I'd like to post a quote from David over at Growing Up with a Disability who wrote a response to Karen's origional post about the Steak 'n Shake incident. I'm posting it because over the summer I wrote a 10pg paper on Ableism in America for my independent study and I really wish I'd been the one to come up with this oh so poignant analogy:
"I've heard some people say that we don't really need the Americans with Disabilities Act because,
C'mon, people are reasonable.
Why get the government in the middle of it?
It will cause more trouble than it's worth.
And, again -
People are reasonable, we can work things out ourselves.
Nope. Not true.
Reasonable
people will stop their car when the school bus stops in front of them
to let kids off, even if the kids aren't crossing the street. But, we
have a law. Why? For the safety of our children, and because, frankly,
some people aren't so reasonable when they are in a rush or in a foul
mood or just don't feel like stopping."
