The Challenges with Disability & Transportation
Long story:
I have been on lockdown for a while because my handicap van has been in the shop leaving me with no transportation.
We finally got our van back Tuesday after it being worked on for over a week because our van AC had gone out. Prior to that our AC had been down this whole month of July 2023. So, I have been home because it is too hot to not only go anywhere, but to go anywhere having no AC sitting in the back of the van.
Yesterday we (“we” meaning my mother and I) had a busy day running errands since very early morning having a long day. After our long day we decided to go to the casino for a little getaway because we haven’t gone anywhere outside of our home because we had no other transportation because again my handicap van was in the shop. We played slots and had an amazing time!
When we retrieved our keys to our handicap van by the Valet, we then went to our van, and mom was going to have to move the van because where it was parked, we weren’t able to let my wheelchair ramp down because we didn’t have enough space. As she went to move the van our gear thingy that you put into drive, reverse, park etc was completely loose. We couldn’t move the van.
This is where things got really interesting. During this process because we couldn’t move the van putting it into drive or park, we are left with several problems that needed several solutions, and fairly quickly.
This all started around 10:00PM. We called the Valet, Valet called their supervisor, their supervisor called security, and their security called their security supervisor. The problem was that we parked the van in Valet, and Valet had then moved the van to park it. Somewhere within this process something had happened in between. What that is? It is still currently be looked into.
Because of this and because of me having my disability I was left with very little options on what we can do. Because it is 10:00 at night and everything is closed. I now have no transportation for my wheelchair. I had tried reaching out to a good friend of mine who also has a handicap van, but he was unavailable.
The only solution that made sense was to stay overnight in their hotel. There happens to be an event (which is now today) and also a concert (which is tomorrow.) Because of this rooms are booked! And it also isn’t as easy to simply say “oh, we’ll just stay the night.” No. Because we have no overnight clothes, no wheelchair charger, no phone charger, and also no personal hygiene care. Because everything was closed, we had not much of any other option, but to stay overnight. The casino security took down their notes/ report needed, escorted us to the hotel, and went to see if there were any availability. Turns out they had one room left! Luck? No, a blessing.
My mom was talking with her sister (my aunt) and she was willing to come and stay the night with us to help mom with me to transfer into the casino hotel bed. During this process it’s already 11:00 something almost midnight. I sat and thought about the process of time. “In 8 hours, you will have some answers.” This meant that I had 8 hours before a brighter day because within this process of course you’re going to feel some form of gloomy clouds hindering you. I told mom: “I will be okay. I will just sleep in my chair..” My mom you can tell she is thinking how it won’t be good for me because of my back and I really need to stretch out, especially after having such a long day. Fortunately for me my wheelchair almost lays into a bed, so I do get to stretch, but just not as much as I would a bed. I said, “I will just recline my chair back I’ll be fine.” After some back-and-forth conversating she said okay.
In my mind it was nearly midnight and just about 8 hours before finding a solution on how I/we will get home. It would’ve taken my Nina (my aunt) roughly 2 hours, which would have then been 1:00am, and then only leaving roughly 6-7 hours left before finding a solution to our transportation of getting home problem. To me personally it made more sense to endure it because before I know it we will be back at home.
So, I slept in my chair, and it wasn’t as comfortable as I originally had thought it would be. I couldn’t sleep, I was up all throughout the night reclining and adjusting my chair to get comfortable and I couldn’t. Within this process two things remained in thought: 1. “If it is endurable then endure it.” And 2. “Before you know it this will all become a memory.”
So, we had to wait till 8:00am to make some phone calls. We had to call our mechanic and inform them what had happened, we had to contact a towing service to tow our van, and we also had to contact someone who can bring us home.
Just roughly 12 hours later from when it had all started, we had solutions to our problems. What I hope this message will bring is that oftentimes when we are in the midst of turbulent times it can become difficult to understand that “everything will be okay.” From the moment everything started we see the picture up close, which exalted stress. However, if we can take a step back and look at the bigger picture you create yourself the opportunity to find solutions to your very problem right in front of you.
My takeaways are this:
Count your blessings. Because although we may encounter unpleasant life experiences there is always something to be grateful for, and too things could always be worse. So, again I say, "count your blessings."
Personal shoutouts:
Thank you to my momma bear because we literally surfed this wave together.
Thank you to the casino staff for getting us a room and for assisting us within this process.
Thank you to our mechanic for finding the time to look into our van.
Thank you to the young man who towed our handicap van and being very meticulous and patient with my precious baby.
Thank you to the owner of Mobility Works for without hesitation coming to pick my mother and I up bringing us home.
And most definitely thank you to God because for me personally within this process I may not have really shown my emotions, but I kept talking with him throughout this entire life experience.
Experiences where there seems to always be “something” going on. I have learned that in our most trialing times of our life we can get hit by every direction. And every time we get hit, we are tempted to fall into a place called no hope because there is always “something” going on and happening. In moments like this, especially during some of our hardest days find your way to stay connected to your higher power. For me it is God. I promise you in the times where you feel hopeless and if you can find your way to keep pushing through you will see hope, but hope can only exist if you put in your effort into creating that potential “long awaited new beginning” for yourself. This is something I personally also wanted to talk about and mention in here.
Remember:
“Blessings are everywhere just like problems.” ~Victortheinspiration
Much love,
~Vic
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victortheinspiration