I hate when ppl think they “caught me” when they see me walking around. Yes I can walk a little bit, yes I use a wheelchair, please stop confronting me.
Lol, The same. I tell people when they confront me..”My Wheelchair is in the shop getting its oil changed” Then just walk away. Most of are so dumbfounded and perplexed they have nothing to say.
I’m 72 and will be getting a chair as soon as it’s delivered by the VA. I need the char due to severe arthritis in my knees and hips. Yes I can walk a little but not far. As a former Marine I’m afraid I will be a bit confrontational when someone asks me this the first time!
That is the worst! I gett that al the time!!! Gou are Lazy gou fake it ! I am like waht the heck! Me?? Fake it?? Ye right my big Dream as kid this! Yepp 🤬. I meen come on! I have too tell people al the time yes i do feel my legs and yes i can walk a little bit butt i dont fake it! I hate that i need my weelchair! I hate it! I miss that feeling off freedom wiht Dance wiht my husband i miss our dance evnings dates! I dont like it i hate it! Butt i am not lazy i sufferd 3strokes! That is the reason way i need it!
I am a patient person but when total strangers talk to me with ”baby woice” I really boil inside I mean WHY? I’m 48 years old and mother of two children.
had that last week, i just blanked them, but kind of wish i said something just to see their face lol. sometimes its ok if i really dont want to be involved in a conversation, i can just vacate the premises.
@@Wheelsnoheels the one pet peeve that I get so annoyed by is when I'm in a big crowd of people & no one will let me pass so I would always have to physically stop my wheelchair & wait for a path to appear in the middle of the walk way & people don't even look down or see me they just talk & sometimes actually physically bash into me & I'm not moving ( it hurts 😢 ) & they do t even apologize they just get up & run 😠😡😔♿️ Love Kayla ♿️🇦🇺🎤
Yes! That really bothers me. I am sometimes able to walk, and I notice that, when I'm not in a wheelchair, I get called "sir". When I am in a wheelchair, I get called "bro" or "buddy", and talked to like a child.
I don't think anyone has said this yet but being at face height to all the smokers who are holding their cigarettes with their arm dangling down. Ugh, really disgusting getting a mouth and face full of ash.
My ultimate peeve is when we are told we are being "oversensitive" when we politely point these things out, as if we're not entitled to an opinion because we're Disabled!! Incidentally, my Dad did the "pushing wheelchair towards a slope" to my Nan when we were all on holiday on the Isle of Wight. He was putting me in my chair after putting Nan in hers (broken toe from dropping a frozen chicken on it!). She suddenly screamed "David!!!" to my Dad - he thought she'd put her brakes on, but she hadn't. He had to chas after her as she hurtled towards a cliff. :)
True story , fell out of a tree fort alternative story #1 .. ran away from home , joined a circus , was trying the trapeze , a brace for the net failed . Alternative story #2 .... Stripper poll accident
Have to add my #1. When able bodied people use the wheelchair stall in a public restroom. Seems that they are always in there to cry, talk on the phone, change their clothes...whatever. If it takes time and they need privacy, that is where they go. I also hate when that is where businesses put the changing table. I sometimes watch 10 people come and go before I can get into an accessible stall.
I totally agree on this one! Although, I think it’s possible for people who have invisible disabilities like IBS, endometriosis, incontinence, depression or anxiety that need bathroom access as much as those with mobility impairments. I need an accessible bathroom (high seats & bar) less since my spinal surgeries but I still struggle with bladder and GI symptoms which sometimes feels more pressing than my mobility issues when pursuing a trip to the restroom. However no one would really know that just by looking at me. My worse experiences were when I needed to use the restroom promptly and there was only one or two handicap stalls that were always in use. I am sure this is a problem for other people with neurological disorders and spinal cord injury. It seems to me since so many people like to use the handicap stalls that bathroom spaces could and probably should be designed better. This is especially true since women do the majority of infant and elderly care taking which requires more space and thought about design.
Half of these things don’t ever happen to me because no one pushes me in my wheelchair. I don’t even have push handles on my chair! My pet peeve is when the “accessible” counter at the post office or pharmacy or bank is being used as a storage area and so they can’t use it to help you, or the computer at that counter is off and so they can’t serve you and so you have to use a counter that is 10 inches above your head. Oh! And this one gets me all the time...credit card machines that you can’t reach (because the ACCESSIBLE” counter is not available, or it’s fixed to the counter and you can’t read the display, see the buttons to enter your PIN or the glare from the lights in the ceiling are reflecting off the display keeping you from being able to read it. . Here’s another one...I’m out and about and putting my chair together to get out of the car or taking it apart to get it in the car when some kind stranger stops by to ask if they can help you. You kindly say “No thank you” and instead of going on their way they stay there to chat with you and tell you how AMAZING you are and how strong you must be 💪 etc etc and proceed to stand there and watch while you awkwardly assemble/disassemble your chair. It’s hard enough lady! I don’t need an audience!! Ugh!!
Omygosh, yes, the debit cards machines!! A lot of these don't happen for me since I'm not pushed very often. But when I am pushed, it's by my husband, and he's had lots of practice with his mum
I watch these kind of videos to become more aware of the world around me and to become a less annoying human being for others ahah. I really hope you don't mind me asking this but it has been in my mind for months and I would really like to have your opinion. Is it also annoying when people ''just'' ask if you want any help to get into your car ( and then politely walk away if you say no) ? Once I was sitting on a bench and a lady nearby was moving from her chair to her car. She had to get in and out of the car a lot of times, I tried to mind my own business but after a while it looked like she was having some trobules so I got closer and asked if she needed any help, she said ''no thanks'' and I said goodbye and went away...but I felt worried ever sinced that I might have annoyed/offended her by asking...so the question is: is it okay to offer help when you are not sure if it's needed or not? I'm so sorry if I worded this wrong, english is not my first language
I’m curious about how you would feel if someone saw you assembling/disassembling your chair and expressed interest in the mechanics and asked if they could watch to see how it goes together
Just watching this now, but I had to comment because our regional children's hospital, which otherwise is a fantastic and well-thought out place, made a serious gaffe in their newest building -- they don't have a card reader at the accessible counter. When I pointed it out to the staff, they looked painfully embarrassed that they hadn't realized it themselves. The one receptionist actually got under the counter and loosened the ties that keep the cables for them neat (but prevents them from being able to go off the counter) so I could use it, bless her.
