If you've been watching my VidCon vlogs, you might be wondering
"Why isn't there a video from the day she went home?"
That was the day I traveled from Anaheim right back to Scotland
and there isn't a vlog for that and there's a couple of reasons for that.
Firstly I didn't vlog very much and secondly most of the vlog footage I did take
was in relation to my trip to the airport. Now this is
an incident that's still fresh in my mind a month later.
I'm going to tell it to you today because I think it's an important story
and I don't really have any notes written down so hopefully this isn't gonna get too rambly
but this is something I really feel is important to share, so let's get going.
It was the morning after VidCon and it was time for me to go home.
I'd booked a shared ride service to pick me up from my hotel and take me to the airport.
A shared ride service for anyone who doesn't know is basically a company that has a big van
and they pick up various passengers who are all going to a similar destination.
So in this case it was going around hotels in the Anaheim area and taking us all to the airport.
When the driver arrived at my hotel, I got the feeling that he was a little bit grumpy.
I don't really know what it was he just seemed very impatient
he just wanted to get out of there really quickly
and he'd been grumbling to another couple of passengers about a window being open.
I don't know what his deal was, whether it was just Sunday morning,
whether something has happened I don't know but he just seemed really really impatient.
We get to the next hotel and there are two passengers waiting to be picked up.
One of them is in a wheelchair. The wheelchair actually belonged to the hotel
and all the passenger really needed was some extra time to get in and out the van
and some help from her friend. As soon as he saw this girl in the chair,
it's like any patience that he had had totally disappeared.
The atmosphere in the van was really really awkward.
He was telling this girl "You're wasting my time".
He didn't really want to talk to her, he wasn't too nice to her friend either.
And it's like he thought the two of them were troublemakers that were there to sabotage his day
as opposed to treating them like passengers. These people were customers of his
and he was being so so horrible to them, it was really really awkward.
And if I thought that was bad, what happened next was so horrendous
that I'm smiling but it just isn't funny, I can't actually believe this happened.
We get to the airport and it just so happens that these two girls are the first ones to be dropped off.
Now the driver is aware that when he picked them up one of the girls was in a wheelchair.
He's aware she needs extra time in and out the van.
And he's also aware that the wheelchair she was using belonged to the hotel, not the girl.
So when she gets out at the airport she's going to have to locate another chair.
So what did he do? He dropped them off in the middle of the road
nowhere near anywhere they could get a chair.
I am...I honestly... I am so angry about this.
If I'd realized that's what he was going to do, I would have got out as well because
that was just shocking behavior. This was one of the lanes where
you could still drop off even though you were basically in the middle of the road
so he'd stopped, he got all their stuff out, the girls got out and then he drove away.
And they weren't really anywhere near a chair.
So this girl had to wait in the middle of the road with all their luggage
while her friends had to go and get her a chair.
This whole thing...it's been like a month and it still bothers me that this happened.
It still bothers me that I witnessed this and I wasn't able to do anything about it.
If I'd realized that's what he was going to do, if I'd realized
he would have the sheer nerve to drop somebody off in the middle of the road.
I... I just couldn't even imagine that that's something he could do.
Following this I went the whole way home and I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I honestly couldn't believe that that was something that has happened.
I still think I'm in disbelief that it ever happened if I hadn't have been there,
I would have thought that this was somebody exaggerating.
Because I just haven't really ever been opened up to that, I'm an able-bodied person
I've never experienced that for myself and it was honestly eye-opening.
And I can't believe that people have to go through that and I'm really sad that they do,
I'm really sad that that's a believable thing.
If you're watching this you might be wondering why didn't the girls order a wheelchair-accessible van?
I actually know the reason for this but because it's not really my story to share,
I'm going to keep the details vague.
Basically the girl hadn't known she was going to be in a wheelchair.
She hadn't known she was gonna have reduced mobility that day
so they ordered a regular van thinking that everything would be fine.
And really everything would have been fine,
all she really needed was a little bit of extra time getting in and out.
I don't think her ordering the "wrong van" is a valid reason for him acting like a jerk.
Because she was still able to get in and out the van, she just needed extra time.
And loads of people could need extra time for getting in and out the van.
An elderly person could need extra time for getting in and out the van.
Somebody with young kids could need extra time getting in and out the van.
Hey even me, I could need extra time for getting in and out the van.
And I don't need to order a wheelchair accessible van so why should she?
On that day I really realized what the phrase "The Future is Accessible" means.
And if I don't call out that behavior, if I just ignore it then I'm not really...
I'm not really contributing towards that world becoming a reality.
And I want to live in that world, I want to live in a place where we don't blame people for our problems.
Where we don't think disability is an issue
or that they're doing somebody a favor by taking them to the airport when they have a disability.
That is a load of rubbish I have to say.
And I want to live in a world where that doesn't happen.
I want to live in a world that that doesn't happen to me, it doesn't happen to my friends,
my family and it doesn't happen to complete strangers because it is horrible to see
regardless of who they are to you. And it is horrible to hear about
and it's horrible to even know that somewhere in the world that's happening.
Is it cruel to boycott a company based on one bad experience? Yes and no.
Yes because it could just be the driver's prejudices and ignorance that led to this- this experience
and they might not be indicative of the company as a whole.
But then that driver is an ambassador to them
and the company themselves might be putting time limits onto him
that make him feel like he has to rush everybody in and out the van.
And if that's what's going on then I think the company really needs to think about hiring more staff,
being more patient with people and putting more of an emphasis on customer service.
Because customer service isn't just getting there on time.
It's getting there and making sure that the customers feel respected
and that was definitely missing on this journey.
This is usually the point where I say I hope you enjoyed the video
but is this really the sort of video that you can enjoy?
I suppose really more I want to say I hope this experience taught you something,
I hope it makes you think about how disabled people are treated
and I hope that if anything similar happens you maybe consider making a stand yourself.
And making a stand can be giving them survey results, not using the company again,
it doesn't necessarily mean a YouTube Storytime video!
So thanks for watching everybody, if you have any thoughts on this I'd love to hear them down below.
I don't feel right doing the sort of "links around the screen" thing
but you know where they are if you want to check them out
and hopefully I'll see you back soon, cheerio!
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