People Who Sit in the Disability Seat...

[pimpdave]

http://www.peoplewhositinthedisabilitys ... tches.com/


Best Blog. I love New York.

And by love I mean loathe. Also love. But also loathe.

[mpjh]

nightstrike where are you. I hear they turned you lose in the NY sewers and you've grown large on the good eats.

[btownmeggy]

Excellent.

But, to be fair, some of those pictures still show empty seats. Sometimes you just gotta squeeze in.

[F1fth]

Most reasonable people would move for him/her, but people tend to space out on public transit. Several of those people may not notice they're in priority seating or that someone needs it, or perhaps they're waiting for the passive-aggressive douchebag on crutches to balls up and actually ask for the seat instead of taking their picture and making a blog about it. And if there's a seat open, what's his problem? That he has to sit next to someone?

Oh noez, but that would require social interaction! Heaven forbid you have to talk to someone in public that you don't know!

[pimpdave]

Most reasonable people would move for him/her, but people tend to space out on public transit. Several of those people may not notice they're in priority seating or that someone needs it, or perhaps they're waiting for the passive-aggressive douchebag on crutches to balls up and actually ask for the seat instead of taking their picture and making a blog about it. And if there's a seat open, what's his problem? That he has to sit next to someone?

Oh noez, but that would require social interaction! Heaven forbid you have to talk to someone in public that you don't know!

Apparently you're not from the area.

[pimpdave]

Excellent.

But, to be fair, some of those pictures still show empty seats. Sometimes you just gotta squeeze in.

I respect your point of view, but:



If I'm on crutches I wouldn't want to mess with that guy either. Powder keg kind of look. You ride the subs much?

(although to be fair, the perspective of this shot makes it appear to be taken from a sitting down position...)

[btownmeggy]

Excellent.

But, to be fair, some of those pictures still show empty seats. Sometimes you just gotta squeeze in.

If I'm on crutches I wouldn't want to mess with that guy either. Powder keg kind of look. You ride the subs much?

(although to be fair, the perspective of this shot makes it appear to be taken from a sitting down position...)

I would totally sit next to him. He's just tired and skeezy looking. So am I.

[PLAYER57832]

DO remember, though, that not everyone who legitimately is disabled necessarily "looks" disabled.

I am not suggesting those pictured were, but when you start being a "vigilante" for disabled spaces... be careful.

[InkL0sed]

Most reasonable people would move for him/her, but people tend to space out on public transit. Several of those people may not notice they're in priority seating or that someone needs it, or perhaps they're waiting for the passive-aggressive douchebag on crutches to balls up and actually ask for the seat instead of taking their picture and making a blog about it. And if there's a seat open, what's his problem? That he has to sit next to someone?

Oh noez, but that would require social interaction! Heaven forbid you have to talk to someone in public that you don't know!

Apparently you're not from the area.

Clearly.

[captain.crazy]

It may also be that the people just don't realize that they are sitting in the handicapped seats. Does this guy just stand there, or does he ask people if he could sit down?

[Snorri1234]

Most reasonable people would move for him/her, but people tend to space out on public transit. Several of those people may not notice they're in priority seating or that someone needs it, or perhaps they're waiting for the passive-aggressive douchebag on crutches to balls up and actually ask for the seat instead of taking their picture and making a blog about it. And if there's a seat open, what's his problem? That he has to sit next to someone?

Oh noez, but that would require social interaction! Heaven forbid you have to talk to someone in public that you don't know!

Apparently you're not from the area.

Maybe all New Yorkers are horrible cunts, but asking for a seat nearly always works. Even if you're not disabled or old or anything.

[PLAYER57832]

Most reasonable people would move for him/her, but people tend to space out on public transit. Several of those people may not notice they're in priority seating or that someone needs it, or perhaps they're waiting for the passive-aggressive douchebag on crutches to balls up and actually ask for the seat instead of taking their picture and making a blog about it. And if there's a seat open, what's his problem? That he has to sit next to someone?

