I know it sounds rude... un-PC... a little bit like maybe I'm having a bitchy day. But I met a woman in a wheelchair today that actually created an awkward silence on a public bus by being absolutely rude (and rather racist) to a mother with an infant in a stroller.
Yes, the stroller was kinda big and the mother had stationed it in the "handicapped" cubby on the side of the bus (with her infant IN the buggy). There really was NO other place for the stroller to go. And when the woman came on the bus, she demanded the mother move (not ask, not wait for her to unlock the wheels of the stroller as she was in the process of doing, but demanded), then the stroller couldn't move far enough down the aisle to let the wheelchair into the cubby (because the arm on the elderly seat was broken and locked in the down position). So the woman in the wheelchair tells the mother to stop being stupid and move the buggy straight back down the aisle (where it clearly did not fit). The mother, who was asian, started to explain that she couldn't go back any further (and forward was out because the wheelchair was nearly ramming her infant). The woman then points to the sign that says, "Please allow for handicap access" and doesn't quite shout, but raises her voice saying, "Can't you read! You have to move!" The bus at the time was back in motion and the entire population of the lower level of the bus was suddenly fascinated with things outside the window.
The father, who was sitting in the back of the bus with a 2-year old toddler and a 5 year old child has finally managed to free himself of the children and other passengers and trades places with his wife. Then physically lifts the stroller 3 feet off the ground so the woman in the wheelchair can get into the cubby. (She backs in, btw, and stares down the entire bus). The father then sets the buggy back down and somehow manages to allow space for people to pass to get on/off the bus. You'd think that'd be the end... but no.
5 minutes later, the woman in the wheelchair looks at the father and says, "You might want to explain to your wife that this space is for handicapped people, not her bags."
I almost choked...
To his credit, the father was quite calm, and said, "No, I don't think that was the problem. There was no where for the buggy to go. She couldn't lift it like I could."
The woman scoffs and says, "Maybe if her English was better we wouldn't have had this problem."
Again... I almost choked.
Thankfully, my stop was next and I got the hell off that bus. In the back of my mind I was wondering who was going to help that woman get OFF the bus... The wheelchair ramp wasn't working and it took the driver and one very nice passenger to get her on and in the cubby to begin with, and that good samaritan had already departed.
I don't want to use the word entitled... but she was a bit of a bitch. And no, being in a wheelchair doesn't give you the right to be a racist bitch.
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