According to statistics from the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, by 2022, the total number of registered disabled persons in China will reach 85 million.
This means that one out of every 17 Chinese people suffers from a disability. But the strange thing is that no matter which city we are in, it is difficult for us to see the disabled in daily travel.
Is it because they don’t want to go out? Or do they have no need to go out?
Obviously not, the disabled are just as eager to see the outside world as we are. Sadly, the world has not been kind to them.
The barrier-free passages are full of electric vehicles, blind paths are occupied, and steps are everywhere. For ordinary people, it is normal, but for the disabled, it is an insurmountable gap.
How difficult is it for a disabled person to live alone in the city?
In 2022, a 30-year-old female blogger shared her “paralyzed” daily life online, sparking huge discussions online. It turns out that the cities we are familiar with are so “cruel” to the disabled.
The blogger’s name is “nya sauce”, and she is not disabled, but since the beginning of 2021, she has been plagued by illness. Nerve compression due to severe back injury.
During that time, as long as “nya sauce” touched the ground with his feet, he would feel a piercing pain, and even bending over became a luxury.
She had no choice but to rest at home. But lying down all the time is not an option. Going out is unavoidable because I have something to do.
So, “nya sauce” had a whim and wanted to use a camera to take pictures of how a disabled person in a wheelchair lives in the city. Going ahead, she started her two-day life experience, but within five minutes, she was in trouble.
“nya sauce” has a relatively high floor, and you need to take an elevator to go downstairs. When entering the elevator, it is very easy, as long as the electric wheelchair is accelerated, you can rush in.
But when we got downstairs and tried to get out of the elevator, it was not so easy. The elevator space is relatively small, and after entering the elevator, the back is facing the elevator door.
Therefore, if you want to get out of the elevator, you can only reverse the wheelchair, and it is easy to get stuck when you can’t see the road.
The elevator door that ordinary people can step out with one foot, but “nya sauce” has been tossing for three minutes.
After getting out of the elevator, “nya sauce” drove a wheelchair and “galloped” in the community, and soon a group of uncles and aunts gathered around him.
They inspected “nya sauce” from head to toe, and some even took out their mobile phones to take pictures. The whole process made “nya sauce” very uncomfortable. Is the behavior of the disabled so weird in the eyes of ordinary people?
If not, why should we stop to pay attention to them?
This may be one of the reasons why the disabled are reluctant to go out. No one likes to walk on the street and be treated like a monster.
After finally getting out of the community and crossing a zebra crossing, “nya sauce” encountered a second problem. Perhaps because of disrepair, there is a small slope made of cement in front of the crosswalk.
There is a drop of less than one centimeter between the small slope and the sidewalk, which is normal in the eyes of ordinary people, and there is no difference in peace. But it is different for the disabled. It is fine for wheelchairs to walk on flat roads, but it is very dangerous to walk on bumpy roads.
“Nya sauce” drove the wheelchair and charged several times, but failed to rush onto the sidewalk. In the end, with the help of her boyfriend, she got through the difficulties smoothly.
Thinking about it carefully, the two problems encountered by “nya sauce” are not problems at all for ordinary people. Every day we commute to get off work, we walk countless sidewalks and take countless elevators.
These facilities are very convenient for us, and we don’t feel any hindrance in using them. But for the disabled, nowhere is suitable, and any detail may trap them in place.
You must know that “nya sauce” has just passed a crossroad at this time, and the real test is far from coming.
Maybe it was because of too much force, after walking for a while, “nya sauce” felt thirsty. So she stopped at the door of a convenience store, facing the water so close at hand, she seemed a little powerless.
There are several steps in front of the convenience store and sidewalk, and there is no barrier-free passage, so “nya sauce” can’t get in at all. Helpless, “nya sauce” can only ask “Xiao Cheng”, a disabled friend who travels with him, for advice.
“Xiao Cheng” said bluntly: “You have a mouth under your nose, can’t you shout?” In this way, “nya sauce” called the boss at the entrance of the convenience store, and finally, with the help of the boss, he successfully bought water.
Walking on the road, “nya sauce” drank water, but had mixed feelings in his heart. It is easy for ordinary people to do things, but disabled people have to ask others to do it.
That is to say, the owner of the convenience store is a good person, but what should I do if I meet someone who is not so good?
Just thinking about it, “nya sauce” encountered the next problem, a van running across the entire sidewalk.
Not only blocked the road, but also blocked the blind road tightly. On the left side of the road, there is a stone paved path that is the only way to pass the sidewalk.
The top is full of bumps and hollows, and it is very inconvenient to walk in. If you are not careful, the wheelchair may roll over.
Fortunately, the driver was in the car. After “nya sauce” went up to communicate with the other party, the driver finally moved the car and “nya sauce” passed smoothly.