Oh noez, but that would require social interaction! Heaven forbid you have to talk to someone in public that you don't know!

Apparently you're not from the area.

Maybe all New Yorkers are horrible cunts, but asking for a seat nearly always works. Even if you're not disabled or old or anything.

True. I have to confess that when I was traveling (especially when with my then toddler),I would often sit in the priority seats. BUT, I would get up immediately for anyone who was disabled... and would ask anyone who was older, etc if they wanted it. Ironically, more often than not, I was told "no .. you stay, YOU need it more".

Its like the handicapped restroom thing. Most people see no reason to wait in line/stand when there is a vacancy available just because someone might need it. Its not like parking, where you leave and might not come back for hours. You can always get up from a seat!

[F1fth]

Most reasonable people would move for him/her, but people tend to space out on public transit. Several of those people may not notice they're in priority seating or that someone needs it, or perhaps they're waiting for the passive-aggressive douchebag on crutches to balls up and actually ask for the seat instead of taking their picture and making a blog about it. And if there's a seat open, what's his problem? That he has to sit next to someone?

Oh noez, but that would require social interaction! Heaven forbid you have to talk to someone in public that you don't know!

Apparently you're not from the area.

Maybe all New Yorkers are horrible cunts, but asking for a seat nearly always works. Even if you're not disabled or old or anything.

My point exactly. Obviously I'm not from New York, but I'm from Portland where we have a pretty big public transit system called Tri-met. I used to ride it every day when I was younger and still use it quite frequently, and it takes a really, really big asshole to say "no" to guy on crutches when he asks for your seat when it is priority seating.

Maybe New York is full of really, really big assholes, but I doubt most wouldn't give up a seat if ask nicely by a handicapped person.

[pimpdave]

Most reasonable people would move for him/her, but people tend to space out on public transit. Several of those people may not notice they're in priority seating or that someone needs it, or perhaps they're waiting for the passive-aggressive douchebag on crutches to balls up and actually ask for the seat instead of taking their picture and making a blog about it. And if there's a seat open, what's his problem? That he has to sit next to someone?

Oh noez, but that would require social interaction! Heaven forbid you have to talk to someone in public that you don't know!

Apparently you're not from the area.

Maybe all New Yorkers are horrible cunts, but asking for a seat nearly always works. Even if you're not disabled or old or anything.

Maybe New York is full of really, really big assholes, but I doubt most wouldn't give up a seat if ask nicely by a handicapped person.

Yeah, you're really not from around here. And reading all of you is like a gallery of who's going to be the next statistic.

[GabonX]

They should just cripple everyone who sits in those seats

Just punishment/Problem solved!

[b.k. barunt]

I have a 30% whole body loss from an old bike wreck, but a picture of me sitting down would give no indication that i was handicapped. How do you know that those people were not handicapped.


Honibaz

[jonesthecurl]

Most reasonable people would move for him/her, but people tend to space out on public transit. Several of those people may not notice they're in priority seating or that someone needs it, or perhaps they're waiting for the passive-aggressive douchebag on crutches to balls up and actually ask for the seat instead of taking their picture and making a blog about it. And if there's a seat open, what's his problem? That he has to sit next to someone?

Oh noez, but that would require social interaction! Heaven forbid you have to talk to someone in public that you don't know!

Apparently you're not from the area.

Maybe all New Yorkers are horrible cunts, but asking for a seat nearly always works. Even if you're not disabled or old or anything.

Maybe New York is full of really, really big assholes, but I doubt most wouldn't give up a seat if ask nicely by a handicapped person.

Yeah, you're really not from around here. And reading all of you is like a gallery of who's going to be the next statistic.

I have to say that my experience of NY is that people are extemely friendly and always willing to help. They tend to be abrupt, cos they're always in a hurry. "Waddyawant, buddy?" isn't rude.

[jonesthecurl]

...and as the bus tour guide said to us when I took my parents on the tour - "New Yorkers are real friendly. If you wave to them from the top of the bus, they'll always wave back. They may not use alla their fingers..."

