Shopping with a Wheelchair...

The other day I took a half day off work so that I could take mom Christmas shopping. She still has her cast/boot on and can’t drive or walk. Phil loaded up the wheelchair in the trunk and mom got in the car and off we went to the mall.

The mall is the only real option when you are in a wheelchair. Those big box stores like Heartland are really terrible when you have to get in and out of the car and walk outside in the elements to each store.

So we headed to Erin Mills Town Centre instead. We have a wheelchair parking pass which was good, but we had trouble finding a spot. Now I know that it is Christmas time, but I also know that some people have these passes and use them even when they don’t need to. Nothing erks me more (well yes there are other things that erk me more) then someone whipping into a wheelchair spot and bounding out of their car and jogging into the mall. To those people I ask – is the disability mental cause you had no trouble with physically...
(I do know that this last statement was wrong - HOWEVER, that is what I was feelling at the time and way too many people DO take advantage of other peoples wheelchair passes.)

Needless to say, we did find a parking spot. So I get the chair out and get mom all settled and into the mall we go. We wonder around to all sorts of stores and we are not having much luck in locating what it is that we are looking for.

Until you have taken someone shopping in a wheelchair, you have no idea how crowded stores are. There is no room for a chair in there. It is RIDICULOUS!! I do know that retailers what to get as much out on the floor as possible, but it is a safety hazard sometimes.

There was one particular store that we headed to. We went in and we knew it was a tight squeeze – that should have been our first clue!! I maneuver the chair around the displays, narrow aisles etc. Well we got near the back of the store and got stuck. Yes stuck. I couldn’t get me, mom and the chair turned around, there was stuff all over the floor, things sticking out from the shelves and I was at the end of my rope. I was getting frustrated at trying to get out of the store. I grabbed a box and ‘tossed’ it aside while saying (not in a quiet voice) that these F%$#*@ stores should be wheelchair accessible! I continued to think, but didn’t voice, that this is ridiculous that for health and safety concerns this should not be allowed and I was sure that there were fire code regulations being broken too!! Mom said, oh I can try and stand up so you can lift up the chair. THAT IS NOT THE POINT. What if she couldn’t stand? She shouldn’t have to. Everyone just stared at us. No one offered to help. No one tried to move some boxes NOTHING!

I finally got mom turned around, everyone in the store was staring. It was like on tv when everyone goes silent, they all stare even though everyone is not quite sure where to look and what to do…I can laugh about it now…

On the final turn of getting mom around and ready to walk out the store I hit a display that was on the crowded floor and it came crashing down – it just tipped over. I just kept walking right out of the store muttering under my breath at how horrible it all was.

While walking back into the mall, I was sure that someone was going to come and tap me on the shoulder and say – excuse me – you broke it you bought it and I would be the owner of a hundred of something that I didn’t need! They didn’t…a wise choice on their part given my mood at that particular moment!

Mom and I both made it home in one piece – just a little frazzled!!