So true!!! As a wheelchair user, I can confirm when people hold the door for me and the doorway is not that big, there’s this awkward moment because I don’t want to run over them so I just look at them saying “Um can you please move out of the way a little?” I feel so bad but I just don’t want to seem rude in asking them to move. 😅
The one that gets me is when you are just rolling through a shop and some person just steps backwards without looking and crashes into you! I once ended up with some random guy fully sat on my lap. The most awkward thing ever!! 😂🙈 Such a good video though 👌
To be fair this happened to me in the past when walking around, but it wouldn't injure anyone, I did someone quite a nasty injury who stepped back and my front castor twisted his ankle.
I hate being pushed. I’m never pushed but my main peeve is when people insist on pushing me “for my own good!” And especially when the do it against my instructions because I am “too stubborn to ask for help when I need it”. Believe me, if I really needed it I would ask. But struggling helps me get fitter
I’m a part time wheelchair user and I haven’t really worked out all the kinks with my mom as my companion. She doesn’t tell me when she starts to push me, she just comes up behind and starts pushing me. Ahhh Drives me crazy 😂 And she has pretty much dumped me a few times while trying to go down an incline/curb and has swung me around into quite a few walls. I would love to see a video on the do’s and don’t’s of pushing someone in a chair. I really connected with the “being pushed out of a conversation,” and it just got me thinking that the pushers often just don’t know they are even doing someone wrong.
Ooooh my mom does that all the time! I snipped at someone in public for touching me without asking and when I turned to face whoever had done it, it was my mom!
People leaning on my chair or over me.. It's like my personal space doesn't matter.. I was waiting to watch a parade and myself and my family had waited over an hour for the spot.. I wasn't expecting people not to stand behind but I wasn't expected a woman to come right up behind me lean in front and take a picture.. I automatically moved my body as you do when someone is in your space and she was oh you don't have to move for me.. I was nt.. I was moving for myself as I felt so uncomfortable..
Thank you for your great videos. ☺️ I'm an abled person who's watching RU-vid channels from disabled people from time to time. I want to be aware of other people's situations and want to learn how to "not accidentally behave like an a**hole" 😆 Your videos taught me a lot! Lots of love from Germany and rock on 💪🏻🙂
Ugh, same with ALL of these! I also hate when people start pushing me without asking? Happened all the time in school. And when I say "No thanks, I got it" or "I'll push myself" they always act like they're helping me and ignore the fact that I don't want to be helped! And yes the tapping!!! I also hate when people bump into the wheels from behind me or something (especially when there was plenty of space to pass through without coming near me...) because even though it's just a slight jostle it's really jarring and it feels a little invasive! These skits were adorable, by the way!
When people say “if you were thinner you wouldn’t need the chair”. My usual response is “I was driving a massive van and she didn’t see me, how do you think being smaller would have helped?” You can see them praying for that hole to swallow them up! 😂.
1.When you are "contagious" or "toxic" in lifts and they eith block you from going in when there is more than enough space, or won’t join you in the lift if there is plenty space! 2. When people touch and lean on my chair as if I’m an inanimate object, not understanding they are effectively touching my "legs" 3. When people think it’s funny to play with my controls, lights or piddly beepy horn. 4. My piddly beepy horn! It is so pathetic that no one would pay attention to it, surely powerchair users deserve a real horn! 5. When people don’t see me and walk straight into my lap or reverse into my chair or my lap (mostly while using a phone but not always!) 6. When people treat me like a toddler. Just because I have wheels doesn’t mean that I don’t have a brain (even though it feels like I don’t have one at times) Hope these add to the list! I also agree with the coat hanger (why is it mostly in winter that this happens when you have a heavy coat on inside a hot shop?) and the shopping trolley thing and then people start looking at you when you drop everything on the floor and are unable to pick any of it up, while the person using you as a trolley has vanished to somewhere else in the shop and cannot see you!
The Real Mythril As the partner of a person who uses a power chair I have some interesting/humorous comments about points 2 and 4 as well as the coat rack situation. 2) I fully see his chair as an extension of him, as his legs. So when I’m sitting next to him at dinner or something I’ve found myself lovingly rubbing his wheel with my foot for awhile before I realize that he can’t feel that. Or I’ll caress his headrest instead of his head when going in for a kiss. 4) the little beepy horn is the brunt of so many of our jokes. I’ve used it to sensor curse words, much to his enjoyment. We also joke about me figuring out a way to rig it up to like a fog horn instead. And as far as the coat rack, I will ask him “sweetie, can I hang my purse on your chair” or “do you mind carrying my jacket” and then I carefully hang them on the back of his chair so they aren’t in the way. I do often absent mindedly set my phone down on his lap or arm rest if I have it in my hand and am going to help him with something that requires both of my hands (or we are in public and I don’t want to leave it somewhere). But we communicate about him being a coat rack and I have his permission.
I can relate to all of the pet peeves. Another I hate is while being pushed, they always hit shelves or walls in stores because they forget about the foot plate.
No Daisy Bells or Shaun's were harmed in the making of this video! 😂There are so many more!!!! Don't forget to let to let me know your pet peeve!!! And please feel free to let me know any video topics you would like me to make. And of corse feel free to share this on your socials with your friends and family. Lots of love Gem xxx
My dad makes vroom vroom sounds and pushes me like a baby in a stroller... My mom is worse, she starts talking to me also like she's entertaining a toddler. Lol! I get it, it's a nervous coping mechanism.
Wheelsnoheels - Gem Hubbard my name is Kianna.im in a wheelchair too.belive it or not.you give people hope.i don't think I'm ever going to have a boyfriend.i feel like no one wants me.any advice
Hey lovely @@kiannalondon435 Please don't feel like that. I used to feel like that. I cried my self to sleep thinking no one would want me. Its not true. The right person is out there for you.