[jay_a2j]

http://www.peoplewhositinthedisabilityseatswhenimstandingonmycrutches.com/


Best Blog. I love New York.

And by love I mean loathe. Also love. But also loathe.

Well aren't those seats a priority for those with disabilities? Maybe there are no disabled people people on the subway in need of a seat. Maybe if a person with a disability shows up, they will get up? Are they supposed to stand if the only availiable seat is a "disabled only" seat? Sure if someone gets on that has a disability they need to get the hell up.



Also, 82.3% of NYers can't read.

[b.k. barunt]

I for one am rather sick of all the handicapped parking spaces that are available now. You can't park in front of the damn grocery store unless you're handicapped. Like i said, i have a 30% whole body loss, so i'm quite legally handicapped, but i still ride a bike and they don't make handicapped license plates for bikes. The last time i parked in a handicapped zone some woman told me i should be ashamed of myself, so i pulled off my boot and sock, showed her my mangled foot/ankle and asked "is that handicapped enough for you?" Heh heh, a real Halmark moment there as she backed away.


Honibaz

[wrestler1ump]

I for one am rather sick of all the handicapped parking spaces that are available now. You can't park in front of the damn grocery store unless you're handicapped. Like i said, i have a 30% whole body loss, so i'm quite legally handicapped, but i still ride a bike and they don't make handicapped license plates for bikes. The last time i parked in a handicapped zone some woman told me i should be ashamed of myself, so i pulled off my boot and sock, showed her my mangled foot/ankle and asked "is that handicapped enough for you?" Heh heh, a real Halmark moment there as she backed away.


Honibaz

You do not have a 30% body weight loss.

[PLAYER57832]

I for one am rather sick of all the handicapped parking spaces that are available now. You can't park in front of the damn grocery store unless you're handicapped. Like i said, i have a 30% whole body loss, so i'm quite legally handicapped, but i still ride a bike and they don't make handicapped license plates for bikes. The last time i parked in a handicapped zone some woman told me i should be ashamed of myself, so i pulled off my boot and sock, showed her my mangled foot/ankle and asked "is that handicapped enough for you?" Heh heh, a real Halmark moment there as she backed away.


Honibaz

You make 2 good points.

First, just because you are not perfect does not mean you are unable to do things.

Second, not everyone who is handicapped LOOKS handicapped.

Also, Handicapped parking and disability seats are just different. You can get up at any moment to give someone more needy your seat (which is why they are "priority" seating and NOT "handicapped only seating"). When you park, you are almost always gone for at least 10 minutes, often more like an hour. BIG difference.

[InkL0sed]

Interesting development on this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/nyreg ... nte&st=cse

Not sure you can see the article from that link if you don't have a subscription, though. So:

The iPhone Vigilante

THERE was a time, not long ago, when Matt Muro did not deal with his frustrations quite so constructively.

Mr. Muro, a 37-year-old Web producer from East Williamsburg, had been feeling mysterious pain in his right foot for months after a mishap with a metal garbage can. His doctors had tentatively diagnosed a stress fracture and fitted him with a stabilizing boot and crutches.

This was in December. By February, Mr. Muro was quietly seething through his morning commute into Manhattan on a typically crowded train. Despite his best efforts to board the train near the “Priority Seating for Persons With Disabilities” section, and despite his obvious hardware and his limp, he was as often as not left to stand.

•

One day, he found himself looking down at the people in the priority seats and grousing silently about their relative fitness.

“This one guy was in a track suit, really athletic, perfectly healthy, and I was just staring at him, because I wanted the seat,” Mr. Muro recalled the other day. “I just broke. And I said, ‘Excuse me, are you disabled? Well, next time someone’s standing on crutches in front of you, you should think about getting up.’ ”

It was about this moment that an Internet sensation was born. What if, Mr. Muro thought, standing nose to nose with the seat’s angry occupant, there was a venue to publicly spotlight such transgressions? Within weeks, he had created that venue: a Web site called People Who Sit in the Disability Seats When I’m Standing on My Crutches.

