Ahem.
You have alot of time on your hands to try to make me look bad. SMH However, this comment that you have picked out of the mlive comments section was the most absurd, preposterous, outright comical thing anyone has ever said about me. I’m not going to speculate as to whether it was someone who knew me personally and was using the online article as an opportunity to smear me (online anonymity) OR whether it was an older woman who was genuinely mistaken. I do know that such an incident, in the way she described it, absolutely never occured.
HHFC has an extremely cramped, tight workout area-for anyone, able-bodied or not. All the machines are packed in, one after another, right next to each other. Many times the machines will be touching, they are that close. And I am a focused, intense trainer when i am in the gym. Many people use the gym (especially these fitness centers, which are family oriented) as social-gathering centers and use it as such. I am there for serious work, and my demeanor probably shows it. I would never try to intimidate an old lady off a machine I wanted to use, much less ASSAULT her with my chair when I didn’t get my way. That is laughable and I still crack such a smile trying to imagine such an action. This woman, if indeed she is telling what she believes is the truth, may have seen an intense, focused guy in a wheelchair, whose intense looks were not at her but in focus of my workout. The “assault” that she is describing, given the conditions that I’ve described at HHFC, if anything even DID occur, could not have been anything more that an awkward, innocent, totally unintentionally brush with my chair as I navigated the incredibly tight space of the workout area.
I picked nothing. Someone sent it to me. It is you, not anyone else at all, who’s making you look bad, both here and elsewhere.
Are you kidding us now?
You have not an iota, of this kind of understanding, to extend to anyone, in any of your stories, but you expect it from others? And I’m more than willing to believe your version, but the irony is just too obvious to ignore.
Thanks for the chuckle though!
Where in any of my threads or posts have I shown any sort of intolerance to an accident? This is absurd for trying to tie those two things together. Due to close quarters and tightly placed machines, I am speculating that I may have accidentally come in light contact with another person? It was an accident, an accident. Say it with me now. :rolleyes:
I’m new to this thread, and I really don’t want to read through it all without a couple of Zyvestra. I do recognize that you’ve won the attention of a good portion of the SDMB though. That’s pretty good for 1 month here.
Youknow how to make yourself sound like a ponce.
I seem to remember you taking offense to someone awkwardly attempting to compliment you, on your skill, having watched you transfer. While acknowledging they probably intended no insult, you were still deeply offended.
There was no leeway for that person offending you as a result of being;
…using less than ideal language. You want to be given the benefit of the doubt, when it’s you, but have none to spare, when it comes to another, it seems.
I’m guessing the truth of what happened is somewhere in the middle.
What part of that comment makes you think that comment came from a little old lady who is frivolously using the gym as a social centre? Everybody else is just there goofing around while you alone go about your serious business, huh? Must make it easy to dismiss anything anyone else says.
James B. McGarry
2127 ****** **
Davison, MI 48423
Dear Mr. McGarry:
The Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Divison of the Department of Justice has received your correspondence alleging violation of title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. ^^12189, and the Department of Justice's implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Pt. 36 (enclosed), which prohibit owners and operators of public accomodations and commercial facilities from discriminating on the basis of disability.
Because the process of investigating and litigating ADA complaints can be time-consuming, we propose to offer you a means to resolve your complaint through informal means. The Department of Justice sponsors a mediation program designed to allow parties to resolve their ADA disputes quickly and satisfactorily. We have determined that your complaint is an appropriate candidate for referral to this service.
Through this informal mediation process, an impartial third party assists disputing parties to develop mutually satisfactory solutions to their differences. Mediation typically involves one or more meetings between the disputing parties and the mediator. It may also involve one or more confidential sessions between one party and the mediator. A successful mediation results in a binding agreement between the parties. Mediation proceedings are confidential.
The role of a mediator is not to act as an advocate or judge, but, rather, to help the parties reach a mutual agreement. Mediation is informal and representation by an attorney, while permitted, is not required. The mediators participating in this program have been trained in the legal requirements of the ADA. In addition, the mediators have access to neutral experts from the local disability rights community.
Participation in the service is voluntary, both for you (the complainant) and for the entity accused of violating the ADA (the respondent). If you would like us to refer your complaint to this mediation service, please carefully review and sign the enclosed Release for Referral to Mediation and return it to us in the enclosed envelope. Your return of the signed Release will allow us to release your name, address, and telephone number, and other information provided to us in your complaint to the mediation service and will allow the mediation service to release that information to the respondent. Such disclosure is necessary to facilitate open communication between you and the respondent during the mediation meetings. The respondent may not use this information to retaliate against you for filing this complaint. After we receive your signed release form, we will notify the mediation service and they will contact you.