Maggie Louise I know the feeling most of the time I say don’t push me cause it can hurts my back when people just push me out of nowhere and they are like toughing my back and saying does this hurt?? YES IT DOES SO STOP!! 😂
These are so true. Love your family acting it all out! To add one, going down a steep ramp and people stop in front of you. (I don't have an instant stopping handbrake 🙈) The worst one for me is the lean 🙄 I don't know you !
Yes!! I’ve had people see me - watch me - coming down a ramp and stop right in front of it. ?? I try to slow or stop and look at them like “get out of the way, please,” and they just smile hello back. 😂 Dude, MOVE!
Curbs are so much steeper than they look. I almost threw a buddy out of his wheelchair one of the first times I pushed a wheelchair. Well, you learn from your mistakes, we both had a good laugh about it and now im super careful with curbs. I didn't even think twice about it. The curb didn't look that steep. Just a little bump. But once you actually try to go down a curb forwards, its suddenly not to little anymore :) People do make mistakes, as long as you learn from it its fine in my opinion. I bet I did a bunch of other stupid stuff when I started working with people with disabilities. You just shouldn't be a jerk and as long as you're willing to learn and accept constructive criticism instead of just making excuses or blaming others its just fine.
As a petite woman, the worst is when store employees see me as a child as in where is her mommy child and won’t serve me in my own. The worst of this is sample tables. I’m 23. I’m perfectly capable of getting my own sample and know the health and safety rules and I know what I can and can’t have and don’t like.
It's amazing how a member of the "general public" can't see a 5ft 5, 13 stone woman on a mobility scooter, even with the little bleeper going. I've had a woman walk backwards into me while admiring stuff on a display (which I was approaching, quite conspicuously i thought) and complain that I'd hurt her leg. Do people not look at any level other than their own? What about looking out for kids?
I know! School for me is a nightmare, I’ll just be rolling along and often someone will notice me last minute and suddenly swear and jump out of the way! (Or just walk into meh)As it I suddenly purposely ran into their path, My friend thinks I need a snowplough attachment on my chair......he’s right
I think it’s funny when I see people in wheelchairs in public being talked down to as if they’re mentally disabled or a child. THEY’RE JUST LIKE YOU, PEOPLE. My dad was in a wheelchair and I always dealt with people being kinda weird to him in public.
I kinda like helping my husband by holding the bags, or using a basket to carry the groceries. It makes me feel like I’m still contributing. He does the “shopping” or assisting part (grabbing things, listening to my instructions when there’s something I can’t quite get to or do), and I get to contribute and feel more included in the process by carrying them and helping him out in return. 😇
My worst is when I want to go somewhere and am not pushed where I want to go or when I am expecting to go in one direction and we suddenly veer off completely, that one makes me feel travel sick for a short while. Also when I’m pushing myself and managing quite nicely (I.e. not uphill or for very far) and instead of walking next to me someone automatically takes over and invariably goes in a different direction. Plus everything you said!
Person with an invisible disability here! My biggest pet peeve is not being taken seriously because of my age, and my illness being invisible. I was at an airport, and I was sitting in the disabled seating, as I can’t stand for long. The airline workers come up to us “I’m sorry, you’re going to need to move, these seats are for the disabled only!” About 5 minutes of back and forth explaining later, and they finally left me alone
One time a drunk stranger leaned on me like I was a table. I rolled away from him immediately and he stumbled around because he lost his balance 🤣😈. That’s only happened to me once, but don’t do it. Tapping or kicking my chair, especially kicking my spokes is way up there. Don’t kick me, also you’re damaging my spokes. Or how about when you happen to be with another wheelchair user and some able bodied person is like, “you two should race.” That’s especially awkward when you happen to be on a date with the other wheelchair user. I feel like that’s like wanting to watch a pig race or a frog jumping contest. We aren’t animals. I have more, but this is long enough for now. 😁 Oh wait, this last one is pretty important. When able bodied folk act like they are more deserving of being on public transportation or in a parking lot (etc) than you are just because you are disabled. ?!#!? I need to get my groceries, go to work, or go to school just as much as you do.
OMG that first one is my gripe too and I’m not even in a wheelchair. Why can’t people just walk on the side of the footpath that you drive on. So in Australia we drive on the left, so step left, if you drive on the right, step right. Why does it have to be so complicated?! I did get told once, feel free to use the disabled loos, quickly of course, but do not take the parking space under Any circumstance! I’m so grateful for vids like yours, I’m someone who will ask way too many questions and it drives people insane and have been told feels really invasive but it’s just me trying to understand. Videos like his help me avoid a few questions of people who are likely sick of them. Thank god for RU-vid.
One I've heard from wheelchair users is you're sitting still talking to someone or looking at something and suddenly, a person starts pushing you without your permission.