Armed with his iPhone camera, Mr. Muro began photographing those he viewed as the worst offenders and posting their pictures online under headlines like “Crutches? What Crutches?” and “I Can’t See You, I’m Reading a Book.”

Through February and most of March, most visitors to the site were Mr. Muro’s friends and relatives — about two dozen total.

But numbers were beside the point. The site was good for his sanity, and it made his friends laugh.

“People don’t annoy me as much,” he said, “because I just think, ‘This is just material for the blog.’ ”

Then, on Monday, the Web site for the pop culture television show “Best Week Ever” — on VH1, where Mr. Muro works — linked to the site. About 18,000 people visited. The next day, there were 38,000 more. The day after that, 82,000. Then came the abuse.

If you believe that subway riders should refrain from blocking the doors, or should move to let fellow passengers on and off the train in an orderly fashion, or should keep an eye out, while sitting, for people in need, you might not find the public comment section on Mr. Muro’s site very heartening.

The recent responses — the printable ones, at least — include the admonitions “Get over yourself,” “I’ll sit wherever I want” and “This guy is clearly a chump.” Another begins, “Listen, you ignoramus.”

The longer critiques tend to break down into two arguments: 1) What if someone has a disability you can’t see? and 2) Why don’t you just ask the people to move?

To the first, Mr. Muro concedes the point. The site includes a disclaimer noting that some people, like a woman with multiple sclerosis who e-mailed him taking exception, may not be visibly disabled. The answer to the second question is tougher. The official priority seating rules, for whatever they are worth, say the seats must be given up — upon request.

True enough. But asking makes him uncomfortable. “It’s just not in my nature to ask,” said Mr. Muro, a soft-spoken man. Besides, he wonders, should it be necessary?

•

Descending the stairs into the subway on Wednesday morning, Mr. Muro was surprisingly nimble. His foot has been improving and the boot is off, though he still limps, still uses crutches and still can’t walk very far.

Initially, on a rare uncrowded rush-hour train, he found an empty seat. But when he transferred to an uptown line, things got interesting. Occupying the priority seats were a sleepy girl of high school age and, sitting next to her, a woman who looked old enough to be her grandmother. Also old enough, it appeared, to occupy the seat without anyone giving her an argument.

For a few minutes, nobody moved. Then the woman looked up and glanced at Mr. Muro.

“Excuse me,” she said, “do you want to sit down?”

“Uh,” he replied, weighing the sudden complexity of the situation, “sure.”

Seated, he traveled the one stop to his destination. Someone else stood, offering the woman a seat. Someone who bumped into Mr. Muro’s crutch apologized.

The girl next to him, still gazing into the middle distance, yawned.

[b.k. barunt]

I for one am rather sick of all the handicapped parking spaces that are available now. You can't park in front of the damn grocery store unless you're handicapped. Like i said, i have a 30% whole body loss, so i'm quite legally handicapped, but i still ride a bike and they don't make handicapped license plates for bikes. The last time i parked in a handicapped zone some woman told me i should be ashamed of myself, so i pulled off my boot and sock, showed her my mangled foot/ankle and asked "is that handicapped enough for you?" Heh heh, a real Halmark moment there as she backed away.


Honibaz

You do not have a 30% body weight loss.

Typical whump blather. What is it? Looking for attention? Can't think of a suitable insult so you revert to the standard playground fare - "you are teh fat"? My wife would crack up if i showed this to her, as she constantly tells me i'm too skinny. I lost weight after my wreck, as my legs don't get the excercise they used to. When i'm in shape i weigh 160, and when i'm out of shape, like right now, i go down to about 150. Maybe you could try one of these internet sites that specialize in insults. Your material is, as always, fooking embarrassing. Cheers.


Honibaz

[Snorri1234]

I think he's just sad there is no flame wars.