If you are just a sometimes wheelchair user, like say at an airport,
have you ever had to carry your stuff awkwardly on your lap while using
a borrowed chair? If so then you're probably glad to hear that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
has retrofitted some 135 airport wheelchairs with rear luggage
holders. The idea is that people using the airport's chairs can stash
their stuff in the back, instead of on their laps.
This seemed like a natural to me, but for a reason I admit is something that I'm a little embarrassed about.
Our
teen son, the wheelchair user in our household, is always carrying a
lot of stuff for other people on his wheelchair. On big shopping trips,
bags inevitably get hung on the back of his chair -- sometimes coats
too in a mall. At the beach, he likely will be carrying down to the
sand a bag of toys or maybe the snacks. Go apple picking? Guess who
carries the bag back to the car.
When I have reflected on this
behavior of ours, I have sometimes felt bad. Are we infringing on his
space and taking advantage of the fact that he really can't complain
about his burden even if he wanted too?
But then I remember that we
have always tried to keep thing as normal as possible with Marcus.
Looked at through that filter, lugging the stuff on the back of his
chair doesn't seem so bad. Hey, if he were a normally-abled 16 year old, he'd be carrying the bags anyway, wouldn't he?
photo courtesy of Hartsfield-Jackson airport