Many netizens may say that this is just an emergency situation. Usually, few drivers will park their cars directly on the sidewalk. But in my opinion, people with disabilities will encounter various emergencies during travel.
And the car occupying the road is just one of many emergencies.
In daily travel, unexpected situations encountered by disabled people may be much worse than this. And there is no way to deal with it. In more cases, the disabled can only make compromises.
After that, “nya sauce” drove a wheelchair to the subway station, and encountered the biggest trouble of this trip.
The design of the subway station is very user-friendly, and barrier-free passages are thoughtfully set up at the entrance. But now this barrier-free passage is completely blocked by electric vehicles on both sides, leaving only a small gap for pedestrians to pass through.
This small gap is not a problem for normal people to walk, but it will appear a bit crowded for disabled people. In the end, these barrier-free facilities for the disabled are ultimately serving normal people.
After finally entering the subway station, “nya sauce” originally thought of entering from any entrance. “Xiao Cheng” took “nya sauce” and went straight to the front of the car.
“nya sauce” still felt a little strange, but when he got to the front of the car and looked at his feet, he suddenly realized. It turned out that there was a very large gap between the subway and the platform, and the wheels of the wheelchair could easily sink into it.
Once trapped, the wheelchair may roll over, which is still very dangerous for the disabled. As for why you want to enter from the front of the train, because there is a train conductor at the front of the train, even if there is an accident, you can ask for help from the other party.
I also often take the subway, but I don’t take that gap seriously, and most of the time, I don’t even notice its existence.
Unexpectedly, it is such an insurmountable gap for the disabled. After getting out of the subway, “nya sauce” wandered around the mall and even went to the video game city.Coming here, “nya sauce” found that the video game city is more friendly to the disabled than imagined. Most of the games can be played without discomfort, and even a barrier-free toilet is very considerately prepared for the disabled.
But after “nya sauce” entered the bathroom, she realized that things were a little different from what she had imagined. The washroom in the barrier-free bathroom does not look like it is prepared for the disabled.
There is a big cabinet under the sink, and the handicapped is sitting in a wheelchair and cannot reach the faucet with his hands.
The mirror on the sink is also designed according to the height of ordinary people. Sitting in a wheelchair, you can only see the top of your head. “I really recommend that the staff who design barrier-free toilets can really put themselves in the shoes of the disabled and think about it!”
With this in mind, “nya sauce” came to the last stop of this trip.
After the two walked out of the video game city, they went to the Pig Cafe to experience it again. Before entering the store, “nya sauce” encountered a problem, and her wheelchair was stuck by the door of the pig coffee.
In order to reflect the idyllic style, Zhuka designed the gate in the style of a country fence, and the space is very small. It is very easy for ordinary people to pass through, but when the wheelchair enters, if the control is not good, the hand guards on both sides will get stuck on the door frame.
Finally, with the help of the staff, “nya sauce” was able to enter successfully. It can be seen that the vast majority of shops do not consider the disabled when they open their doors.
That is to say, more than 90% of the stores on the market only serve normal people when they open their doors. This is also one of the major reasons why people with disabilities feel inconvenient to go out.
After coming out of the pig cafe, the one-day experience of “nya sauce” for the disabled ended smoothly. “Nya Sauce” believes that her daily experience has been hard enough, and she has encountered many things that cannot be solved at all.
But in the eyes of the real disabled, the real difficulty, “nya sauce” has never encountered it. For example, “Xiao Cheng” wants to go to an art gallery, but the staff will tell her that wheelchairs are not allowed in before and after the door.
There are also some shopping malls that do not have barrier-free toilets at all, and “Xiao Cheng” can only go to ordinary toilets. The trouble is second to none. The most important thing is to go to the ordinary toilet. The wheelchair will get stuck on the door frame, making the door unable to close.
Many mothers will take their young sons to the bathroom together, in this case, “Xiao Cheng” will be very embarrassed. There are also blind roads in cities, which are said to be blind roads, but blind people cannot travel through blind roads at all.
Vehicles occupying the road is second to none. Have you ever seen green belts and fire hydrants built directly on blind roads?
If a blind person really travels according to the blind path, he may fall into the hospital within an hour. It is precisely because of such inconvenience that many disabled people would rather experience loneliness at home than go out.
Over time, the disabled will naturally disappear in the city. Some people may say that society does not revolve around a few people, you should adapt to society, not society to adapt to you. Seeing such comments, I really feel very speechless.
Does making disabled people live more comfortably, hinder normal people?
If not, why did you say such irresponsible things so conclusively?
Taking a step back, everyone will grow old one day, so old that you have to go out in a wheelchair. I’m really waiting for that day to come. I don’t know if this netizen can still say such irresponsible words with confidence.
As one netizen said: “The advanced level of a city is reflected in whether people with disabilities can go out like normal people.”
I hope that one day, disabled people can experience the temperature of the city just like normal people.
Post time: Dec-19-2022