Awesome video Gem! So glad I found your channel ❤️. I’m a part time wheelchair user (hEDS....I use mobility aids due to pain) - the biggest problem I face is that so many people have the misconception that all wheelchair users are unable to walk. I’ve gotten several almost accusatory comments from folks along the lines of “Wow! You’re up and walking?” 🤨. It sometimes makes me feel like I need to explain myself - like I’ve done something wrong - kind of a bummer. Thank you for the always helpful and fun content - looking forward to your next video. 😊
Hi. welcome to wheelsnoheels. I have made a video titled "why do you use a wheelchair when you not paralysed." I hope you will enjoy it, its to raise awareness on this issue, so please feel free to share it on your socials. xx ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qeTg_5JadO4.html
Just got my first active wheelchair last week so still in the honeymoon fase, getting bonded etc. In that short time already had many of the pet peeves you talk about. Mostly I find them quite funny probably due to me being super cheerful being finally able to go out again. People apologising while I am driving recklessly through a shop amazes me the most. People saying to me " Poor pet" is a big amazement as well, because don't they see the big smile on my face and why did they never saw and helped me me before when I was almost crawling on hands and knees in agony without my chair. In a supermarket people stop me to tell me that if I need something from up high I should ask them, they'll be around. I find it wonderful and just smile and say thank you I'm good. However I hate it when people touch my wheelchair without asking, holding on to it while talking to me because I don't want to be dragged down with them if they loose their balance so I explain kindly please don't lean or hold on to my chair because you can tip me over and leave the part out that it feels really rude and uncomfortable because these things can happen without them realising how it feels. Also I am alone, it's important for me to learn to navigate difficult streets etc. I don't like to be pushed but am not afraid to ask for help if I need it like going up or down a steep ramp. But only when I saw I'm ready and have the push handles taken out of hiding. But what really pissed me of the other day when I had some difficulty getting grip with my wheels on a rough patch of cobbles that I was completely dismissed when a lady came rushing over saying I'll help you, me saying I'm okay thank you. Woman still approaching fast, hands already outstretched to grab my chair. Me getting a bit anxious, who is this lady, does she know how to handle a wheelchair??? Saying again a bit more forcefully I'M FINE thank you. No response woman still approaching saying she'll help me. Time is running out still stuck and getting really anxiously now: no starting to shout at her: NO DON'T TOUCH ME! Her friend who has been watching telling her friend; " She's an independent one" WTF !!! Now my self protective rude side comes out telling her off that it has nothing to do with independence but safety, because she easily could throw me out of my chair. Thankfully by that time I found grip with my wheels and took off as fast as I could.
When I was growing up, my friends didn't really believe I could feel even the slightest touch of my chair so they would "test" me. I CAN FEEL IT ALL. STOP TOUCHING ME!
I'm temporarily using a wheelchair outside and have been amazed at how so many people don't get out of the way. Ridiculous. Also the number of little steps everywhere. You and everyone else who uses a wheelchair have my admiration. And you have the loveliest voice ❤️
Yes!!!! Every person should spend time “experiencing” various disabilities. It is even a real eye-opener to spend time in public with disabled people. It’s as if people see the mobility aid and think, “Well, he can just sit (wheelchair) or stand (crutches, cane, walker, braces) there a bit longer. After all, he’s got ‘help.’”🙄
It's the tapping for me as well, and it also really hurts my feelings being left out of conversations and not letting me go or taking me where I want to go..
Ugh, the worst I've seen so far: being in a wheelchair and everyone else in the room is talking around bar tables, so I was inevitably left out of all the conversations.
Just the other day I was grocery shopping and people would stop me and say wow your good at that. Also one person apologized to me for being in the wheelchair and hopped I wouldn’t be stuck in my wheelchair for long. I said it’s a permanent thing and they got all mushy and apologized. I told them don’t apologize I’ve come to terms with being in my wheelchair and while it’s not fun I am happy that I can get around.
Hahahaha i laughed so hard! These are all so true, but i hate the footplate vs. ankle situation the most, mostly because people give ME an angry look!!!! They do realise it after a couple of seconds and smile, act normal and whatever, but it's soooo awkward! ;p And the talking behind your back thing is annoying as well, especially when they're still holding on to your pushbars and you can't turn around yourself!
When people ignore you and talk to the one pushing you about you. And I have an elder relative that likes to use me as her walking aid. Especially in shops, forcing me to look at what interests her.
I've been ignored at a coffee shop before because my chair was shorter than the counter. My biggest pet peeves are definitely people not moving out of the way (or being extra and stepping all way off the sidewalk like you showed), and my other one is people touching my wheelchair without my consent (or kicking it when walking by). My wheelchair is part of my body!!!! Don't touch it!
Aside from the intrusive questions and looks, I think one of my biggest pet peeves off the top of my head is being pushed (I could end that sentence there, honestly lol) and the person pushing is not fully paying attention so I feel like I could be rolled off the curb or into a curb or something at any moment. It’s stressful and irritating. Or when they let go and fail to tell me they’ve let go, or they’re pushing my chair and fail to tell me they’re doing that so I continue pushing for nothing... Also, lack of accessibility is really irritating. It’s a total buzzkill.
I recently had a person come up behind me and push me (he thinks he is so cool and walks like he is all that...I also appreciate the help of course) he had his music blaring and I doubt he was paying attention. I get to almost the top of the hill and he looses his footing...he goes flat on his face and I almost go too but because I was paying attention did not....I caught myself and kept going only to look back as he is picking himself off the ground
I hate that my husband is not aware of how wide my chair is....we took the molding off a door the other day because hubs clipped it with the corner of my chair! It's so embarrassing, it gets everyone's attention and they come RUNNING to make sure I'm not hurt....I'm fine, we just DESTROYED the door! SO annoying.
