The world needs saving. The good news is that we don\u2019t have to wait around for Avengers to do it, we can be the heroes if we start making the right choices. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, recycle, and reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible. I am happy to see that a lot of people are choosing to change their habits to protect each other (from the pandemic) and the environment (well, from us) but hurting disabled people isn\u2019t going to save the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some time ago one of my Facebook friends posted a photo of a passion fruit cut in half and packed in plastic that they saw in a grocery store. They were outraged by this and called it disgusting and wasteful. Based on the comment section people agreed with them, posting their own photos of peeled oranges in plastic containers. One commenter even posted a link to a website where customers could report such products presumably to have them removed from shelves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one pointed out that what might seem wasteful at the first glance, is an accommodation meant for disabled people. So, I did. Many disabled people (including me) can\u2019t peel or cut the fruit or vegetables by themselves. Buying it packaged like that is often the only way we can eat it.
How could we open the packaging if we aren\u2019t able to peel the fruit itself, you ask? Peeling of the top of a container is usually much easier than peeling an orange. For starters you can\u2019t really open an orange by poking holes into it with manicure scissors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The author of the post protested that there are too many various products being sold like this for it to be just for disabled people and that they are often bought by people who are just lazy. Do you know what else lazy people use every day? Typewriters\/keyboards, electric toothbrushes, OXO Good Grips and similar kitchen tools, speech-to-text and voice recognition apps, fidget spinners, curb cuts, bendy straws, and audiobooks. These things and many others were originally created for disabled people, should we ban them, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will maybe come as a shock to you, but disabled people are happy to share their accommodations with the rest of society. Demand creates its own supply. If you buy a ready-made meal or a bowl of mixed fruit for your lunch at work, it means that these things are going to be on the shelves for a disabled person to find as well. It means that disabled people could buy affordable and varied food without having to travel miles to some specialist store. Saying that something could only be used by disabled people usually just makes it unavailable or unaffordable to us. There are of course exceptions to this rule: disabled parking spots should be for disabled people only and if you are appropriating them, you are an ableist jerk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n