Discuss.
Would you rather post a ridiculously offensive question or just keep your thoughts to yourself?
What’s offensive about the question? Legitimately asking, in case I’m just ignorant at the moment.
The hell do you think you’re going to learn by asking other ignorant people?
If you want to understand what it is like to have a given disability, search out materials written by and for people who have experienced those disabilities. If you get a chance to ask a disabled person about how that disability affects them, without being a boring, insensitive, dehumanising dickhead, do so.
Don’t ask a bunch of people without those disabilities to debate which would be most awful. And do not pretend it’s about educating yourself when you’re addressing your question to people who are mostly as clueless as you are. You’re not going to learn anything useful at all and you can’t possibly have imagined you would. You’re just adding to the mountains of awful dehumanising bullshit that is already out there.
I feel like you’ve just projected a lot of your own context onto OP’s question. I think I understand what you’re getting at, but there’s a of anger in there that feels misplaced.
I think you’re maybe reading too much into it… pretty sure it was just intended to be a hypothetical for discussion, not an attempt to learn about disabilities. It’s like, “Would you rather have unlimited money but be perpetually depressed, or always be happy but be perpetually broke?”
If someone who actually has no legs came in and offered their opinion, that’d be a bonus, but it doesn’t strike me as the intended purpose of the post.
If there’s anyone here who actually has no legs who is offended by this, I’d be interested to hear from them, but… if you have legs (because you’re clearly literate), are you sure you’re not just taking offense by proxy where none should exist or was intended?
Okay, here’s my fucking soap box. Didn’t mean to write all of this, but here it is.
Some of y’all have no idea what it’s like to go through life in a wheelchair… Or to deal with the American medical system as someone with disabilities. You’re disabled, so you can’t work. Now you have to spend years proving you can’t work, while not working, and not getting disability. So, y’know, enjoy living in your car without a wheelchair, because you can’t afford one… If you’re lucky enough to have a car.
My mom has been disabled since birth. She’s 62 now. She got her first power chair 7 years ago.
I’m not saying being illiterate would be any better, that would also be a disability in our society (because disability is, despite what many people think, as much a social construct as an actual reality, and illiteracy shows this better than a lot of things). But this kind of question is, frankly, pretty offensive to any one who’s had to go through a world that is built in a way that is hostile to their body. Being wheelchair bound means less options for apartments (because, for the majority of disabled people, you’re a renter, you can’t afford to own a home). You’re stuck with the choice of not being able to rent an apartment because there’s no elevator (even a lot of ground floors have too many steps for a ramp), or renting a second story or above apartment with an elevator, and just accepting that you will likely die in a fire with no way to escape.
There’s so much to this y’all aren’t considering. Needing another human when you need to transfer to a shower, or the toilet. Having to call and ask employees at stores to come outside to you instead of going in if you’re unable to transfer to a chair yourself, or get to your wheelchair. Being unable to drive because you can’t afford the conversion kit. Being unable to leave your home without help.
This world is designed for one particular body type. You can’t just slot into it with a different type and go along like you would have before. You should be able to, but you can’t.
Which is all say, just, consider what it’s like for people with disabilities, and do what you can to make it better. Agitate, vote, shame and name, and if you’re ever in a position to change things, do it. There are so many small changes we could make that would make the world better for those with disabilities. Accessible places are usable by everyone, “normal” places are only useable by one body type. There is no reason for it to be this way. Ramps, roll in showers, heightened toilets, grab bars, hand rails at three different heights, elevators with emergency generators and fire walls on exterior walls with a fire exit on the back. These are things that could be standard and would make the world accessible to all.
I know you called it a soap box, but I appreciate the perspective. Someone else in this thread suggested the question was offensive, but when I asked why in earnest, they just blew up with accusation after accusation. Your explanation gets the point across pretty well.
I do believe that OP’s question was asked in a context that wasn’t intended to be offensive, but instead asking the audience what challenge they feel they’d be better equipped to face. But I do get (and agree with) what you’re saying, that a larger discussion about the implications of these topics deserves to be had.
I don’t think any offense or malice was intended with the question, it’s honestly more the people saying how much easier it would be to do one or the other, or how their life wouldn’t change because they have a desk job… That’s a matter of people needing education on a topic, y’know?
Thanks for your detailed answer, I really liked it. Apologies if this question was offensive to you, I had this discussion recently and it made me think a lot about how much time I spend using my literacy skills vs getting around. Then it got me thinking about how accessible lots of buildings where I live are. A friend of mine had a family member come to visit in a wheelchair recently and pointed out that lots of places that tourists usually visit are exempt from accessibility requirements because they’re situated in older buildings. One of my biggest shames in one of my previous jobs was being told I had to turn down a group of students coming to take a course in the school I was working in because we couldn’t accommodate one of their classmates in a wheelchair. Like, my gut tells me that’s straight up illegal 🫤 but maybe where I live it’s not. I left that job not long after so I don’t know if there were any repercussions.
There’s a big push to revitalise the city I live in at the moment regarding opening up public spaces and making them more attractive to citizens and this is something that I haven’t seen discussed openly in relation to that yet so I will keep an eye out for it!
Illiterate by far. No more reading your posts
Learning to read would be easier than getting new legs, so I guess that be the better choice
No legs. I would dedicate my life to develop cool prosthesis
