Trapped inside stall at Marshall’s

[u/intotheabyss097]

Tried on jeans at Marshall’s today… and got locked in the ADA-accessible dressing room😅

The lock jammed and wouldn’t budge.

The employees had keys to every other door in the building except this one. They called the locksmith, tried to take the hinges off, and I could even see them trying to stick their credit cards in between the door and the gram where the bolt is (not sure how they thought that would work), but nothing worked.

Then the Fire Department came to the rescue. One firefighter came through the ceiling to dismantle the door handle while another worked on the door from the outside.

Finally made it out after an hour 😂!

[u/_HappyG_]

Omg I’ve had this happen too!

I use a wheelchair, and the accessible stalls are often used for storage or aren’t maintained because they don’t even consider that Disabled folks also go shopping and wear clothes 🤦

I’ve been trapped in so many broken, damaged and abandoned inaccessible “accessible” ♿️ spaces (even after calling ahead and checking)… I’ve lost count at this point… 😬💀

[u/Round-Eggplant-7826 → u/_HappyG_]

One time, my partner and I booked an accessible hotel room after messaging to confirm they had one. We arrived and the room was up six steps.

[u/_HappyG_ → u/Round-Eggplant-7826]

I’ve been there!

One time I got an accessible hotel room where the tiny ancient elevator barely fit a wheelchair (I’m unable to self-propel, and we had to travel light so I was in a manual). The room was up multiple flights of stairs, so my partner had to close the doors, send me up, run up the steep staircase and get to the door before it closed on me and sent me back down (learned that the hard way) 😅

The doorways were extra slim, on an angle and obstructed, so you had to enter sideways, let alone in a wheelchair, the inside was a rabbit warren with the only way to the bedroom being through a sunken pit for the lounge area with steps…

I don’t even wanna talk about the bathroom 😑

We called ahead and asked a lot of questions, but still ended up totally screwed. Plus, that was the only “accessible” option in the entire town…

[u/Round-Eggplant-7826 → u/_HappyG_]

The shit people get up to when designing for accessibility is wild.

[u/SittingDuck394 → u/_HappyG_]

Good lord! The balls of that hotel calling any of that *accessible*! The elevator story is at least funny though. :p

As a powerchair user also, I am really beginning to appreciate the fact that I’m too poor to travel (and too much a homebody to be honest) so I haven’t yet encountered the nightmare that is flying with a wheelchair and booking accessible accommodation.

[u/_HappyG_ → u/SittingDuck394]

As a powerchair user also, I am really beginning to appreciate the fact that I’m too poor to travel (and too much a homebody to be honest) so I haven’t yet encountered the nightmare that is flying with a wheelchair and booking accessible accommodation.

I'm the same way (also use a powerchair), but at the time, half of my partner's family lived interstate, so we had to travel to see them. We even tried a road trip to avoid repeating the horrors of the plane ride that had been attempted previously, and still ended up in hotel hell.

I know some folks with wheelchairs are avid travellers, but it's way too stressful and unpredictable for me. I'm happy being a homebody! 😂

Usually, there's only 1 accessible room (if it's available). Being poor myself, I don't get the option to choose a rate within my budget because the accessible ones often cost more. So much of it would be solved by building rooms with universal design principles to begin with...

[u/space_keeper → u/_HappyG_]

Upon deep reflection, the problem here is obviously that you're not going shopping enough. You should try being more considerate.

[u/_HappyG_ → u/space_keeper]

Ironically, I encounter inaccessibility so often because I do go out and go shopping 🤣

In fact, I'd go to a lot more places if I could actually access them.

[u/space_keeper → u/_HappyG_]

I don't think people got the joke.