Perspectives & prerequisites...
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I wasn't sure if I could find this full clip, but I did. Since the handrail comments, I've somehow found myself wondering if this famous chairlift scene from GREMLINS in the "crueler" 1980s would ever be filmed these days. I think if it even got filmed in 2018, it would be cut once word got out.
Not for the squeamish, Mrs. Deagle's chairlift from "Gremlins"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK30R1gsgGk
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I'm trying to imagine this elderly couple contemplating Machu Picchu while standing in front of it....
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Howard Hughes hired people with disabilities because they were loyal employees, he also had wheelchair ramps built in his factories and at the entrances.
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'brevity is the soul of wit'...
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Nice anecdote!
Of course, if you were qualified to ascend those stairs to meet the king in the first place, you would have your own living handrail in the form of a footman or page escorting you up the steps.
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I’m a binge-watching fan of the British Series “Doc Martin” and immediately noticed that the stone steps leading to the entrance of the doc’s office (the “surgery”) were not only steep but also had no handrails
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Europe. Less interest in safety precautions.
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My wife is handicapped and in a wheelchair, so I see things differently than most. The first thing I look for when approaching a building is handicapped access--you would be surprised how many do not have access. Many restaurants require a wheelchair to enter thru the back door and thru the kitchen. A single step at the front door restricts access. Easily remedied, rarely addressed. Corner curbs restrict street crossings, rest rooms do not have automatic doors, and allow healthy folks to freely use the handicapped stall. Subway stations often lack elevators.
It is a different city when viewed through a handicapped individuals eyes.
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Thank you for your comment, Billy. I can really relate to what you're saying.
My stepmother had polio when she was very young. She spent her early years getting around on crutches, and she had to use a wheelchair in her later years.
Your comment reminded me that she and my father loved to have dinner out at nice restaurants. But they were limited in their choice of restaurants that had an easy access. As you said about your wife, my stepmother sometimes had to enter through the back door and go through the kitchen.
One time they were dining in a restaurant that was located on the 5th floor of a building. That night the power went out (I think there was a storm), and, as luck would have it, there were 3 very strong young men who carried her down the 5 flights of stairs in her wheelchair. She was scared to death, and she breathed a huge sigh of relief when she and my dad were in the car on their way back home.
(But it did not stop them from dining out!) :-)
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I read your Diary entry at least four times, Mr. Kahn, and each time, I visualized it as a cartoon in THE NEW YORKER. It brought a smile to my face each time. :-)
I’m also wondering if perhaps the diminutive older woman was making a subtle joke. I say that only because it sounds like something my wife might have said. (My wife would have then whispered to me, “I know, I’m a jerk.”)
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Dean, I'm 58, and suddenly started really needing handrails about a year ago. So much adjusting with getting older, but it feels worth the effort: I'm in Seattle (actually Redmond, but close enough). And the next town over is Bellevue, which is stunning, and means something completely different in Washington State than in New York somehow, and it's taking some processing evry time I see the town's name.
And tomorrow's Diary (this one) appeared at 3 PM, and I thought there must be a mistake, and I'm about to see a rehearsal that starts at 8 PM, but it's really 11 PM! I've never had time zone adjustment problems before. But- I'll sure take aging over anything anyone else has to offer! I'd have been amazed at no handrails, too, but maybe not even noted it a couple of years ago.
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Freddie,
The only good thing we can say about our relentless aging, is that it beats the alternative! Best, Leda
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LRS, definitely. And even if on meds like folks and family in their 90's, I want to be around long enough to know what advances in technology could be like by 2050 (or on a less crucial note, what the next Broadway theater craze might be after the jukebox musical winds down, if ever).
"At 58" updating lyric to tune of "At Seventeen"
I learned the truth by 58
That aching joints are not that great.
But with the pain a step might give
Age sure beats the alternative. :)
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