Blogs

Wheel chair rage

 
Narrow medieval streets packed tight with meandering tourist are not the easiest place to navigate a wheel chair, add hot sun and a deceptive incline and the result is wheel chair rage. The oncoming people traffic can get out of your way but the people in front can't see you coming, abrupt stops to examine brightly coloured objects on a market stall or the sudden desire  to capture the view means the wheel chair pusher needs to be constantly on the alert. The stop go progress means no momentum can be achieved. The wheel chair is much wider and heavier than the numerous push chairs occupied by small children and easily manoeuvred  by young nibble and experienced parents. Like to see them try and make such smooth progress with a double buggy. Of course if the throng is too tightly packed on a particularly narrow section they can always fold up the push chair and carry the infant, the wheel chair user and pusher don't have that option. 

Being a foreign country the assumption is that the "dozy" individuals impeding your progress and totally unaware of your presence are unable to understand your increasingly loud mutterings, after all they don't seem to hear or understand your shouted "excuse me's". You're trying hard to avoid it because you know it will hurt but it's inevitable you are going to run into the back of someone's ankles and they are going to think it's your fault when clearly it is there's. 
Their comments will be directed at you and your driving not the frail elderly person in the chair, but you know everyone is thinking someone in a wheel chair shouldn't be here! 

Blair McPherson www.blairmcpherson.co.uk

More Blog Entries