In addition, upon receipt of the signed Release, we will notify the respondent of your complaint and recommend that the respondent enter into the mediation. We will explain to the respondent that the Department of Justice will suspend any action pending resolution of the mediation and that participation in mediation will allow the respondent to complete this matter without the involvement of the Federal government.
If we do not receive the signed Release within thirty (30) days of the date of this letter, we will assume you do not wish to participate in the mediation program. If you decline to participate in mediation, our file on your complaint may be closed and no further action taken. If the respondent declines to participate in the mediation service, or if mediation is unsuccessful, your complaint will be retained by us to determine whether to pursue further investigation and/or litigation of the complaint.
We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to resolve your ADA complaint.
Sincerely,
Lisa Levine
ADA Mediation Program Officer
Disability Rights SectionNew Requirements in the 2010 Standards Not Subject to the Safe Harbor
•Amusement rides
•Recreational boating facilities
•Exercise machines and equipment
•Fishing piers and platforms
•Golf facilities
•Miniature golf facilities
•Play areas
•Saunas and steam rooms
•Swimming pools, wading pools, and spas
•Shooting facilities with firing positions
• Residential facilities and dwelling units
•Miscellaneous
– Team or player seating
– Accessible route to bowling lanes
– Accessible route in court sports facilities
As you can see, exercise machines and equipment (as of 2010) are indeed required to be accessible and not eligible to the “safe harbor”, which is the “grandfather clause” of the ADA in which establishments and public accomodations that existed prior to 1991 could be exempted from certain accessibility requirements.
So swimming pools need wheelchair lifts?
There’s a bunch of other empty spots. He is there in the car. The spots start to fill up, he moves.
Is that so hard?
Or you think he’s’ going to be stuck there for the next 15 hours?
Three or four times I have been ticketed for “parking” in a gimp spot, and every time I got off on the defense that I wasn’t parked, but that I was with the car.
I’ve got to say, with this clarification, I’ve done that too. I’ve pulled into one of a bank of empty blue parking spots when picking up someone. Sometimes it takes them a minute or two to come outside since I don’t text them til I stop (No texting and driving!)
I avoid whichever spot is closest to the ramp, but otherwise I block less people, handicapped spot eligible included, by pulling into one spot for that minute or two than blocking half the driveway and the back end of a couple spots for the same time.
A similar incident occurred here and the handicapped parking advocate who blocked a delivery truck at a convenience store (about ten parking spots) refused to move his car until the police arrived (he called them). He explained he did not want the vehicle to leave before police could act on his complaint. When the cops arrived, they ticketed the guy for deliberately blocking the truck. He appealed the ticket, lost the battle, with the judge telling him “two wrongs don’t make a right.” The delivery truck did not receive a ticket.
I worked as a security/fire officer for many years. This is where I was required to patrol the lots at shift change and enforce handicap parking rules. I gave those with temporary disabilities the latitude and allowed them to park in the handicap spaces without placards or plates. It being obvious they had broken their leg and were on crutches was one example. I would transmit the registration plate to HQ just in case there was a complaint registered later, someone noticing nothing being displayed. And the local police (who were obliged to respond upon reciept of a complaint were requested to check with us first to determine if the complaint related to my liberal policy on temp disabilities.) It worked in my isolated environment but a municipal enforcement dept. does not have that kind of latitude.
My pet peeve is Ct. Rules state only that either the driver or a passenger with the placard or plate must be using the vehicle when using the spot. If the disabled person never gets out of the vehicle, (ex; I take my mother to the doctors and then stop at the pharmacy on the way home to fill her prescription. She stays with the vehicle while I run in to the store,) that vehicle does not need the handicapped space. The space is not being used to the benefit of the disabled and is merely a convenience for the non-disabled person. That being said, it’s a minor thing when there are so many more of us who just ignore the handicapped parking signs and get away with it. In some Ct. towns they have authorized handicapped advocates to ticket this infraction. They are not police officers but are provided with a camera and a ticket book. They "tag the car, and turn in the tickets WITH a picture of the vehicle parked improperly, the license plate prominently obvious. They are instructed this is the only type of infraction they are allowed to issue tickets for. But they should expand that to those who park in fire lanes also. Even those who stay with the vehicle while a passenger runs into the store, claiming they are not parking but “standing”. Responding emergency vehicles survey the lot when they approach and vehicles improperly parked screw up their initial “plan of attack”. A fire truck will be looking for the building standpipe so they can tie in to the sprinkler system, pressurizing it if need be. A vehicle blocking these or hydrants cause the firefighters to stretch more hose, taking longer for initial setup. This is a life safety issue and better education of this must be included in any driving class for new drivers. But do they include this? Not when I got my license.
Kind of reminds me of one fire crew’s solution to a blocked hydrant somewhere in California.