When Your Ride Determines

Getting There: Traveling With a Disability — September Series

Depending on paratransit—or sometimes depending on other people for a ride—can be very frustrating.

I can’t always wake up one morning and say, “I think I’ll go shopping today,” and simply go.

Even something like a doctor’s appointment requires planning. If I realize on the 15th that I have an appointment on the 17th, I have to start thinking: Can I still schedule a paratransit ride? If I can’t, who can I ask to take me? Is that person available?

Before I have even left my home, transportation has already become part of my day.

And sometimes all of that planning becomes so frustrating that I start asking myself:

Do I really want to go out?

Then I have to think about getting ready. With my physical disability, getting ready takes time. I can’t wait until the last minute. I have to give myself enough time to get dressed, gather everything I need, and be ready when my ride arrives.

Then I wait.

And depending on the ride, getting somewhere that isn’t very far away can sometimes take much longer because there may be other people who need to be picked up or dropped off along the way.

That’s the part people may not see.

They see me arrive at the doctor’s office, store, YMCA, coffee shop, or wherever I’m going.

They don’t necessarily see everything that happened before I got there.

When Staying Home Feels Easier

There are times when I become frustrated enough that staying home sounds easier.

But then I have to remind myself why I wanted to go in the first place.

If I continually give up on going places because transportation is difficult, I feel like I am allowing the barriers surrounding my disability to win. I have worked too hard for my independence to let that happen.

That doesn’t mean I have to push myself beyond what my body can handle. I have learned that working with my cerebral palsy also means listening to my body and accepting help when I need it.

But there’s a difference between choosing to stay home because I need rest and staying home because the process of getting somewhere became too frustrating.

I don’t want frustration to make that decision for me.

I Still Want to Be Spontaneous

Sometimes I wish I could simply say, “Let’s go.”

Let’s go shopping.

Let’s get something to eat.

Let’s sit at a coffee shop.

Let’s do something fun today.

For many people, that might be an ordinary decision. For me, it can become transportation arrangements, schedules, waiting, and asking other people for help.

That can take some of the spontaneity out of life.

But it doesn’t take away my desire to live it.

I may have to plan my ride days ahead, but I still deserve somewhere to go.

My independence might look different from someone else’s. Sometimes it includes a paratransit bus. Sometimes it includes asking someone I trust for a ride. Sometimes it requires more patience than I wish it did.

But I’m still going.

Because getting there may be complicated, but being part of my community is worth the trip.

— Marie W.O.W.C.P.
Our Beautiful Challenges
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