It’s time to reorient myself and get back to tackling the mistreatment of the handicapped in US airports. Humanizing the plight of the handicapped in our transportation hubs is going to be near impossible. That the task will be daunting it is still necessary! We are going to need every passenger who has suffered the indignity of our present system to cry out and be heard by Congress.
First, a little story that will help you understand the reason that I believe changing the system will be almost impossible. When I computerized my office, I bought:
- Computers
- Network Hardware
- Network Software
- Medical Software
Whenever my program/computer crashed, the software engineers blamed the hardware engineers or the network hardware and vice versa. A typical conversation sounded like:
Me: “My system is down. We can’t input patient demographics. I think the problem is in our medical software.”
Medical Software Engineer: “First have your hardware inspected, reboot the system, replace your keyboard, . . . If you fail to resolve the problem, call your network engineers. It could be a network problem.”
The absurdity of shifting blame has worsened over the years making it almost impossible to fix anything. In the case of my office, I learned how to build and program computers, eliminating one player. The remaining three still drove me crazy and wasted my money.
In the case of the airport’s abuse of the handicapped, the players are:
- Prospect – the pushers
- The airport authority
- The Airlines
The three play the game like experts, shifting blame constantly.
United Agent – “Prospect is responsible for having pushers and equipment in place when the plane arrives at the gate.”
Prospect pusher – “Our pay is so low that no one wants the job. We are handicapped due to having to depend on old broken wheelchairs. The customs agents work at a snail’s pace and can be downright mean. The airlines are booking connecting flights closer not allowing enough time to get to your next flight.
The airport authority simply fails to respond.
So, what can we do? I think our best hope is to get 60 Minutes or 20/20 involved. I’ll send a copy of everything I have to their producers. I’m asking that y’all do the same. If you or a friend has had a bad experience, please write about it and publish it to the internet. Please write 20/20 and 60 Minutes. Complain to the airlines, Prospect and the airport authorities.
Here’s todays joke:
The police just pulled me over, he came up to my window and said, “Papers?” I said, “ Scissors, I win” and drove off.
I think he wants a re-match. He’s been chasing me for 45 minutes.
