Ableism in bars/restaurants

SamJS

Afternoon all. 

I’m sure that these situations will be recognisable to all: 
- using the accessible toilet as storage for a mop&bucket
- tying up the emergency cord so it can’t be used 
- situating the toilet in the basement accessible only via the kitchen service lift 

Yesterday I was out for dinner with family and came across the strangest situation. No soap available to wash hands and when I asked the staff they said, ‘we’re waiting on a suitable dispenser to arrive’ 🤔 maybe just assume we can use normal soap until then?!

SamJS

I hope that with education and awareness it will improve. It sounds obvious but in certain situations it is definitely an issue of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ where a lack of information means staff think they’re doing the right thing because they don’t know any better (e.g tying up the emergency cord to clean). 

In this instance whenever I’ve  informed the Manager / staff that it is a legal requirement that the emergency cord reaches all the way to the floor with no knots tied in it  otherwise it is not possible for a person to use it they’ve been stunned and so apologetic. 

Using the one disabled/baby change toilet as a storage cupboard is totally unforgivable in my opinion, especially on complaining I’ve found the response to be, ‘well we don’t have any other space.’ I feel like suggesting, ‘You could use one of the 5 men’s cubicles and close it off permanently as ‘out of order.’? 

‘Haven’t you heard of the Purple Pound?’ The what??! 

Jimm_Alumni

I do agree it's a big issue. I often feel like people default to "It's not an issue for me so it's not a problem". It's a lack of empathy in my view, something I think is a fairly prevalent issue with many problems today. Education helps though definitely, I think it's something we are getting better at. Just still a big issue.

I have a less visible disability, I still feel very anxious when using accessible toilets much of the time because of the comments or just looks people can give when they assume I'm not disabled because "you don't look disabled".