Probably my biggest pet peeves these days are -My mom still insisting (on the very rare occasions that she does push me - I have a smartdrive now, so she has only pushed me a few times in the year and a half since getting my current chair) on pushing me down the middle when I keep telling her to stay to the right because she still thinks it's "safer" - I'm like, "I don't care what you think _feels_ safer, you're going to push me where I want you to because I know what actually *_is_* safer. Remember the scooters and bikes whizzing past us because you refused to stay to the right? [something I mentioned in my original set of pet peeves down below]" -Road salt (I didn't really care with any of my previous chairs because they were either super cheap (either in price or quality), or not mine, or the only stretch of time I used it wasn't during winter, but now that I have a custom ultralight, I baby it) because if I don't wipe down every inch of my chair (a process that usually takes me 1 1/2-2 hours because I have to basically take the entire thing apart in order to do it) within a day or two, it can make things start to rust. -When I'm trying to get through a non-automatic door (the only time that it didn't make me mad, the person who offered to help made sure, before he ever touched the door, that 1) I did in fact want his help (heavy non-automatic doors weren't easy to get through in a standard manual chair that was way too big for me, and I was having a lot more trouble than usual that time), 2) I had already let go of the door, 3) I had regained my balance, and 4) I had moved out of the way so that he wouldn't hit my chair with the door when he opened it), someone tries to "help" and grabs the door while I'm still holding it, either making it impossible for me to move because my balance is thrown so far off such that if I let go of the door I would either fall or flip, or nearly yanking me out of my chair because they pulled so hard (the last time that happened, I seriously considered throwing myself out of it the rest of the way, just to prove my point to the guy, but my chair would have rolled backwards and hit my mom pretty hard, so I didn't) - I was at a weeklong seminar last summer, and I got into the habit of going in the back instead of the front of one of the buildings because people kept trying to pull the door out of my hands (not realizing that that's what they were doing - if they had known, they would have been mortified and stopped doing it; I might teach them this year (if they start doing it again, since a lot of the same people attend year after year), that them doing it to me is no different than them grabbing it out of the hand of someone who's walking, and I know they'd never do _that_ on purpose), but the looks on their faces when I was the first one out the door and held it for everyone else? Priceless! I don't even remember how many times I said, "just because I'm in a wheelchair doesn't mean I can't hold the door for other people" (I know some w/c users can't, but I'm able to). These days, if I already have a hand on the door, I normally tell people to "please let go because I can't get through otherwise", and then I proceed to show them just how much "got" I have. Back last spring, I had a person insist on standing in the way of the door when I wanted to open it to get through (whether she was actually reading the poster in the window or merely pretending to, I don't know) - I politely said "excuse me", she ignored me and didn't move, so I politely asked her to please move over a little bit so that I could open the door, she still refused and gave me a dirty look, then she suddenly went around behind me (so I grabbed the door to open it, since I thought she was _finally_ moving out of the way so I could get through) and grabbed the door from behind me while I already had it partway open. I asked her to "please let go because I can't get through otherwise", and she had the guts to tell me that she was trying to get in before I did! I gave her a snarky "you're kidding me, right?" look, and, needless to say, I didn't let her barge in front of me. I'll admit, though, that my mom has gotten better at yelling at people who grab my chair, or grab a door I'm already holding, without permission because they want to "help" if they don't stop when I ask them nicely (the time I considered throwing myself out of my chair to prove my point, my mom had to step in and actually yell at the guy in order to get him to let go of the door - I think he would have been utterly mortified, and rightly so, if I had actually ended up on the ground; the same thing happened a couple weeks earlier somewhere else when I was right at the very end of trying to get up a rather steep hill (couldn't do one that steep without my smartdrive) - someone grabbed my chair because he thought I was going to roll down or something (I had the situation completely under control), and he didn't stop when I asked, so my mom, who was 30 ft away sitting down, waiting for me, where we were going to sit for the thing we were there for, had to yell at him to let go of me).
We borrowed a wheelchair for me at the national rail museum in York this summer. My husband did his best, but I can really relate to the catapult pet peeve. He kept catching the rails in the engine hall, I have no idea how I didn't fall out and hit something. I have moved from a walking stick to a wheeled frame in the last week or so, and it's taking some getting used to. I was in a shop yesterday and a parent wasn't keeping an eye on their child. Needless to say, they nearly rammed into me. Then in the queue to pay, two grown men were being idiots in the queue and one backed into me. At 41, people do not know how to deal with me on a frame, you can see the "does not compute" look in their eyes.
5:24 made me 😂😂😂 Mine is when someone isn't looking where they're going and run into me with their shins and then over-apologize. Um... If they do run into me or I them, THEY will be the ones injured by getting their shins broken and they get yeeted over me cuz I have a low center of gravity 😂 I always tell them "it's actually, me who should apologize or at least feel bad cuz I'd be fine while you'd go flying" 🤭
Came across your videos and my top 2 are those that park illegal in what you call disabled bay /well handicap parking leaving no spaces for people like myself. 2. The amount of people that will rush around you to get a better position in line when your struggling to get in.
Though it happened only once, it kinda became my pet peeve: Someone taking the wheelchair for a joyride Was at a cousin's ground floor apartment and I left my wheelchair (brakes on) by a staircase. Luckily, I am able to get off the chair and crawl a little. Later on I left the apartment and the wheelchair was nowhere to be seen. Luckily the building security guard tracked it down and we found out that another of my cousins took it for a joyride
The one that gets me is when people do things for you when you could easily do it yourself! I have to wear this weird brace/sling because of nerve damage in my arm so people assume I need help putting things in my bag at shops and opening doors or even putting on my coat etc, I can do it myself it just takes a little longer with one arm!! But it is a nice problem to have because people are just trying to help and be kind xx
I just wanted to say, I love your videos. I have only been using a wheelchair for a few years, due to spinal cord damage, but wasn't feeling too positive about starting to use one as I felt like I was giving up. Your videos have really helped me to feel more comfortable with who I am and what I can do. I now use my chair around the home and have taught myself different ways of doing light housework and also I do lots of cooking too. I'm middle aged, so it has been quite a change in lifestyle, but I'm getting there. Thank you so much xx
I have recently become a part time wheelchair user, and this last summer I noticed that so many people don’t pay any attention to what’s going on around them will just walk out in front of me while I’m going passed them. It’s a lot easier for you to just take a quick look to see if anyone is around you than it is for me to stop abruptly 🙄
I am not a wheelchair user, but I think that this would be my pet peeve: When people crouch down to talk to you when you are in a wheelchair. I think that would be a bit annoying
I have a few that drive me to distraction! The 1st one is talking to the person behind me like I'm not even there or like I'm stupid and dont understand! The other one happened at a uk london airport (gatwick) when getting the tags for my chair instead of asking me where I want it or where it normally goes I had this 6ft man walking around behind me touching my chair and looking at it like he had the biggest problem in the world! Dont touch my chair it's part of my body... if you need to touch it ask 1st! I dont go touching your legs my chair is my legs
The funny thong is one time when I went to Disneyland when I was a child and many times my family members forgot to let me know that they had let go so I rolled off the curb and the worst. Time was when it was caught on film and it was one of my care givers at the time
I put my purchases in a reusable bag and hang it on the back of my chair by the push handles. Making sure one strap is on each push handle and bag is centered. No rubbing on your wheel.
Wish I could still do that - I could with my first 2 chairs, but with my current one, the bottom of the bag would get worn through either by my smartdrive or by dragging on the ground.
