Mobility issues face a LOT of people and it was a driving reason for me to start this blog. Over the years as my issues continued to escalate I have been witness to countless mobility issues, from mild faux paux to egregious violations of human civility.

There is an awful lot to unpack here. The impetus for this post was started two days ago when I went to a place that will remain anonymous for now for coffee and to do a little laptop work. My situation was very bad two days ago, as those of you with RA know, severity waxes and wans over the days and 2 days ago it was in full effect. I was walking with a cane, clearly in pain and having a lot of difficulty walking and standing.

I found myself waiting at a hostess stand at a relatively empty large restaurant with open tables within a few steps of where I was standing. The hostess was dealing with something at the stand, and after what felt like too long, she asked if she could help me, I replied, I would like a table for one as close as possible as I was in pain and needed to sit down.

The employee was immediately flustered explaining no one was working in the front section, (close to entrance/hostess stand) then she proceeded to check charts and things to see where to seat me. I understand that this was a part of her job, to evenly balance the load of tables over the open sections in an effort to provide better service and even amount of work and tips for the servers.

So, shortly after this exchange she walked me to a table deeper into the restaurant. I struggled to the table and that is how my breakfast started. I had a similar situation this morning, with a different hostess, who once again, flustered wound up bringing me all the way into the back of the restaurant.

I have to say I wish these were isolated incidents but they aren’t. These days, restaurants struggle to deal with labor shortages triggered by Covid and all that followed. I imagine I will be writing a whole lot more about this subject. It affects people a little on the fringes, medically impaired and seniors. These are large swaths of people with disposable income that really should be given a lot more attention than they are.

There are accommodations required by law, but beyond that consideration falls off quickly IMHO. There is so much to consider not the least of which is the slip and fall. The HIGHEST risk and exposure of a slip and fall is to those higher at risk to suffer one and beyond that, they are more likely to have a bad outcome and put the business square in the sights of expensive civil action.

The reality of employee management and policy implementations that shape the way employees evaluate these situations, especially in establishments that are part of bigger organizations where *taller and stronger guardrails* around how the employee performs their job functions encourages less consideration of the customer and more concern in *not doing anything that will get the employee in trouble* IMHO. The net net being a poor customer experience and added risk to the establishment. It is baffling and understandable at the same time.

As I find myself at the end of this rant, I wonder to myself what is the solution? I guess we need a simple set of guidelines, suggestions and tools that will help businesses accommodate this significant market segment with disposable income.

Expect a lot more from me on this subject as it is increasingly difficult for me to navigate life and I really get frustrated that simple. no cost, seemingly simple changes to policy could have a positive impact on both businesses and customers are either not considered or ignored.

Ok, done for now…