Quit Hiding Behind "Policy!"

I read another news story today that really made me sit up and say "What?" The link is here for you to read if you want to, but allow me to summarize. A man in Florida went to cash a pay check at a bank where he does not have an account. The teller, according to bank policy, asked the man for two forms of identification and to provide his thumb print. While a seemingly innocuous request for most bank patrons, Steve Valdez provided the two forms of identification but was unable to provide a thumb print. That's right, I said "unable" not "unwilling." You see, Mr. Valdez was born without arms, and therefore by extension, without thumbs.

It is at this point where common sense should take over. The teller should have thought, "I have a customer in front of me who has an obvious reason for an inability to provide a thumb print but he has provided two forms of ID. We can probably work with him." The teller did approach her supervisor for clarification and assistance and the supervisor said that it was bank policy to require a thumb print.

It is at this moment when I would have clearly offered to provide the supervisor with the imprint of another part of my anatomy but thankfully Mr. Valdez did not take that approach. However, he was not able to get his check cashed...he could have if his wife had come with him (sounds like getting a permission slip in elementary school) or if he opened up an account at this bank.

The point is this folks--don't hide behind the "It's company policy" line. Hiding behind this lame, overused excuse is no reason to violate individual rights.

Lessons from Handy Manny

I was watching an episode of Handy Manny with my daughter the other day. For those who have never seen the show it is about Manny and his tools. Manny's tools all talk and the group goes around town fixing whatever needs to be fixed. The particular episode that we were watching (okay I was doing more watching and my daughter was doing more drinking of her morning milk) was about Manny and the tools fixing a windmill on a miniature golf course.

As the episode progressed, Manny's tool become upset/confused/frustrated with the man who owned the miniature golf course because he seemed to be ignoring the tools when they would ask him questions. The man's wife helped to explain to the tools that her husband was not ignoring them, he was deaf. After a brief explanation about what it meant to be deaf, the wife taught Manny and the tools some introductory sign language.

I was very pleased to see this approach to teaching about a disability. The more that children are exposed to people who are different from them, the more understanding they will be as they get older. If at a young age a child learns that some people are deaf and this is normal, then they will be less likely to develop derogatory opinions of people who have disabilities later in life.

For what it's worth...parents let your children interact with people who are different from you. We have tried to expose our daughter to a variety of people. From attending the Special Olympics to watching college rugby to spending time with Uncle Bryan :) we want her to see people who are different from her mom and dad.

Entitlement or insensitivity??

Veteran Denied Access to Amusement Park
Amusement Park Enforces Policy

This is an interesting story. It seems that the heart of the issue is whether or not the family was demonstrating entitlement (expecting that the park should let Hoffman enter the park without paying) or the park was being insensitive by having rules that they were unwilling to bend.

I don't want to get too bogged down in who was right or wrong in this story because I wasn't there and I don't know all the details. All I know is what was reported in the media and that is simply not enough to make a judgment from. I think that the larger issue that is in play here is how to handle people with disabilities who create situations that were before unencountered or unanticipated (e.g. paralyzed marine arrives at the park and will not be admitted).

In looking at a situation as presented in this news story, I would like to think that an agreement could have been made, but think about this---how many times has a "disability" been abused? Case in point...at a previous university where I spent time, athletes would be provided with handicap hang tags when they were injured. These tags allowed injured athletes the opportunity to obtain priority parking due to their medical condition. When used correctly, I have minimal issues with this; however, when I watched athletes with handicap tags park in a handicap spot, JUMP from their cars, RUN into the building so they are not late for class, my mind innocently wonders whether or not they truly need the advantage that is legally provided for people with disabilities. (Please note the sarcasm here. In these cases, I immediately called parking services and told the students' adviser because of this flagrant abuse.) Likewise I have met individuals who need wheelchairs for mobility who refuse to park in handicap parking spaces because those spaces are for "people with disabilities."

As I look at this story, I found myself quickly frustrated with the park, but then I thought more about it and found myself thinking about the family. I don't know the family and I don't know the situation, but I do wonder about the concept of entitlement (you OWE this to me). I don't know about anyone else, but when someone tells me that I owe them something, it makes me start to wonder and kind of puts me in a bad mood (I'm not saying this is right, I'm just saying...). Whether you have a disability or not, acting entitled to services or experiences is just bad business. It makes people unhappy and less likely to work with you. Of course this is very easy for me to say when I am sitting in the comfort of an office without any real life situation pressing on me.

I guess the moral of the story is that we need to be more thoughtful and considerate. The amusement park could have handled the situation differently and the family could have handled the situation differently. Having policies that have some "wiggle room" or having hired staff that are allowed to use their judgment in situations can prevent situations like this. However, being understanding of organizational structure and established rules and guidelines and recognizing the larger implications of a "one-time" decision will also help prevent situations like this.

