My Lonely Fight for Wheelchair Accessibility in Kansas City [View All]

[mopaul]

for the last couple of weeks i've been raising hell about the jazz and blues nightclubs in kansas city that are inaccessible to wheelchairs. i used to work in these clubs, but now that i'm in a motorized wheelchair, i can't get into these places anymore, so i called the 'problem solvers' on one of the local t.v. stations, and they decided to do a feature on it.

it was aired twice last week and hopefully something will come of it. the offending nightclubs are in very old buildings, and they've escaped the laws of accessibility by relying on the so called 'grandfather clauses' which basically say that the buildings were built before such laws were put into effect.

EVERYONE has to make their businesses accessible, but these places don't. that ain't right in my book, and it's affected my pocketbook as well. the only way i can make a living playing music is in these very clubs.

the anchor lady, nancy lewis of Fox 4 News, took on the story, and they filmed me trekking across the busy streets of kansas city, mo., and approaching nightclub entrances and being stopped at the door by an obstacle: two steps. my chair won't go up two steps. and some of the clubs i can get into, but the damn restrooms are on another floor. how ridiculous is that? no one wants to go to a place where you can't get to the restroom.

a city official accompanied me to several of these clubs, and she too is in a motorized wheelchair, and uses a helper dog. she took measurements and started immediately to determine what needed to be done to make it possible for folks in wheelchairs to go see live music.

these grandfather clauses are absurd. i once went to get a physical for social security and when i arrived at the doctor's office, it was up 20 steps, with no elevator. silly huh?

i know the club owners are not being deliberately malicious, and i know they aren't' saying that wheelchair folks aren't' welcome in their clubs, but the effect is the same.

lately i've been getting offers to work in clubs that i can't physically get into, so the frustration is unbelievable.

so the anchor lady and the city official set up a meeting with some of the club owners to see what they could do about it, i wasn't there, but i understand the most of them have agreed to do something, while a couple others are pissed off about it, and pissed at me as well.

basically i just got tired of grinning and bearing it. so many times the disabled have to make concessions and sacrifice certain activities, and most of them are stoic and keep it to themselves, but i just couldn't anymore, and i complained. i've got nothing to lose, so i did it, and i'm glad i did.

this is a difficult to understand issue for anyone who has never been in a wheelchair, but literally anyone could end up in one, i did, you could too, or someone you love could too.

when i ended up in a motorized wheelchair for the rest of my life, i discovered thousands of difficulties and obstacles i never realized existed. and these ridiculous grandfather clauses have got to go.