I'm surprised no one's said anything about people playing in wheelchairs

[CellPhoneSlave]

The thing you have to think about in this case is, even though someone may not look like they are disabled, they may still be.

I look like I am perfectly healthy, but I have arthritis in my knee, a birth defect in my back and a torn deltoid ligament... All these together make it painful to walk.....

I was at a store with my best friend, who also has a lot of problems, and we were both in wheelchairs... we were just doing some shopping when a woman came up to us......

Woman: You do know that those are for people who can not work....

Me: Yes, I am aware of that.

Woman: Then why are you two in them?

Me: Because I can not walk.

Woman: You look like you can.

Me: I may look like it, but in truth I have the knees of a 90 year old woman and a ripped ligament, so if I do walk for more than 10 mins, its a good chance I will fall over....

She just walked away

[powerboy]

I hate seeing people take advantage of them. My grandfather, before he passed, needed to use them, before he bought his own. But before that, once, he needed to use one, and the only one, that the store had, had some kid on there, driving it around.

[myswtghst]

I hate seeing kids/teenagers playing on the scooters and chairs in stores. It's obnoxious and it hinders someone who might actually need them

And this is coming from someone who's best friend is in a wheelchair and used to bring his extra chair up to school so we could have wheelchair races and play wheelchair tag in the dorms.

[Eireann]

I remember a time when my mom and I were shopping at a mall. The mall had wheelchairs for those who needed them.

We saw a guy who certainly qualified - he had one leg.

He was hopping along, with a wide grin on his face, pushing his (I assume) able-bodied friend in the chair!

Okay, so his friend (again, I'm assuming here) didn't need it, but it was a funny sight to see, and yes, there were plenty more wheelchairs, so they weren't cheating anyone. I imagine they traded places after a few minutes.

[Anakah]

I sprained my ankle and was on crutches and went to Sam's Club. Needless to say I got so tired on my crutches I had to get a wheelchair. I felt pretty guilty about it too. But at least they had quite a few. It's hard to shop in a huge place when mobility is limited.

Later that day I went into the restroom and there was this woman asking for help. I guess she was dehydrated and a little senile. I got an employee and her husband. I with no problem gave her my wheel chair. I kinda felt embarassed like everybody was staring at me, judging me like I shouldn've have had one in the first place.

Another time I was at work and was watching this woman who got off her motorized chair and sat down at a machine. She later got up and disappeared for a moment and the next thing I know there is some teenager playing in her chair! How rude is that??

Finally the kid left and the owner returned with no idea that some punk kid got onto her chair. I thought it was rude and really inappropriate. But nobody said anything. Go figure. I couldn't. We're not supposed to leave the cage. Well, we can but they want us to it as little as we can.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Where I work, the wheelchairs are put round the back and anyone who wants one has to ask at Customer Services. It sounds a bit mean, but it was the only way to stop teenagers joyriding in them. The main problem we have is with the disabled trolleys; special trolleys that are adapted so that people in wheelchairs can push them. However, a lot of the time perfectly able bodied people pinch them just cuz they're kept next to the door and they're too bone idle to walk over to the trolley drop and get a small trolley. So a genuine disabled person has to waste time waiting at Customer Services for a staff member to push their trolley for them.

[Banrion]

My mom is a nurse, and worked in the ER for 15 years, and she always told my brother and I that you should NEVER use a wheelchair unless you need it. Old nursing lore says that if you do play in a wheelchair, karma will make you NEED one!

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

But please someone answer my question that hasn't been satisfactorily answered for years: Why are they allowed to get away with that crap?

The reason that they are allowed to get away with that is the simple fact that the only thing that the managers see is dollar signs.

To explain:

In my line of work as a Sales and Service Manager of a pretty decent sized computer store I learned that there are several types of customers.

There are "Z-Level" customers which can be best described as sucky customers that we could live without and actively encourage to find somewhere else to do their business.

There are the "A-Level" customers who are awesome, they rock, and they have such a good relationship with us that they drop pots of money on us on a regular basis, or are just so grateful for all we've done for them that they spread the word of our greatness to others in an effective word of mouth advertising campaign. These are the people we bend over backwards to keep them happy and will willingly do favors for them.

There is the "B-Level" customer who may not be a regular customer, but we treat with respect in an attempt to bring them to "A-Level" status. At the very least they will think of us again the next time they or others need something computer related.

Then there is the rest of the population who hasn't come to our store and we're actively trying to bring them in so we can sort them into the various levels.

These levels allow us to look at a customer and his actions and/or his behavior and to act accordingly in regards to them...kicking out the jerks, courting the regulars, and being chummy with the awesome customers.

Your average manager of a Sprawl-Mart or a grocery store only sees one type of customer and he really doesn't even see that...he sees the customer's money. They think/feel that unless they lock lips onto the sphincter of the customer, the customer is going to start talking trash and empty the store.

And before you think I'm exaggerating, remember all the stories of the manager accepting an exchange and telling the poor clerk that they "could lose a lot of business and might have to close if we don't kiss their ass"

Kids get away with it because the manager is deathly afraid of not getting his bonus check if he scares away the kids. Feels that they will tell mommy and daddy not to shop there. Is afraid that the kid will tell of his friends not to spend money there (disregarding the fact that these kids seldom have enough money to buy a candy bar without going couch diving first)

That's the reason they get away with it.

M

[BookstoreEscapee]

I kinda felt embarassed like everybody was staring at me, judging me like I shouldn've have had one in the first place.

I think when you get out of the wheel chair and onto crutches, you get a pass

The only time I've been in a wheel chair was when I was 15 and had tubes put in my ears, and when I left the hospital they wheeled me to the door so I couldn't fall on my way out and sue them...

disregarding the fact that these kids seldom have enough money to buy a candy bar without going couch diving first

Unfortunately, a lot of kids these days have too much money that they don't do enough to earn...

[Rapscallion]

Saw a few wheelchairs at the hotel at Mt St Anne's the other weekend. I also saw that the occupants were in casts and the like and really, really needed them...

Rapscallion