The moral of the story...think twice before you park in that handicap spot if you don't need it :)

One final thought...the two headlines that I developed for the story link offer insight into how media can bias the reader SO easily!

Mentally Disabled Teen Gets 100 Years in Prison in Child Sex Abuse Case - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

I'm not real sure what to think about this case. It tears me up for many reasons. As a father of a two-year-old daughter I can't imagine the complete and total anguish I would experience if my daughter were the younger child in the case. Even writing about this is making me extremely uncomfortable and distraught.

That said, in this case it does sound like there are two victims--the child and Aaron. As a parent it is hard to separate justice from revenge. When our children are wronged we say we want justice but in many cases I think revenge may be a better description.

My question is this...should Aaron be shown leniency because of his cognitive status? As a side note, the correct terminology is teen with a cognitive disability NOT mentally disabled teen. Fox News and all the other news stations need to pay attention to this.

I am not a lawyer and I certainly don't know all the facts in this particular case, but what should be done? What is just? What is right? Can justice and rightness be one and the same in this case? I don't know.

Mentally Disabled Teen Gets 100 Years in Prison in Child Sex Abuse Case - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

Posted using ShareThis

Completely Off Topic

Okay I was thinking today....I know a dangerous beginning to any blog entry...that technology has really slowed our world down. I know that this may sound counter intuitive, but think about for a minute...it may have made aspects of life easier, but there are a lot of things that are more difficult and convoluted.

For example, I used to have voice mail. I would go into my office, pick up my phone and see if I had any messages. At home, I would press a button and listen to the messages on my answering machine. This was way back way in 1997. Now I check my voice mail in my office, my voice mail on my phone, my email, my Facebook account, and my Twitter account. See, technology has slowed us (me) down.

Even this blog is a great example of technology making me less productive. The time I am spending writing this could be spent writing an article, preparing a lecture, reading for the next semester and so on.

Don't get me wrong, I love technology (my wife calls me her Geek and I trust that she means it lovingly!) and I love my gadgets. This is one reason why I bought the iphone. Before the iphone, I had a cell phone, GPS, mp3 player, and a radio. Now all I need is my phone. It does all of these things.

Someone needs to figure out a way for technology to make us more productive. For the love of everything, can we have one place to check our mail (voice, e, and snail), update our statuses, and communicate with those far and wide??

I'd like a computer chip installed in my brain please...but only when everyone else has one so we can all communicate and be productive without ever leaving our homes :)

Way Too Long

Okay it's been way too long since my last post and I can only say that I have been lazy. Plenty of interesting things have been happening, but I just haven't taken the time to address them on my blog. Let's start with something that is fitting for this blog...disability awareness.

Way back in the fall I had a class of students spend 4 hours in a wheelchair on the campus of Georgia Southern University. There insights and experiences were amazing! In addition, I spent the better part of a day in a wheelchair myself. I taught my classes and went everywhere that I needed to. By the end of the day, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. My hands had massive blisters, my shoulders were sore and perhaps worst of all, my pride was in tatters.

I must have looked particularly pitiful trying to maneuver around campus because several people came to my rescue to help me up some hills. As someone who likes to be very independent, this was very difficult to say the least! I learned several things through this experience.

First, GSU does NOT have a wheelchair friendly campus. The beautiful brick sidewalks are terrible to roll on and there are numerous sidewalks that lead to nowhere. There were several times when I just ran out of sidewalk and had to turn around and go back the way I came. Also, some of the sidewalks are too narrow. If I was on the sidewalk, everyone else had to get off the sidewalk. If I were with friends, they would have had to walk in the grass.

Second, wheeling through parking lots is amazingly unsafe. When sidewalks disappeared, I took my life into my hands and tried to roll through parking lots. I can't see the drivers and because I am not in their normal sight lines, drivers can't see me. It was literally a terrifying experience.

Third, people are friendly and want to help....for the most part. I think that because we don't interact with people in wheelchairs on a regular basis, we don't know what to do or say. People did hold doors and offer assistance which was great, but people definitely were uncomfortable around me and unsure of how to act.

Fourth, I had an entertaining/sad moment. I went to visit a faculty member in another building. This building was a temporary building but the University had added a very manageable ramp leading up to the front entrance. However, when I did reach the front entrance I realized there was a step into the building. I tried for about 10 minutes to "jump" the step. I tried going backward, I tried going forward, I tried holding the door frame and pulling myself up and over, but nothing worked. I finally had to admit defeat and step out of the chair to pull myself in the door.

Finally, I learned that I am tremendously blessed. It is not that I couldn't traverse the campus in a wheelchair; however, it is significantly more difficult to do it in a wheelchair. Remember your abilities and be thankful for them. Don't feel sorry for people in wheelchairs, be active in finding ways to make their transportation easier.