My Turn...

CFR Title 14, Chapter II, Subchapter D, Part 382, Subpart E, Section 382.67, Subsection (e)

“As a carrier, you must never request or suggest that a passenger not stow his or her wheelchair in the cabin to accommodate other passengers (e.g., informing a passenger that stowing his or her wheelchair in the cabin will require other passengers to be removed from the flight), or for any other non-safety related reason (e.g., that it is easier for the carrier if the wheelchair is stowed in the cargo compartment).”

Source

Now that you know, speak up.

(This is written entirely within the dominant white/western culture - about traditions that have neglectful stewardship rather than those actively suppressed)

The anxiety makes sense. You’re seeing, too late to do anything about it, that there’s no foundation - no space - for the traditions you expected to pass on. Your kids _can’t_ take your mom’s fine china. So now instead of enjoying what you have you worry about its future.

I see a pattern in these op-eds though - a pattern in what’s left unsaid. There were responsibilities tied to these traditions. You collectively assumed they _would_ be passed along. So collectively, what did you do to ensure those traditions _could_ be passed along?

Op-eds never speak for everyone, but it’s worth acknowledging the pattern in what speech is deemed worth sharing widely.  And in this particular pattern, there’s an answer: that answer looks like “nothing.”

You want the china passed down but your kids have no room in their rentals. You want grandkids but your kids don’t have the financial stability. You want that cross-country RV neverending road trip but you’ve had decades of wanting lower taxes more than you wanted infrastructure.

The bleak outlook for traditions is a direct result of the unmaintained foundations for them. The second best time is always now - if it’s important enough to op-ed about, what are you willing to change to get it back? What will you give up or re-prioritize?

The bleak outlook for traditions is a direct result of the unmaintained foundations for them. The second best time is always now - if it’s important enough to op-ed about, what are you willing to change to get it back? What will you give up or re-prioritize?

I follow a Facebook group of “Memories of …” for my hometown - a rustbelt community that has gone from a thriving hub of industry to a much-less-thriving place.

The group is a collective lament.   Decades-old pictures of well-kept churches.  Aerial shots of the main intersection downtown, lined with big cars.    Scanned advertisemetns from local stores featuring pictures of their interiors.   These alternate with the drumbeat of news:  the Catholic diocese is closing churches.  Selling them.   Tearing them down.   STores downtown are closing.   The traffic light has been replaced with a four-way-stop.

“That’s the church my parents were married in!” “How could they tear down that beautiful building.  Such memories!” “All the businesses are closing.  It must be the taxes.” ”They’ve sold the old lodge downtown.” “They’re not opening the skating rink this year.  We always used to go.”

And sometimes I chime in. 

“Do you attend that church?  Do you give? Or do you just want the building to look pretty for you? “ “Do you volunteer at that park?  Why not?” “Did you vote for that recreation bond issue?” “Are you a member of that Lodge? Why not?” “Do you shop downtown?   Or did you start shopping at Walmart and Amazon to save a few bucks?”

If you feel something is worth preserving, why do you not participate in its preservation?  

I'm helping organize this fundraiser for a good friend who's in a major bind. Her van, which was modified to be wheelchair accessible, has failed. It costs upwards of $75,000 to replace, upfront.

Right now, she has no transportation. Please donate and share this post to help spread the word. Thank you!

NEW WHEELS FOR HANNAH

Back in August 2022, Hannah’s van shut off by itself in the middle of a busy street. The computer system that allows her to drive the van with hand controls had failed. She was stranded.

Hannah has Muscular Dystrophy, and uses a power wheelchair full-time, meaning that she needs a wheelchair-accessible vehicle to commute or travel anywhere. For the past 12 years, Pequod, her fully modified van, has allowed her to get anywhere she needed to go. Hannah drove it through college and grad school, to and from her teaching position at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and across state lines to her new house in a small town outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband, Jared, and a ridiculous shepherd-corgi mix named Pumpkin.

Despite the van's most valiant efforts, these vehicles are only designed to work for 10 years, and while Hannah and Jared were grateful to see it last an additional two years, they now find themselves without reliable transportation. They do not live in a city with public transit, so without an accessible van, Hannah is essentially homebound.

As her friends, we have decided to help her ask for help, because a new van with the modifications she and her chair require (a lowered floor, a ramp installation, and EZ-lock restraint system) costs upwards of $75,000. The vast majority of that will have to be paid upfront. For a variety of reasons, Hannah and Jared have decided not to get a van with the computer system and hand controls this time, which would have added another $35,000 to the total cost. This will not be one she can drive, but they have weighed the pros and cons and decided they can make it work.

The service that helped Hannah get Pequod 12 years ago said they’d only ever finance one vehicle. Another won’t help because she is married and her husband is able to go out for groceries and necessities. Medi-transit services can take her to the hospital and nothing else is considered a necessity.

Hannah has dedicated a huge part of her life to disability advocacy. Her heart is enormous and through knowing her we have all come to see how much of her desire to help others informs her everyday life. Much of our time together is spent discussing ways to open eyes to a new way of seeing the world, the realities of living with a disability, and how the system has failed others less fortunate than herself.