I hate it when im shopping an someone will ask if i need help with grabbing something I know their being nice and if i dont need or want help i just politely say no thanks im just looking because usually i am just looking and if i want something ill figure out how to get it my self or if my mom is in the same isle ill ask her to grab it when i was growing up i was taught to try and figure out how to do things on my own and if i couldn't figure it out the ask for help I think it all came down to even though you have spina bifida you should be as independent as possible. I also hate when im going in some where and it has the buttons for the automatic doors and im about to push the button and someone is holding the door i think to myself between you holding the door the size of the door and the size of my wheelchair i dont think im gonna fit so just let me push the button on the wall please so you can keep your toes
Some of these also apply to my stroller! It's not nearly the same, of course, but I always think about how inaccessible or irritating things must be for wheelchairs when I'm pushing a stroller around :\ -PinkJess
My pet peeve is when a kid come to me and runs with the wheelchair and I am like AHHHHH! But nobody stops the kid, so I take out my wallet and say here is 1 dollar, if you stop pushing me you can have it. But they say how about 10? So well... Gotta give them 10...
Ha ha ! Good ones. I agree with all of them. I have several. One is similar to your first. When people are approaching, at the last second they walk across your front from one side to the other. Something that happens to me allll the time and its totally unnesseccary. As to running over peoples toes, thats their problem as i can see they know im coming. Nope, i never say im sorry for anything. Another is folks coming out of side isles with their shopping carts out in front of them ready to ram anyone because of course, they are the only ones in the store. Im not nice when i get hit. And again, even if the say sorry, i do not say ok, im just silent. Lastly, it took me 2 years before i figured out to carry a 15 in long pair of bbq tongs with me for picking dropped things up but also to get those just out of reach things. It stays on the back bar at all times.
I hate people suddenly crossing in front or stopping (especially when going down an incline), and the aisle one is a huge one of mine, as I've almost been hit more than once by people who think it's my fault - I'm a part-time user, and when I'm not using it, I hate using the regular shopping carts because I can't see the main drag cross traffic until the cart is sticking out in the way - I prefer to use the carts that don't stick out as far so that I can see and don't have to worry about accidentally running into people when I get to the end of an aisle.
mine is when im in a shop with my friends and i are shopping and the shop staff ask my friends what i want ..... they answer shes the one who needs your help not us
Stroking my head/hair when you're standing next to me, trying to overrule me if I say I can or cannot do something (seriously, how do they think they know better than me what my abilities are??) and then forcing their 'help' on me when I've already told them I don't need it (I've had people I've literally never seen before grab bags out of my hands to hang on the handles behind me - there's a reason I said no!). Lastly, crop dusting me.... my head is almost perfectly level with your backside, it's not funny and I may or may not inflict my revenge on your heels.
My absolute worst is when able bodied people just act like you're not there and totally cut you JP and walk in front of you!! I use an electric chair, mainly for my sanity because of your other good points made, and I can't stop in time. Not only will I go into the back of someone one of these days, it's so rude!! I actually stop at roll my eyes while sighing in the hope they'll hear but they never do 😂
Just anytime someone tries to force their "help" on me. Or tells me I need some different kind of equipment based upon nothing just there able-bodied opinion of what equipment people in wheelchairs should have. Also when I'm with someone else and someone walking by thanks them for no reason whatsoever I guess just for dealing with me or I don't know what???? That one actually makes me feel really small makes me really angry.
LOL!!! Well done!! I too get frustrated while waiting in line at a coffee shop or the butcher at the grocery store. The staff can't see me, and there I sit, trying to make noise to be seen/heard!! I use a powered wheelchair so some of the issues are different for me vs using a manual wheelchair (although I do use a manual wheelchair at home). Thanks for sharing this, it was quite funny and very true!!
I relate to a lot of these but I do get especially annoyed when I’ve got my handbag on one handle and my tote with extra meds, snacks, blanket and a book for the all day doctor’s appointments I need to go to and someone assumes that means I should just hold THEIR handbag because the wheelchair handles are full of things I, the wheelchair user NEED. I didn’t realize when I first started using a wheelchair that agreeing to hold someone’s bag for a moment while they close up the car etc before we get moving towards the hospital would lead the assumption that I should just keep on holding their bag. I guess I used to feel since they were pushing me (before I got one where I could push myself on the days the chronic pain, chronic fatigue, dizziness and seizures etc allow) that would be rude of me to refuse to hold their bag but I finally just told people that I wouldn’t keep their bag in my lap anymore because it caused me extra pain and I don’t need that. I also realized that they carry their own dang bags perfectly fine on days I’m not with them so it’s not job to worry about their bag on the day’s they are with me and if it’s too heavy for them to carry each day it’s their job to go through their own bag and clear it out so it’s less heavy for them to use. It’s certainly not my job to hold my legs in a certain way to keep someone else’s handbag steady in my lap and increase my already terrible leg pain just because they are pushing my wheelchair for part of the day. As you said, “We aren’t cost racks”.
The worst pet peeve I have is when I’m surrounded by friends or family and they see a bee or bug flying around and everyone just takes off in different directions and completely forgets about me, the man in a wheelchair, who’s not able to run or move as fast as anyone else and the bee just keeps buzzing all around me like it’s tryin to land on me even though I’m pushing my self forwards or backwards or in zigzags to try and get away from it. It’s like everyone just forgets about you when they get scared lol.
I am new to having to be in a wheelchair when i am out due to my pain, only picked up my chair on friday and already found pet peeves. Like when i am trying to move and people just walk in front of the chair, or when trying to get into a shop and when people just stand in the doorway and start having a conversation. I did come across some bad pet peeves when was at the zoo on sunday, like when places have double doors but choose to keep one side of the door locked, or when i was being pushed and we were struggling to get over a bump through a door as we are both still new to chair, and two guys just grabbed the front of my chair without asking and lifted it over the bump on the door. I have really found i can't stand people touching my chair without asking, like i know they are only trying to help but ask or let me know before, dont just grab my frame and start moving me
When you mentioned when you rolling and your foot plate gets caught and you shoot out of your chair. My dad is an amputee and I stick with him always. When he had just got out of the hospital, back home we were in town crossing the street and I was running with him he was pushing also we hit a deep groove in the road and landed on his foot and leg. I felt so bad because I thought I had seriously hurt him and that he was mad. But we were both learning the new obstacles from being a wheelchair user. Later when we had to cross the street again we knew what could happen so we slowed down and made sure that he hopped his front wheels over the groove. Now I am always looking for possible obstacles to be able to react and help.
