#starfuryevents

Oded Fehr

Serenity 3 - Firefly Convention September 2006 -Starfury Event

Q&A - Jewel Staite & Morena Baccarin

Warning. Occasional swearage. So if you aren't going to like that look away now.

As we get ready to go to Ultimates in Birmingham this weekend, someone made a comment on Twitter how a disabled person was brought to the front of a queue, after they'd been there for 2 hours at last years Ultimates..

Now, in truth I know this kind of thought process occurs a lot when able bodied people see this kind of thing.

I'm certainly not posting this in rebuke of this person (so if you read this, please know it absolutely isn't.)

As a disabled person I thought I'd try to write to explain why this kind of thing goes on. And how it might seem we get unfair priority, but it couldn't be further from the truth.

First though - so there is no confusion - not all disability is visible. I use a wheelchair - but I can also use sticks. Some people don't even need that. So when I talk about disabled, I'm covering more than just obviously visible disability. I can even *gasp* stand up from my chair and move around very short distances with care.

So being disabled is a fuck ton of day to day stuff that is exhausting in it's own right. That's not even with the crap the disability brings.

Like me, often being disabled isn't confined to one thing. I have 3 main chronic diseases, including an autoimmune disease and one that is considered one of the most painful known to man (or woman). That means every single thing we do has to be planned to the last detail. It means those carefully laid plans can go to shit faster than a rat up a drain pipe.

So - you're there in a queue. Suddenly someone gets pulled in front of you, seemingly from nowhere. You realise they're disabled, but question why should they get priority?

There are numerous reasons this happens. You can be ahead of a main group. Or brought in last. Each event runs a slightly different way to deal with this. Airlines are a great example. As a disabled person, I might be the first to embark, but if I'm restricted to my chair that day, I'm usually the last, having to be brought in via a special lift, through a door opposite the main one used by other passengers.

I also can't use an aisle seat. Or middle seat. Window or nothing. Now that sounds okay. Most people want the window seat. Except - I'm there because if we have an emergency, I'm the last off that fucker! Want the seats with slightly more room? That's a big fat fuck off - because that's emergency exit territory. Remember, I'm last off, so no getting ahead via those exits.

Also wheelchairs need more space than chairs. We have not just the seats but wheels, handles, all manner of sticky out bits. Even the smallest option. Or like mine, I have arm rests that flip up, so I can move position using the wheels (fun fact, look at wheelchairs of those who use them daily or a lot - like mine, they either have flip up armrests, or none at all to give us access to the wheels). So anyway... no matter how much we try, we take up space. We have a carer, so an extra body (or more for some).

Some need to be in a quiet area. Others close to disabled toilet access. The reasons why we rarely queue with everyone is almost as long and complex as disability itself.

So, we might seem as if we've not been queuing, but I can assure you we have. It just might not be in the conventional sense.

Disability is fucking exhausting. We couldn't attend these events unless this help is in place. Nor does it always benefit us (see above on earlier example).

There is a common saying with us when someone who is able bodied takes a disabled parking spot.

Want my spot, take my disability.

Honestly the same applies here.

I'd love nothing more than to be able to queue up for hours with everyone else if it meant I was no longer sick.

Unfortunately for us we don't have that choice. Chronic illness can strike each and every one of us without mercy. I truly hope any of you who are able bodied never experience it or disability on any level.

I also ask if you see a disabled person gaining what you think is an unfair advantage, no we do not.

Oh and many of us hate being singled out by this kind of stuff. So yeah there's that to add to it all.