S2 Episode 15: Empathy Is The Name Of The Game

Description of Image: Black background On the left is an African American female with a white off the shoulder shirt in a wheelchair. Then Queens On A Roll in Gray Letters with a purple outline with a crown on the Q. The word Roll looks like a wheelchair and the word podcast in Gray Letters with a purple outline in all four corners


In this episode I am doing another installment of i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I express my frustration and discuss how annoying it is for people in the ably different community to attend events and not be able to see! So Come Roll With Me!

Transcript

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Hey Everyone! And

welcome back to Queens On A Roll podcast.

This is Latavia here and let's get

ready for another installment of I'm Sick and

Tired of Being Sick and Tired.

Alright, let's roll.

(Instrumental Music)

(I'm Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired When Is Change Gonna Come Sound Effect)

So I am so sick and tired of being sick

and tired of venues or events putting people in wheelchairs

in the nosebleed section where you either can't see or

you have to watch everything on a television screen.

What is up with that?

And I mean, I understand some of the

reasons behind why venues say like, we

need to put wheelchairs in the higher sections.

That's because in case of an emergency, we're

closer to the exit, we can get out. I get that.

But what frustrates me so much is that we pay

the same amount as everyone else to be able to

see who or what we came to see.

And nine times out of ten, when they put us

up in these higher sections, we can't see anything.

We can only see little dots or we

can barely see what's on the TV screen.

So my attitude is like, if I'm going

to pay the same amount as everyone else,

I want to have the same vantage point.

I want to be able to see everything just like everyone.

It is so frustrating and it's annoying.

But I understand their reasoning.

Even though I understand their reasoning,

I think it needs to change.

Now, if your chair is anything

like mine, it can elevate.

So I can either reach things high

up or I can see over people.

But it's only effective or impactful if

I'm three to four rows behind people.

The further back I am, the less effective it is.

But unfortunately, not everyone has this function.

And a little fun fact, guys,

(Its Fun Fact Time Sound Effect)

not everyone has this function because some insurances think that

this function is not a necessity. I know, right?

What do they mean it's not a necessity?

Like we need to be able to see over

people, we need to be able to reach things.

But some insurances don't think it's a necessity

And that is the sad part.

That is another issue in itself that we probably will

get into a little deeper later on in another episode.

(Delayed Beat Sound Effect)

So I just want to implore venues and event coordinators

that if you do have people who are ably different,

please make sure you are able to sit us in

an area where we have a good vantage point.

We want to attend things and be able to see and

experience the fullness of whatever it is that we came to

see, whoever it is that we came to see, we want

to be able to enjoy it like everyone else.

And it's frustrating that sometimes we're just

not able to because the seats that

they have available as accessible seats sometimes

don't give us a good vantage point.

And that is very frustrating.

And sometimes when they do have an area

where it's accessible seating and you do have

a good vantage point and even though it's

designated for the ably different community somehow able

body people find their way to sneak on. In.

And then it's not available to us anymore

because it becomes too full, too pack

And now we have to sit in the

rows behind where we can't see anything.

(Story Time Sound Effect)

I knocked something off my bucket list.

I went to my very first campaign rally.

I was super excited.

It was really fun and I enjoyed myself.

But there was one thing that annoyed me.

They had a section there for the ably

different community where you were close up and

could see everything and you guys would think

like girl, you got to see everything.

I'm so excited for you.

No, I did not.

So I did not get to see everything because

the area that they had designated for the ably

different community, they had a few wheelchairs in there

and mostly it was all able bodied people.

So by the time I came, they said that section was

full to capacity and I had to sit behind the engineers.

Yes you heard me, I had to sit behind the sound engineers.

And of course back there you can't

see anything now I was livid.

I pulled two staff members off to the side

and I said, you guys designated that area for

the ably different community and you have some people

in there who are ably different, but then

you have a bunch of able body people.

And because of that, now I can't sit

and see from where I'm sitting now to

enjoy the campaign rally and it's not fair.

So one of the staff members, she did her very

best to try to move me closer so I could

see, but everywhere she put me, other staff members came

to her and told her she cannot sit here, she

has to go back to where she was.

So that was an epic fail.

I complained to another staff member and she was a

very good listener, but she did nothing about it at all.

So it was very frustrating because even though

I had a fun time and I enjoyed

myself, I could not see anything. Literally.

My mom had to hold my phone up and

record and that's how I was able to watch

what was going on at the campaign rally

It was so sad.

But despite all of that, I still had a

good time, guys, I had a good time.

(Cartoon Stair Climbing Sound Effect)

So I say all of this.

To say, like, this is why I'm so sick and

tired of being sick and tired, because our seats at

events or venues are mostly in places where we can't

see people in the ably different community want to be

able to relish in every moment and every experience and

get to experience something to the fullest extent.

And sometimes I feel like that is not

taken into account, but it's even beyond that.

Sometimes I feel like our voices and

opinions don't ever seem to matter.

People don't ever seem to think about what

we need or how we may feel.

So I did this episode because we need to change.

People have a lot of sympathy for people in

the ably different community, but not enough empathy.

And sympathy is something that

is super different from empathy.

So I think if we have just a little bit more

empathy in this world, we can change a lot of things.

(Instrumental Music)

So now it is time for the quote of the episode.

And the quote of the episode

comes from former President Barack Obama.

I just love him. I love him.

So he says, learning to stand in somebody else's shoes

to see through their eyes, that's how peace begins, and

it's up to us to make that happen.

Empathy is a quality of character

that can change the world.

So I think this quote totally encompasses this episode

because that is what we need in this world.

In order for the ably different community to make progress,

in order for us to all make progress, we need

to be able to put ourselves in someone else's shoes,

see life through their eyes for a second, and then

maybe we can understand where the frustration in the ably

different community is coming from.

And maybe we can understand where the frustration

for everybody who feels like they're not being

seen or heard is coming from, right?

We need to just take a moment, sit down

and reflect and say, dag, well, if I was

in her shoes, I probably would feel this way.

Or if I was in his shoes, I would feel this way too.

And maybe if every one of us do that

just a little bit more, we can see how

much the world would change for all of us.

Not just a small group of us, but for all of us.

So I implore all of us and all

of my listeners, even myself sometimes, right?

Take a moment, take a deep breath, and every time

a problem arises and a situation comes and someone gets

frustrated, think about why they may be frustrated.

Look through it from their lens,

from their perspective, from their eyes.

See what it may look like to them,

and see how you can possibly help to

make a change or make a difference, right?

I want us to become more aware of how things

we do, we say, or just overall behave, can impact

other people's lives in a huge, tremendous way.

(Instrumental Music)

So that's all I have for you today, folks.

You guys are awesome.

I really appreciate you.

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If you have any questions for me,

you can reach me at queensonaroll. podcast@gmail.com.

Again, my email is queensonaroll. podcast@gmail.com.

Thank you again so much for your support, guys.

I really, really, really appreciate it. Love you guys.

And we are rolling out!

See you guys next week!

Bye!

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