My biggest peeve is people leaning over me. True story : While shopping in the store for some pet food, a woman felt the need to reach over my head to get a bag of food and I tried to tell her that if she could wait a few seconds I could move out of the way and she just told me that he could just reach and that’s what she did and then nearly dropped the bag on my head. 😤
Distracting my service dog faking a service dog or talking down to you or insisting on helping you even when you say no or the wheelchair “jokes “ like you got a license for that thing
I agree with just about every pet peeve honey especially the shopping trolley or handbag LOL ( sometimes I offer to Carry some thing's but sometimes I dont ) & the customer line pet peeve happens so often unfortunately 😔 & having to ask people for help & then they just walk away 😠😔♿️
Rewatching this after your “never do this” story time. I have to admit when in airports when I was younger my grandma, now my sister, get designated and bag holder, but I will also take people’s bags if I’m being pushed. (When I was younger it was my mums handbag/bag, my grandmas bag and any bags that need to be safe (tickets etc) while I had to run alongside to keep up so sometimes grandma would grab my bag too, grandma was usually the one saying “here I’ll hold that, give me this, there’s room on my lap” (I was a little too big to be parked on grandma though). My sister was less encouraging but by the time she had her bag and the important bag (tickets our meds and passports) she then had my pillow too. I’m like my grandma, I went away with my dad and had special assistance and got pushed round I kept telling my dad to give me his (heavy) bag, he gave me the light one instead. I have a pet peeve about having an assistance dog (in training) is everyone asks who/what I’m training her for..... but she (well any and all of my dogs) is my favourite subject to talk about so I’m more than happy to talk about her tasks and progress and her breed (Catalan sheepdog). People have the automatic assumption that assistance dogs are for people in wheelchairs/ because I don’t look disabled I must be a trainer. Can’t wait to really confuse people when I go out with her and my boyfriend in his chair....
Ugh all of these are so relatable my worst pet peeve i hate is when someone is pushing you you get to the till and the person serving you doesnt even speak to you jusy the person who is pushing you!!!!!
I hate when counters are way too high for me to even possibly reach anything! Like you could at least make it so the pin pad you pay with tilts down so I can pay 🙄 huge pet peeve lol
I’m so glad you made this video!! Some of these things I thought were just me haha 🙈 One I’d add is when the person pushing me walks away when I’m talking to them and I don’t realize cause I thought they were still behind me 😂
Anyone else feel anxious when a cashier rings up everything but stacks it all out of our reach? I politely say "could you please move it closer to me?" So, "I can begin packing and not hold up the line?" And they reply "just a minute" or "I will when, I'm done!" I pay and then they pass the change balancing on a receipt with one hand then immediately my stuff with their other hand. I'm lower. I know the change is going to roll off. I'm stuck not being able to move. I have to put stuff on the floor. The cashier looks at me like I'm having a fit! We walk with our hands!! The person behind is flustered. Why don't businesses train cashiers? To allow us to pack our bag when we lay cash down? If the customer behind us understands the concept of needing our hands to move forward, why can't the cashier conceptualize it? Several times, the person behind me forgets their stuff trying to help me.
0) Someone starting to push me without me giving them permission, or not waiting until I tell them I'm ready. I just grab the wheels to stop them because it's both rude and dangerous, and the person complains that I shouldn't be telling them that they have to wait until I'm ready or that they have to get my permission to push me. 1) When the person pushing me (which rarely every happens in the first place) isn't paying attention, and backs me up in order to turn, running the casters into my feet (standard manual wheelchair), then subsequently tries to force the wheelchair through the turn, as if the casters were just sticky and not getting caught on something. 2) When I get asked if I need help - 5 times in 2 minutes by 5 different people. Occasionally getting asked while doing something I appear to possibly be struggling with is one thing, and I don't mind that, but 5 times in 2 minutes is just plain annoying, even though each time it's a different person. 3) When we're in a hurry, being pushed slower than even my normal wheeling pace. 4) Going along in the main walkway of the grocery store, and as I pass the end of an aisle, someone coming out of the aisle almost pushes their cart into me because they aren't paying attention - "look both ways before crossing/turning" isn't just for streets - then gives me a dirty look, as if it was somehow my fault. I'm always cautious coming out of aisles into the main walkway because being careful is the smart thing to do, just as when driving. 5) When I need to get through a crowd of people, and I say "excuse me" loud enough for the person to hear, they completely ignore me, so I say it again, louder, and then they turn and give me a dirty look, don't say a word, and refuse to move. 6) People suddenly stepping directly in front of me as I'm wheeling along and they either slow down or stop all together, and I barely manage to avoid running into them. I've gotten really good at stopping short because of it, but it still drives me insane. 7) The person I'm with (not pushing me) insisting on walking directly in front or directly behind me "because it takes up less space" than walking next to me, then gets mad when I suddenly back up or go forward from a stop because she was standing too close to me. 8) Intersections that don't have the curb cuts at the corner - I've been forced to wheel in the street - between the line of parked cars and lane of moving traffic - because I couldn't get up the curb to the sidewalk. 9) Getting out of the truck and getting my wheelchair set up one time, someone who was walking into the building stopped in front of my truck, and just stood and stared at me the entire time without saying a word. I loudly said "it's not nice to stare" at least once, maybe twice, and the person had the guts to just keep standing and staring and not say anything. Turns out it was someone I knew, and she couldn't tell it was me at first because it was dark, but it still irked me anyway. 10) People pulling in and loitering in the handicap parking space - right next to an open regular space - simple because someone else in the car was just going to (literally) run into not the place directly in front of the parking space, but adjacent to that place (directly in front of the open regular parking space). 