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Posted by Phaedrine on July 24, 2006, 10:41 am
> >
> > Veloise wrote:
> >> http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=69402
> >>
> >> Seems those crowded aisles, entries stuffed with product, etc. are not
> >> wheelchair-friendly.
> > I am not surprised..........I have two good legs and can barely walk
> > through the place.........
>
> I use a wheelchair and I'll believe it changes when I see it, right after
> the herd of pigs fly by. First off they have four years to comply to this
> ambiguous edict, then they have another year to comply after each complaint
> about them not complying. This only applies to the districts that
> acknowledged the complaints. There's so many loopholes for JoAnn's to act
> the part of concerned retailer and then work around this entire compliance
> order it makes me sick.
This is happening because we are plagued with a leadership that, like
the companies it seeks to aid at the expense of the public (ie
Halliburton), has extremely short-term vision as well as lack of ethics
and conscience. While Joann Fabric may be unique in the extreme breadth
of its greed and disrespect for consumers, it is only one of hundreds of
companies and institutions thumbing their noses with impunity at laws
intended to protect consumers because those in power are not only
antagonistic toward the general public, but have no apparent problem
with exploitation either. Anything for a short-term profit and more
corporate money in political fund coffers seems to suffice--- no matter
how reprehensible, immoral or unreasonable.
Civil rights enforcement in general as well as enforcement of the ADA,
§504 and the IDEA has been nearly absent over the last six years. The
first clue was the dismissal of nearly all experienced DOJ civil rights
litigators and other attorneys when Bush took office. It is the task of
the executive branch to enforce the Nation's laws but, instead, they use
and abuse executive power to pick and choose to their political
advantage, to look the other way when they disagree, or to write
executive orders which contradict long-standing existing statutes (ie
FISA), under the fallacious guise of war powers.
To summarize, these are people who don't give a flying fig whether a
wheelchair user can shop or not because anything that could actually
help them might entail a "spending program". That elderly people are
eating dog food because they cannot afford their medications or because
they have been unable to navigate the complex pharmaceutical travesty is
of no concern to the knuckleheads in charge.
How a civilization meets its responsibility to those who are
disadvantaged by age, disability, economic status or whatever is a solid
measure of that society. Right now we fall at the bottom end of that
scale, past the red line, where it says, "Life among the savages".
Phae
> I've personally written letters to the Corporate office of JoAnn's for the
> past 8 years and got nothing but "we'll look into this, we value you as a
> customer" type replies. It has now taken a Federal law suit to get the
> corporate people off their butts and give a little "all our customers are
> important" speech. I call BULLSH*T on JoAnn's. Their ADA accommodations
> amount to "tell me what you want and I'll go get it for you." OK people, how
> many of you would go fabric shopping if you could only get 4 feet inside the
> door and no further and have a clerk say "tell me what you want and I'll go
> get it for you". I wonder how much profit JoAnn's would be making if all
> customers were handled this way. Retail sale is built on the premise of I
> need a spool of purple thread but ended up with $200.00 on the Visa. Do
> people really only run into the store for a loaf of bread and leave with
> just that. They would if you had to ask for a loaf of bread at the door and
> didn't see all those psychologically proven impulse buy displays. Normally I
> have to wait for a customer to come in or out of the store so I can even get
> IN the door because the clerks won't even pay attention to a person
> knocking, pounding, banging on the door. Anyone who has ever been in a
> wheelchair knows the majority of clerks make a concerted effort to NOT even
> make eye contact so they don't get stuck helping the crippled person. I have
> had more help from customers than clerks.
>
> I say it's not going to happen. JoAnn's one and only goal is to get the most
> merchandise (quality is way down on the list of priorities, customer service
> not much higher) in the least amount of space, PERIOD. They will continue to
> stack and fill isles with the wide eyed; new girl didn't know: we just got
> freight: I'll get somebody to move that ( I love that excuse, as they walk
> away.....why the hell can't they move it?); to the ever popular and most
> used......"I know it gets really crowded in here" as they yank all the piles
> of crap on the floor over so I can get into an isle but leave it and
> disappear so I can't get out.
>
> " hire an ADA Consultant to assist Jo-Ann's with implementation of the
> settlement Agreement and designate a corporate ADA Coordinator;" *insert
> bark of cynical laughter*
>
> This means that somebody with a little manual, clip board and tape measure
> will be walking around checking things out and making recommendations. Isn't
> it amazing that the people who decide these things aren't in a wheelchair?
> Believe me, what is written in the manual and what actually works in the
> real world are two different things. Mobility devices come in all sizes and
> the manual was written for best case scenarios, which seldom there are.
> Door, isle, turning radius, etc are written for 'average adult manual
> chair". I asked my wheelchair repair guy once how many "average sized"
> people are in wheelchairs. His answer was about 20%, counting children.
> Wheelchairs come in many sizes to fit many bodies and conditions, in his
> customer base, which is a large one, about 80% are NOT average so there goes
> that regulation, a lot of good that does. They do actually interview and
> "observe" the disabled they have come in for a day or two to run their
> mock-up mazes. That manual was written by people who need to appease the
> clients and architects who voted in the fat cats who appointed and hired the
> very well paid people who decide how to write the manual. Not to increase
> quality of life for the disabled. Building a ramp costs less than a set of
> stairs, who is doing who a favor? And depending on the age of the building
> nothing will be done because retro fitting an older building is expensive
> and those funds were diverted to Halliburton's catering complex years ago.
> Making a building handicapped accessible is also fully tax deductible for
> that company if not fully funded so essentially it doesn't cost a thing.
> Make note that this seldom applies to private citizens. After all, JoAnn's
> and the like contribute a lot more to "get me the vote" campaigns than
> relatively few disabled people and their families who are usually pretty
> well tapped out financially.
>
> We have four post offices that I can get to and have handicapped access.
> That means they have an automatic door. The only problem is, when you get
> close enough to the door to push the button for automatic door opener it
> swings smack into the person pushing the button. I've made phone calls and
> written letters.........the answers I get back; we have complied with the
> ADA codes for accessibility.
>
> Anyone who is still reading this post should think about the fact that this
> effects you, even if, at the moment, you have two good legs to walk on.
> About 13 years ago at 5:30 am I had just finished a 3 mile run and my yoga
> routine before I left for work.....after 7:15 that same morning I never
> walked again. Disability not only plays no favorites to race, gender,
> religion, education or financial strata or anything else for that matter;
> it's swift and non discriminatory. People who are in wheelchairs are treated
> by the majority as if all are learning disabled, brain damaged, idiots, just
> plain stupid and/or deaf. Why DO people raise their voice to talk to
> somebody in a wheelchair? Maybe for the same reason they yell at somebody
> who speaks another language thinking that volume makes up for the lacking in
> ability to communicate. The worst of all is just being ignored, totally and
> completely ignored, as if you did not exist.
>
> I don't put much faith in JoAnn's, I think they will make motions and noises
> but aren't terribly interested in going out of the way for, what to them, is
> a very insignificant number of customers. After all these years they didn't
> even make an effort until they were bashed over the head with a law suit. A
> little merchandise will be shuffled and a lot of excuses will be made and
> I'll bet the rent not much is going to change.
>
> Val
--
I fear me you but warm the starved snake
Who, cherished in your breasts, will sting your hearts. (Henry VI,Shakespeare)
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