From where I sit, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that people regularly go to concerts and sporting events with other people; sometimes groups of other people. There is the whole date night exception, of course, but many of my experiences with professional hockey, basketball and football games have been attending with family and friends in tow. Such is the case in point a couple of months ago when my children wanted to attend a Florida Panthers hockey game at the BB & T Center (Sunrise, FL) over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with me.
I was beyond excited to let loose and revel in one of our regular, BEFORE-mom-got-sick favorite events. It was time. I was ready to give it a try. We had been fortunate to be able to provide season tickets for our family to use for 'family nights out' when the kids were young. It was always great fun and today we have lots of memories of wearing our Panthers sweaters and screaming for our guys to score!
The whole Panthers vs. Rangers game outing was my daughter's idea, which made me love it all the more. She ordered tickets for the 6 of us. We didn't give it another thought until it was time to pick up the tickets. The day before the game, she went online to pay for them and saw that we weren't sitting together. We were separated by 4 rows. She sent an inquiry. She was then informed by email that only one "companion" could accompany "the accessible," which would now, of course, be me. "The accessible." "An accessible." (It was worded both ways depending on which paragraph you read) So this is how I am referred to by lawyers who draw up these pieces of garbage rules for places like the BB & T Center. We were hurt, shocked and angry. She cried. This is a side of life we weren't familiar with.
Now, I've been called lots of different things in my life. Some I am not too fond of. But some of the ones I particularly like are: mom, mamma, mommy, mem, mummy, wife, sister, daughter, Doodis, Annie, Nanny, aunt, niece, granddaughter, sweetheart, honey, and girlfriend. I like them because they mean something to me. They say something about the level of affection I share with another human being or reveal my place in our family. They humanize me. I am part of us; my little family, yes, but also the greater human family.
These names also leave plenty of room for you to have to interpret me, based on your experience of who I am, and not how I get from place to place. What is an "accessible" anyway? It sounds so very de-humanizing to me. "Accessibles" could be robots made of wire, metal and lights. (Think R2D2!) Or some kind of non-humans that have invaded earth and can now destroy us simply because we are "accessible" to them! Real human beings are soft, strong, vulnerable, intricate and have intrinsic, God-given value. You can't just single-out a minority group and call us something as unflattering as "accessibles" and get away with it! I won't allow it!
Furthermore, if you take your unflattering nickname for me and use it as a reason to discriminate against me, well, I dislike it even more. Now I am just plain mad. You see, you may find this hard to believe, but I EXPECTED to sit with my whole family that night at the hockey game. I EXPECTED the same privileges I had BEFORE. (That's a big word in my vocabulary) BEFORE; when I could walk into the BB & T Center, I never gave a thought as to whether my kids would sit with me at the Panther's game. Why
would I? BEFORE, I had the same freedom to move about the country as most everyone else. And
several emails later, when it became clear that whatever I had EXPECTED, would not come to
fruition, I started thinking about this blog and how I needed to start my advocacy campaign. So, here I am. And this incident will be used as the catalyst to begin talking with the powers that be at the BB & T Center and the Florida Panthers organization, so I can show them the error of their ways! Policies need to change. Dialogue needs to begin. People need to get 'it.'
Today, if I want to attend a hockey game, I'd have to sit with whoever I choose to be my "companion" for the evening and the rest of my family would sit 4 rows or more away from us. Acceptable
accessibility? Hardly.