11) I was at a national park last summer, and was working on something while I was there, but I got to the point where I couldn't stand anymore, so I sat down in an out of the way spot against the wall to continue working on it. The person staffing the gift shop counter told me I couldn't sit there to work on what I was working on, and that I would have to go out into another part of the building if I wanted to sit while working on it. Cue me sneaking into another part of the room (out of sight of the person at the desk) and my dad going out to the car and getting my wheelchair (part time user, so I don't need it 24/7), and 15 minutes later, after finishing what I was working on, I wheel myself up to the desk, right in front of the person who told me to go somewhere else if I wanted to sit down. I stared her down, and the look on her face told me she learned her lesson - she thought I was a kid that just didn't care (it's been quite a few years since the last time I was eligible to be classified as a "kid"). 12) When my mom is pushing me, she'll sometimes pass something, realize she wants to look at it, then pull me backwards with her. Or she'll sometimes start pushing me, then let go because she wants to stop and look at something; I'll look back and all of a sudden, she's way behind me without me even knowing. 13) When the "accessible"-marked trail is paved but includes switchbacks that are so steep that I can't safely navigate them up or down on my own, and have to have someone "lower" me down and push me up (or rather, 2 people switch off for pushing me up). 14) When I'm out with my mom and we stop to look at something, then when she's done, without saying anything, she starts to push me away - I grab my wheels and don't let her, and she gets mad at me, as if it was my fault I wouldn't let her push me away from something I still wanted to look at. 15) Being out with someone who even now still complains that she's 43 years older than me but can walk way faster than me... and then she complains that *she* can't keep up with *me* when I'm in my wheelchair. Oh, sweet justice! 16) Handicap bathroom stalls that are not only too small, but whose doors open INWARD. 17) When my dad is pushing me and doesn't pay attention - sometimes he'll hit a dip or bump and I will almost fall out of my chair (I can sometimes correct it in time, other times not); other times, he turns or pushes me such that the footrests run into something or someone. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of him pushing me. 18) The person who's pushing me insisting on going straight down the middle "because it feels safer" when I insist on being on the right side so that people can pass us. Worse, insisting on staying in the middle of the path when bikes and scooters are whizzing past us from behind. 19) My dad, who was just pushing me, leaning on my chair when we're stopped - Dude, Dad! Get off! 20) My mom asking me to hold her purse so she can push me (it would fall off if she tried to wear it while pushing), especially if I already have my own stuff that I need to carry on my lap - Mom, if there's a chance you might need to push me (or another relative, who's in a chair full time - my balance isn't always great, so don't ask me to carry your stuff if I'm walking), use a purse that won't fall off when you do so! 21) My parents insisting on walking right in front of me - I go as fast as I decide to (and going slow is not very easy), and I have to tell them repeatedly to go either next to or behind me, because otherwise I'm going to clip their heels. 22) Cushy carpets - one of the most annoying flat surfaces to try to roll on for distances. I was completely worn out after just a few hours of rolling on those carpets. 23) When using the elevator, my parents complaining that it takes too long for me to get out if I don't turn around to face the door when I first get in, but then they complain about how long they have to wait if I do turn around as soon as I get in. 24) People asking me "How soon until you don't have to use it?" and "So [since it's not for an injury] it must be just for fun?" - "Potentially never" [cue person being completely flabbergasted] and "Heck no! If it was for fun, I wouldn't be doing it!" 25) People telling me "I'm sorry" when I tell them what's going on that necessitates me needing a wheelchair for certain situations - I was furious "Sorry?! I'm eternally grateful for it, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to live my life!" 26) When asking for the way into the building, someone telling us that it's the door right over here... that has only stairs. I think that high schooler learned something that day, because as soon as I opened the door, in front of him, I looked in and said, "Um, I can't do stairs in a wheelchair; where's the elevator?" 27) When the person pushing me didn't pay attention to the ground, and when the casters hit a broken part of the sidewalk, I almost flew out of my chair. I gave him a stern talking to after that. 28) Being left out of the conversation because it's taking place standing around a bar table. 29) My wheelchair pushers (the only 2 people who ever push me, and not very often) who are too stuck up to be willing to take basic advice on how to push a wheelchair, because they think they know all there is to know about it - they don't want to be told what to do... and subsequently commit numerous pet peeves, then complain bitterly when I tell them they shouldn't be doing those things, or are confused when I almost fly out of my chair because he wasn't paying attention to the sidewalk conditions (tree roots causing broken sidewalks). 30) People crowding in front of me to look at something, making it so I can't see. If it's my parents, I'll *gently* tap them with my footrests to let them know they need to move (footrests stick out so far in front of the chair that I can't always get their attention any other way, particularly if we're being given a tour - rude to talk during a tour). 31) When I'm going down an incline, people just standing in the way and won't move - I sometimes have to put my brakes on to keep from rolling into them - or people walking down then suddenly stopping, causing me to narrowly avoid crashing into them.
this video is perfect and so funny! I personally don't mind being used as a shopping trolley as long as I can have a basket on my lap :P Also the footplate thing makes me SO nervous when someone is pushing me!
My pet peeve are when people just push me Tapping on my chair (why do need to do that) U say excuses me and they don’t move (They see u and they don’t move) That’s all of them
The catapult one LOL I remember I tried to push my dad inside the doorway once and the chair got caught and he nearly fell out LOL woops sorry dad! We were still learning he got it only a few months before he passed so I didn't realize at the time haha
Literally all of them. Or being wheeled out of the way by strangers, like GO AWAY. Someone once wheeled me backwards out of the crowd by the lift so they could cut in front of me
😮 What?! I’ve had someone try to wheel me out of the way in a crowded area/traffic jam we were both waiting to get out of (but I was ahead of him) like I was a piece of furniture! I shot him a look. 🤣 I think that was lesson learned. But to get pulled out of the way to get on an elevator you were also waiting for (and arguably needed more)! Wow.
