Ignorance or Stupidity?

This weekend was my partners birthday, so we decided that a trip to Meadowhall would be in order for her to buy some stuff. A friend of ours came with, the problem was she had broken her foot so she was on crutches. Now been on crutches is not fun really, especially when you have never been on crutches before. I would guess that a good majority of people learnt how to walk or use crutches at a younger age. Needless to say she was not good on crutches.

Now my partner can be a little bit helpful of other people, in fact she is extremely helpful to the needy. So she is very aware of people in wheelchairs, on crutches, who are deaf or blind etc. So this day oout was going to be a slow one but we all new this, unfortunately no one else in the whole shopping mall gives to hootds about people with a disability, whether it is a temporary one like a broken foot or someone who is wheelchair bound for life.

We spent half the day with the crutches and the other half we got a free wheelchair from the nice people at Meadowhall Customer services. I was amazed or more to the point appalled at the general publics in ability to move out of the way from someone who had a mobility problem. People would cut across her when she was on crutches making her stop when she finds it hard to get moving or just stop walking completely and gaze into a shop window wishing they could buy the very expensive outfit or computer console.

This did not just happen to us. Now that I am aware of people with mobility problems I saw more people on crutches, in wheelchairs or who had general mobility problems. I was completely disgusted by the reaction and the ignorance that it is alright to walk in front of people like that.

On reflection I thought to myself it is alright blaming everyone else but I must remember that my eyes have just been opened that day to the ignorance and stupidity, I was once those people!