As I was working last night I took a look around the restaurant. I was trying to analyze if anyone could possibly work or even eat here if they had a disability. As I looked in the kitchen, there was nothing to help aid anyone that was physically disabled. The restaurant has lots of tight spaces, no wheelchair ramps, and nothing else that could help anyone disabled. Perhaps it's just the work needed and perhaps a disabled person couldn't do the tasks needed. But as I pondered about this on the way home, why couldn't a physically disabled person be a waiter? Why couldn't they make sandwiches in the back? Why couldn't they be a manager? I realized that there is no reason, it's just that the restaurant made the conscious decision not to do so and to not implement helpful things for disabled people. I tried not to be too critical of my workplace, so I went ahead and went to three different restaurants after work. Mcdonald's, chipotle, and bahama breeze. At all of these locations there was absolutely nothing there to help disabled people work there. No ramps. No railings. Nothing.
It made me sad because I realized that disabled people can be turned down just because the workplace can't accommodate for them. For me, I was only able to look at the restaurant industry. Hopefully in other service and manufacturing industries, there are more tools available to help disabled people work there. All in all, there needs to be a change in the restaurant industry at least. There needs to be resources available to those who need it. There needs to be equal opportunity for the physically disabled.
Very interesting post David. I really liked how you tied this blog and the inequality of people with disabilities to your own life. It is very sad that people cannot have the same chances in life due to something they often times can't control. I also like how you incorporated a parallel structure in your writing.
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