) As far as I rationalise it, it just doesn’t make sense. The common arguments that are provided are that either people who use the seats pretend to be sleeping(in the case of seats) or there’s someone in the cubicle and the handicap don’t have alternatives in the toilet(there’s only usually one of such).

My reasoning is simple. If you’re pregnant, or crippled or on crutches or have any real need for such seats and there’s some bugger that’s ’sleeping’. Do the following:

1. Tap the guy on the shoulder
2. If he doesn’t wake up, grab his shoulder and shake him till he does.
3. Upon his return to the conscious world, say, “Excuse me, sorry for waking you up, but i really need the seat. Do you mind if I have it?”
4. If he gives it up, that’s one up for being proactive and having a civil and understanding society.
5. If he doesn’t, you now have the right to snap his photo and embarass that asswipe on the internet. and newspapers. and every other known medium for embarassment.

And in the case of the toilet, i don’t mean to offend you(if you fall in the class that need such toilets) but just knock on the door and ask the guy to hurry up. Don’t need to curse and swear and accuse him of being insensitive. He probably genuinely just needed to shit and that was the only available cubicle then.

Other than the graciousness of society as Jean pointed out(which i wholeheartedly agree with)…if you want to think about this as a pragmatic issue, it only makes sense to have maximum utility for every facility that is built and just give priority for the people who really need them. And there are people who genuinely fall asleep in trains and buses. If you just keep quiet and don’t ask them to give their seat either, then you have no right to accuse them of being insensitive.

Be proactive a bit la.