Few weeks or maybe months ago MQabbani had a picture of a bus in Amman. The picture was of a handicapped spot on the bus. I honestly thought it was hilarious! And I said that on my comment to him. I got attacked by someone about how heartless and stupid I was to laugh about this, and how two handicapped people would not have been able to graduated from Amman university if it was not for being able go get around on a wheel chair blah blah blah.
Now I am all for people being able to having easy access regardless of their disabilities. Coming from Canada the sight of individuals young and old on a wheels chair is a normal sight. I admire them for beating their disability and living their life as normal. And I admire our government for making it a law to make easy access to those individuals. You will hardly ever see a public place without ramp. Side walks are wide and smooth without a tree or a pole standing in the middle. So really when I laughed at the picture I was not laughing about the handicapped spot. I was laughing because I can not see how a person in a wheelchair is able to get from his/her home to get to this nice spot made especially for them on the bus!
I dread taking my son out in his stroller. Just a day or so ago we went to C Town and decided that getting a taxi will not be easy..Especially when I gave him the address! I would have paid him triple the meter but I really did not want to wait and see.
So we decided to walk...there were no sidewalk so we walked on the street...then we wanted to cross the street...right in front of the place we are supposed to cross there are 2 broken poles so we have to get on the street a foot away from the crossing place..We crossed safely alhamdoullah...one lady AKA bitch did not stop and almost hit us sheesh! Well anyways we made it to the “sidewalk” on the gardens....we are happily walking then ooops we come upon the first set of stairs, no problem they are wide enough I can get the stroller over both steps..Then we resume happily walk again....but we come to another set of stairs...but this time there are three narrow steps....oy oy oy..How are we going to do it??! But wlad el7alal ktar and a guy helped me get the stroller up while an idiot who was there first didn’t move a muscle to help...screw him! Then we finally get to the crossing place..Yippy! You have to jump on the street and force cars to stop; you can stand there for a while if you do not force them to stop. It is a marked crossing area for Allah’s sake! So we cross both sides of the street safely but oops! There is the narrowest side walks I have ever seen.And to make it worse there is a freaking pole in the middle of it! Thankfully the street was not busy and we walked this small stretch on the street. On the side road leading from the gardens to our house we walked on the street because what do you know! The famous olive trees were in the middle of the sidewalk took up the whole sidewalk, but it was ok because it is not a busy street!
It was a huge ordeal! It was just a five minute walk! It was this hard on me with a small stroller! Imagine how much harder it would be for a person on a wheel chair...now I am sure those individuals that person was talking about got a ride to the university and did not take the bus!
14 comments:
awwwwww ... so sorry to hear of your ordeal sam.
Yes, Amman is not a pedestrian-friendly city, let alone the torment those who are physically challenged have to go through .. and that is why we don't see them a lot on the streets of Amman, because it's as if the municipality is telling them stay home, you are not welcomed on the streets.
I hope things will change to the better soon ...
you cant really walk in the sidewalk here, they are always too small and if they are not bad to walk on, trees would block your way, and you'd be walikng in a zigzag, on the street then back to the sidewalk and back again! People here drive like crazy, they know no rules to follow..
Taxis areanother story! they are even worse..yesterday i HAD to go by taxi so i stood there in the sun for almost 15-20 mins (athough many were empty), until a taxi stopped for me. Then he asked me where im going to before he took me, and then said if its too crowded il stop in the middle of the way and not take you till the end!!!
OMG don't remind me.
It's an adventure to take a walk in Amman.
But hey, at least you did not get hit on by some loser.
el hamdulillah ala essalameh is very appropriate to say after you reached your destination!!
7amdellah 3a salameh : ), yallah you need more time to get used for this and Amman street ,
some places get better but still the most NOT ,
Gardenz St? next time when you near help there just send me an email before :P
or ask a pretty girl for maher's number :P
Gardenz st is nasty for walkers sometimes, but there are other streets where your car cant walk you through it!
7amdillah 3assalameh:) it's hard to walk in Amman...the best place to walk as far as I remember,is from the 5ht circle down to the 3rd! next time make sure u take a taxi...and let the "nice walks" to be enjoyed back home;)
Oh god, you reminded me of those days, I was about to get on that street so many times, although I used to walk all the way fro “daheyat el rasheed” to C-Town (to exercise of course :D ) with no side walks at all.. yeah that was hard…
lol good exercise.
who-sane....yeh i hope things will change...soon ya3ni bas...i cant wait that long..i only have max 40 more years to live!
amal..yeh taxis suck big time here..i am starting to hate them!
7aki yeh did not get hit on...but got stared at way to much for my own comfort...im thinking did i grow a new head?
summer...thank you dear!:)
qabbani..yeh more time...few years worth...when im back to canada..im going to get down and kiss the sidewalks...i miss them so much!
maher...gardens..at least the section i have to walk on seems alot better than some other streets i've seen..i've winced of the thought that i'd ever have to walk there..sure i'd ask any pretty girl for your number next time im there..:p
maioush....yeh exercise...last yr i had planned to go for walks for exercise...then i decided yeh...i'd rather be fat!:)
batoul..yeh good exercise..i probably burned few calories out of fear while crossing the street..:) thanks for stopping by..
Hi Sam! Sorry for the ordeal, I don't know how folks in wheelchairs get around when I can't seem to myself!
Has anyone ever seen a woman in a wheel chair? Just struck me I never have.
(Sam, isn't it great to have TUS back?)
I enjoyed reading that. :). Especially when you imagine it from a first person prespective.
I always had respect for the handicapped people..till I went to Canada. bi2harooni hadool il mkarsa7een. It pisses me off when the parking lot is full and you can't just park in their places.
oh sam! it's like ur talking about Damascus in ur post! it's almost the same there..sidewalks turned to cars parkings..ppl are so creative there mashallah...ma bye'3labo..if there's no parking spot they just park their car 3al raseef and to hell with pedestrians :) not to mention the trees and the broken sidewalks of course..u have to keep ur eyes on ur feet while walking or u might end up mkarfateh 3ala wejek because of a 7ufra or balata maksora here or there!
OR OMG u just reminded me..my second day on my first vistit to damascus few years ago i fell down because i triped on a hole in the street...my ankled was hurting for the whole day..after that i learned to survey the ground ahead so i would not fall again...my first fall ever as an adult..
kinzi yeh i've never seen any one on wheelchairs here...i guess that person just wanted to yell at me....*&^%#@!!*(*
what is TUS???
hamza...yeh annoying isnt it...for a while i had the luxury of parking in the expectant moms and new moms parking spots...i felt so special...my dad has handicapped sign in his car..but i feel guilty using it when im driving his car i just park far...o well exercise...7aram barki someone who needs it comes and the spot is taken...so he/she walks, falls and break their hips and die...it would be all my fault because i did not want to walk an extra step...i just know allah will make me fat...(
Post a Comment