poohbear
03-15-2004, 05:07 PM
Last week I headed to Las Vegas for a friend’s wedding. Of course, I flew in with my segway, and —always displaying my handicap sticker— proceeded to go up and down the strip. There were no problems. Many people asked questions, I gave just a couple of quiet demos, off the street, and a few tourists took my picture. I did hear one guy pass me in the casino and say to his friend “Oh, I HATE those things.” Later, I heard someone yell at me as I got on the elevator “Why don’t you just walk!?!” I’m almost convinced it was the same guy.
We were staying in the Excalibur, and for 2 days I rolled in and out of there without a problem. On the second day, I was with the bride-to-be as we were headed back up to our rooms. The guard at the base of the tower pointed at me, wiggled his finger to beckon me over, and said “Okay, you can’t ride that in here.” I stayed calm and said “Really? I’ve been here for 2 days, and no one has said anything.” He said “Well, that’s the rules, and you can’t be riding that in here.” I told him that I couldn’t get around without it, so could I speak with a manager? He grumbled, “That’s fine if that’s what you want, but it’s the rules.” He got on a phone and talked to someone, saying “Yeah, we’ve got a guest here riding one of those two-wheeled things. I told her she can’t ride that thing in here, but she wants to talk to management.” A few minutes later another man comes up and starts with “Yeah, you can’t ride that here.” I said to him “Well, I’ve been here for two days, and this is the first time anyone has said anything. I can’t get round without it, so it’s like you telling me I can’t ride a wheelchair around here.” He said, well that’s our rules, because we can’t be sure you won’t lose control and run into another guest.” I told him I was safer on the segway than if I tried to walk on my own legs. I HAD been riding around the hotel for 2 days without incident. He said “well that’s just the rules. We get the rules from the managers.” I felt my face get a little hot and I blurted out “I thought I was going to be talking to a manager.” He said they would give me a wheelchair. I was losing patience and kinda snapped “and will you be providing me with someone to push me around as well?” He just blinked and said “No.”
By this time, more of our party had joined us, and they were all waiting around and watching. The bride-to-be was getting angry, and started to speak “This is discrimination!” I took a deep breath, just looked at the second man and said “Would you please call me an actual manager?” He sort of shifted on his feet and said “I’m sure you could go up to the front desk and ask for his secretary, and maybe she can find him…”. I just stared at him, and said “Are you saying you won’t call him for me?” The first guard called another security guard over and asked him to cover so he could go out and smoke a cigarette. The pseudo-manager shuffled his feet some more and said “well… I can try”. He walked over to a house phone and made a call.
The bride & groom to be were standing with their heads together. The bride was furious, and considering calling her parents to come speak to the management. I just waited as patiently as I could. Finally, the pseudo-manager came back and said “okay, let’s see…um…ma’am, in what way are you disabled?” I kept my voice even and simply said “I have multiple sclerosis and cannot walk very far.” He seemed relieved that I hadn’t raised my voice and he seemed to relax and become more natural. He said “Okay, they’re telling me that if you have a disability, you can use that here. But, an able-bodied person would not be allowed to ride that in here.”
I was too tired to argue how ridiculous that rule was, and just thanked him for making the call. I led our group away, and we gave the bride-to-be a chance to vent her frustration. We all agreed that it was a stupid rule and a frustrating incident, but chalked it up to ignorance. I decided to trust that our segway community will eventually become more accepted, but resigned myself to not being able to change the whole world in one day. I had things to do, and places to be. However, the rest of the trip, when other guests in the hotel stopped to ask me questions or congratulate me on being lucky enough to have such technology, I told them how the hotel had almost tried to take it away from me and force me into a wheelchair. I was always gratified to see the shock and outrage in their reactions. It gave me hope that someday more people will understand and accept the benefits of the segway; maybe first for the disabled, then eventually just for the wonderful device that it is,
I was stopped only once more by security on the last day. He motioned me over and asked “Okay, are you able to get around at all without using this?” I smiled and said “No, not really. And, I’ve already been through this with the tower security.” He just nodded and said “Oh, you have? Okay then, you go on along.”
-poohbear
We were staying in the Excalibur, and for 2 days I rolled in and out of there without a problem. On the second day, I was with the bride-to-be as we were headed back up to our rooms. The guard at the base of the tower pointed at me, wiggled his finger to beckon me over, and said “Okay, you can’t ride that in here.” I stayed calm and said “Really? I’ve been here for 2 days, and no one has said anything.” He said “Well, that’s the rules, and you can’t be riding that in here.” I told him that I couldn’t get around without it, so could I speak with a manager? He grumbled, “That’s fine if that’s what you want, but it’s the rules.” He got on a phone and talked to someone, saying “Yeah, we’ve got a guest here riding one of those two-wheeled things. I told her she can’t ride that thing in here, but she wants to talk to management.” A few minutes later another man comes up and starts with “Yeah, you can’t ride that here.” I said to him “Well, I’ve been here for two days, and this is the first time anyone has said anything. I can’t get round without it, so it’s like you telling me I can’t ride a wheelchair around here.” He said, well that’s our rules, because we can’t be sure you won’t lose control and run into another guest.” I told him I was safer on the segway than if I tried to walk on my own legs. I HAD been riding around the hotel for 2 days without incident. He said “well that’s just the rules. We get the rules from the managers.” I felt my face get a little hot and I blurted out “I thought I was going to be talking to a manager.” He said they would give me a wheelchair. I was losing patience and kinda snapped “and will you be providing me with someone to push me around as well?” He just blinked and said “No.”
By this time, more of our party had joined us, and they were all waiting around and watching. The bride-to-be was getting angry, and started to speak “This is discrimination!” I took a deep breath, just looked at the second man and said “Would you please call me an actual manager?” He sort of shifted on his feet and said “I’m sure you could go up to the front desk and ask for his secretary, and maybe she can find him…”. I just stared at him, and said “Are you saying you won’t call him for me?” The first guard called another security guard over and asked him to cover so he could go out and smoke a cigarette. The pseudo-manager shuffled his feet some more and said “well… I can try”. He walked over to a house phone and made a call.
The bride & groom to be were standing with their heads together. The bride was furious, and considering calling her parents to come speak to the management. I just waited as patiently as I could. Finally, the pseudo-manager came back and said “okay, let’s see…um…ma’am, in what way are you disabled?” I kept my voice even and simply said “I have multiple sclerosis and cannot walk very far.” He seemed relieved that I hadn’t raised my voice and he seemed to relax and become more natural. He said “Okay, they’re telling me that if you have a disability, you can use that here. But, an able-bodied person would not be allowed to ride that in here.”
I was too tired to argue how ridiculous that rule was, and just thanked him for making the call. I led our group away, and we gave the bride-to-be a chance to vent her frustration. We all agreed that it was a stupid rule and a frustrating incident, but chalked it up to ignorance. I decided to trust that our segway community will eventually become more accepted, but resigned myself to not being able to change the whole world in one day. I had things to do, and places to be. However, the rest of the trip, when other guests in the hotel stopped to ask me questions or congratulate me on being lucky enough to have such technology, I told them how the hotel had almost tried to take it away from me and force me into a wheelchair. I was always gratified to see the shock and outrage in their reactions. It gave me hope that someday more people will understand and accept the benefits of the segway; maybe first for the disabled, then eventually just for the wonderful device that it is,
I was stopped only once more by security on the last day. He motioned me over and asked “Okay, are you able to get around at all without using this?” I smiled and said “No, not really. And, I’ve already been through this with the tower security.” He just nodded and said “Oh, you have? Okay then, you go on along.”
-poohbear