Wanna know what commercial I hate? That travel commercial where the man has commandeered the stair chair lift so that he can keep checking for travel deals. At the end of the commercial, he passes Grandma on the stairs, gripping the banister as she struggles to climb get up just one more stair. Yeah. Real gut buster. Let’s poke fun at the weak and disabled to attract people to our website. Ha ha.
They probably didn’t set out to mock the elderly or the disabled when they made the commercial. I think it was a lapse in judgment where they were too busy thinking about what was in it for them ($$$) than thinking about who might get hurt in the process. But too many of us deal with the I didn’t mean to hurt anybody people in our lives on too many occasions to find any humor, or even acceptance, of the insensitive behavior we experience too often.
It’s like the time I picked up my sons from after-school care and headed to my parking space in the pouring rain…only to find a car parked in the walkway next to my car. I struggled to squeeze into my seat, but since I couldn’t open my door fully, I was stuck sitting there with my leg getting colder and wetter. She finally came out to her car, and I spoke up. Her reply? But I’m sick, and it’s wet. When I pointed out to her that I couldn’t even get into my car because of her, she headed off, calling out that she hoped I had a blessed day as she drove away.
Or it’s like Wednesday, when I was picking up my sons from church choir practice. I was so pleased that I snagged the last handicapped space, since they had been full the previous two weeks and I had to walk so much farther to get the boys. But then I passed the parking space close to the pickup area and saw the women in her SUV, engine running, texting on her phone waiting for her child to get finished with choir. Needless to say, there was no tag on her car. I glared at her as I made my way to the pickup area, but it was obvious that she didn’t care one bit that a woman with a walker had to walk farther because she was waiting in that space. She looked up and then buried in nose right back in her phone.
When my boys and I were leaving, my older son went to the closest handicapped space, thinking he saw my car. I told him it wasn’t ours, and he commented that the car didn’t even have a handicapped placard. The whole way home, I had to try to answer questions from my 9 and 10 year old children about why people would park in those spots when they were clearly marked for handicapped people. They attempted to come up with reasons, especially trying to figure out why people would do it at a church. When they said it was because some people are really stupid, I said they shouldn’t call them stupid…but I just said that because I’m their mom and am not supposed to encourage them to call people stupid. Even when they are.
It’s hard enough dealing with a cane or a walker and hills and cracked pavement as I struggle to avoid the dreaded Public Faceplant. The degree of difficulty amps up even more when I’m trying to dodge the obstacle of insensitive people. And what am I supposed to say to my children? I’m trying to teach them right from wrong, and they see example after example of people incapable of doing the right thing or extending the slightest courtesy to other people. How am I supposed to teach my boys compassion when they see situations like these?
And what about the lessons these parents are teaching their kids? It’s OK to break the law if you’re in a hurry. Or if it’s raining. Or if you’re just going to be there for a minute. Or if you’re sitting in your car talking on your cellphone or texting. Or if you have a cold. Or if you just feel like it.
While I was growing up, the minister would end each service by reminding us to help the suffering, support the weak, never return evil for evil, honor all people. Whether you are a Christian or not, I think you can find wisdom in those words.
Unless, of course, you’re in a hurry.
