Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Dea Birkett: My child, the fire risk
Isn't it ironic that this story comes out just two days after a federal judge (here in the States) finds 2 movie theater chains violate the ADA? (See the ican submission I posted on 4/2/2003)
When I read this, it reminded me of a time when I dated a beautiful young lady back in 1987. Loews 84th St. in New York City's Upper West Side was a theater Mary and I frequented. At the time, there was no designated spaces for a person using a wheelchair. So, like always, we sat about 5 rows back (in the aisle). On this particular night, an usher who had just let us in before the crowd entered, said I couldn't sit in the aisle because I would be a fire hazard. I told him I've sat in the same spot the last 7 times and nobody said anything. He said I needed to transfer out of my wheelchair onto a "regular" seat if I wanted to see the movie. I explained that it would be too difficult to transfer. A few minutes later, the manager came onto the scene and told me that no object was allowed in the aisle because it would pose a fire hazard. I explained that there is a human being sitting in this particular object that actually moves at my command. If there's a fire, I could quickly move to the front, let everyone out, then make my way out. "You are a fire hazard", he exclaimed. "You either transfer or leave the theater". I then became defiant and told him I'm not leaving. "You mean to tell me you're willing to risk the lives of all the people in the theater just so you can see the film", he asked? I said, "look, if I did transfer out of my wheelchair, and there was an actual fire, everyone would get out and I'd probably be left in my seat. Would you be willing to take responsibility for that"?
Realizing that he wasn't going to let the soldout audience in until we resolved our dispute, I decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to stay. I often wonder what would have happened had I stayed to fight it out. I don't think the audience would have cared one way or the other, although one never knows. You would think this kind of thing wouldn't happen these days, but as you can see (at least in the UK) we still have a way to go. As you can see, if you make enough noise, like Dea Birkett did, people can't get away with discrimination.
Isn't it ironic that this story comes out just two days after a federal judge (here in the States) finds 2 movie theater chains violate the ADA? (See the ican submission I posted on 4/2/2003)
When I read this, it reminded me of a time when I dated a beautiful young lady back in 1987. Loews 84th St. in New York City's Upper West Side was a theater Mary and I frequented. At the time, there was no designated spaces for a person using a wheelchair. So, like always, we sat about 5 rows back (in the aisle). On this particular night, an usher who had just let us in before the crowd entered, said I couldn't sit in the aisle because I would be a fire hazard. I told him I've sat in the same spot the last 7 times and nobody said anything. He said I needed to transfer out of my wheelchair onto a "regular" seat if I wanted to see the movie. I explained that it would be too difficult to transfer. A few minutes later, the manager came onto the scene and told me that no object was allowed in the aisle because it would pose a fire hazard. I explained that there is a human being sitting in this particular object that actually moves at my command. If there's a fire, I could quickly move to the front, let everyone out, then make my way out. "You are a fire hazard", he exclaimed. "You either transfer or leave the theater". I then became defiant and told him I'm not leaving. "You mean to tell me you're willing to risk the lives of all the people in the theater just so you can see the film", he asked? I said, "look, if I did transfer out of my wheelchair, and there was an actual fire, everyone would get out and I'd probably be left in my seat. Would you be willing to take responsibility for that"?
Realizing that he wasn't going to let the soldout audience in until we resolved our dispute, I decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to stay. I often wonder what would have happened had I stayed to fight it out. I don't think the audience would have cared one way or the other, although one never knows. You would think this kind of thing wouldn't happen these days, but as you can see (at least in the UK) we still have a way to go. As you can see, if you make enough noise, like Dea Birkett did, people can't get away with discrimination.
posted by cPaul @ 12:00 AM
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