So Big Govt is trying, in its usual ham-handed and overly expensive way, to make sure everyone can go for a dip in the pool. Good intentions, curb ramps, big stalls and all that, you know.
But what fascinates me most in these posts on SayUncle are the comments. Whole people trying to figure out why pool lifts might be necessary and then again why they aren't being used.
Aside from the fact that it's probably easier/quicker* to get in and out of the pool the same way that you've done it for the whole of your life prior to the introduction of these pool lifts, using that contraption creates a spectacle.
Gimps (yeah, I'm gonna use that word) get stared at and objectified enough in life and the idea of getting stared at extra? while you're wearing a bathing suit?
But, oh, if you need such a thing and it's there, the only way - well, sometimes it's worth it.
Sometimes you just want to get in the water. Weightless & floating, the same as everyone else.
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*People adapt to the bodies they are given. Often the narrow mindedness of whole people limits gimps more than we do ourselves.
I'm sure a person with no legs being gracefully lifted in and out of a pool on a mechanical chair is an easier thing to watch, but you know what? We're not here to be pretty for you.
UPDATE: a fellow gimp weighs in
I was going to write about this today.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little I did PT at the heated pool at the hospital. Only the most handicapped kids used the lift.
We're talking a hospital for children where the pool is used only for those with disabilities, and even then it didn't get used all the time. I never used it.
I do, however, remember having trouble getting in and out of pools as a youngster.
I should note that our lift was nothing like that. You could lower an entire wheelchair into the water. That abomination of a contraption looks ridiculous.
DeleteLike you said, most gimps are going to do anything they can to NOT use that thing.
When I was young, I went to a camp for amputee kids. Whether we helped each other in or tossed each other in, we all went swimming one way or another. A pile of prosthetics poolside and a bunch of people having fun.
DeleteI guess heads bobbing in the water all look the same.
ReplyDeleteTrue!
DeleteAs a highschool teen I volunteered at the local handicapped school during the summer. Since I was a life guard and state ranked swimmer, my duties included teaching swimming. It was such a joy to see those kids discover something I had taken for granted. In the roughly 20-odd years since I was blessed with that experience, I have seen all manner of gimpy achievement. One of my personal favorites is a wheelchair bound friend of mine who was stricken with polio. Watching that man swim, water-ski with the ski chair and scuba dive taught me that the only limit to your achievement is the one that you place on your self.
ReplyDeleteI think what is going to happen is the closure of a LOT of pools who simply can't afford to comply for the 1% who might actually use the lift. I would say 90+% of the amputees I know refuse ANY special treatment getting in and out of the pool.
ReplyDeleteMy buddy, Erik was a double amputee from 'Nam. He'd park as far from the store as he could get just to not use the handicapped spots. When WE complained about walking that far he'd say, "It's not like I'm WALKING that far!" as he rolled in his wheel chair.
ReplyDeleteI recall that he'd just hand walk at the beach or pool.
I've had a taste of it, only a taste mind you, but sciatic nerve issues bad enough to get the hang tag and park in the blue slots. I've recovered a good deal, and walking is something I appreciate more now than I ever could have imagined. I also understand how great most people are at getting over, around, or through their "limitations". Seems like these things are almost as much of an insult to the people they intend to help as to the businesses that have to swallow the cost.
ReplyDeleteAh, well, according to the latest updates on MSN it is not safe to so into a public pool, seems public pools are many people's toilets, and you can really get sick there. Yup! Looks like the nannies are wanting to close down public pools...therefore, only certain people will have access to a pool in the summertime. Hmmm! Summertime, and the livin is easy.
ReplyDeleteAh, well, according to the latest updates on MSN it is not safe to so into a public pool, seems public pools are many people's toilets, and you can really get sick there. Yup! Looks like the nannies are wanting to close down public pools...therefore, only certain people will have access to a pool in the summertime. Hmmm! Summertime, and the livin is easy.
ReplyDelete