Our Top Story:
Minibus Fire Kills Disabled Man.
By Mike Ervin
The Associated Press reported that in Allentown,
Pennsylvania, a fast-moving fire swept through a minibus used
to transport people with disabilities, killing a disabled man.
The other two nondisabled passengers escaped.
This is precisely why I keep a fire extinguisher in my van. It
takes forever for me to get in and out, what with deploying the
lift and unstrapping my chair and all. This cumbersome process
does have its advantages for us in the big city in that it's
a strong deterrent for carjackers. If I ever got jacked, I'd
have to say to the jacker, "Okay come on in and help me untie these
four straps. Now slide open the side door and push that button
that says UNFOLD and then---" This puts the jacker in a no-win
situation. If he killed me he'd still have to do all that to unload
my body anyway so he's probably best off giving up and looking
for someone else to jack.
But in case of fire I'm screwed. I'm probably screwed even with
the fire extinguisher. But one of the basic rights people with
disabilities who want to get around in the world have to demand
is the right too place ourselves in situations where if something
goes wrong we're just screwed. Most other humans exercise this
right daily, especially when they go up in an airplane. I noticed
the last time I flew that during the safety speech they stopped
referring to crashing into the ocean as a "water landing" and
called it instead a "water evacuation." But still no
one pays attention to this part of the speech because we all know
if we go down in the water we're just screwed. I don't think there's
ever been a recorded instance of anyone actually surviving a water
crash because they grabbed on to their floating airline seat cushion.
When the twin towers collapsed, there was a lot of talk about
curtailing our inalienable right to choose to just be screwed.
Because some people who used wheelchairs died when they couldn't
get out in time and some firefighters allegedly died trying to
rescuing them, some questioned whether people who use wheelchairs
should be allowed to go very high up in high rises. Nothing ever
became of this of course because can you imagine trying to enforce
such a thing? "You're under arrest for going to your friend's
fifth floor apartment to watch a football game. You have the right
to remain silent---"
Some disability activists started demanding better skyscraper
evacuation procedures after the twin towers collapsed. More power
to them, but unless there are flying monkeys on duty on every floor
ready to scoop us up and whisk us away, I have a feeling we're
still just screwed.
Our brother who was killed in the van fire was taking the risks
that come with independence. Let's drink a toast in his honor.
I hope he was coming back from somewhere fun-better yet, somewhere
fun where he wasn't supposed to be. |
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