The Unit of Caring

Saw something expressing anger at healthy people who take up the seats for disabled people on the BART, and it reminded me:

Last year when I couldn’t reliably stand up for very long (I got dizzy and lightheaded very easily, I was supposed to do as little exercise as possible) I was sitting in one of those seats and someone got frustrated with me for not giving them up for an elderly person. I apologetically gave up the seat and luckily stayed on my feet just fine. I know people do sit in those seats thoughtlessly, and I think it’s totally okay to say ‘excuse me, I need to sit down, can you help me find a seat’, but if you assume people are healthy off ‘young and not visibly unable to walk’ then you’ll end up getting mad at lots of disabled people for using the disabled people seats.  

And disabled people who have this happen to them a couple times will probably start avoiding those seats if they possibly can, because they expect to be challenged on sitting in them, and on the whole you’re not making things any easier for disabled people by policing on their behalf. If you need a seat, ask. If you see someone in need of a seat, by all means help them find one. But don’t assume anyone who looks healthy is rude; lots of reasons someone can’t stand on a moving train are invisible.

• 19 May 2017
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