I was complaining to a friend the other day about women using accessible toilets when there were queues for the ladies. "Why shouldn't they use them?" she asked. "Why shouldn't you have to queue?"
Hmmm. Interesting question. It got me thinking about the assumptions I make about my rights. What's reasonable to expect? What's fair?
Is it right that I get a subsidised car? Yes, because without it I wouldn't be able to get around in the country, where few buses are accessible. But what about those people who can't afford a car and are equally stranded by an unreliable transport network? Am I more deserving than them?
What about free seats for a carer at the theatre. The Tobacco Factory in Bristol doesn't offer them. Their response when I queried their approach:
"To Mr Farrow,
I was passed on your details from a colleague concerning the issues you had raised in terms of Carer tickets for productions that we hold here at the Tobacco Factory.
I completely understand your frustrations at this current policy, however due to financial constraints we are unable to offer a free ticket to carer’s at this point. We do in all cases of a concession price being available, offer this for a carer, however unfortunately this is not an option for La Traviata as it is a set price.
We would however like to assure you that this is something we are constantly reviewing. Before the release of our current brochure we related with other theatre organizations in Bristol and how maybe as a collective group could offer a set concessions structure, including carer tickets, in the future, and this was received with positive feedback, although not something we could put in place by the time our current season went on sale.
We will again be looking at this for the next season and will definitely be taking into consideration the feedback that you have raised.
Should I get privileges or advantages just because I'm in a wheelchair? Who decides what's right?
