Technical difficulties of the third kind

This is a new computer and I am constantly surprised when I press a button and something unexpected happens. I was just about done with a post yesterday when it disappeared from my screen. It was quite frustrating, and I had to just walk away.  Hopefully the computer did not decide the post was too dull and did a self edit. I am in big trouble if that happened.

I awoke early this morning and took a shower before coming downstairs, which is unusual for me.  Generally the mornings are so jam packed that I have to wait to shower. It was leisurely and nice and I arrived downstairs refreshed and ready to face the day. it didn't last long.

 As always I went straight to Maggie's room where I found Lucy the nurse struggling to hold a broken trach tube in place and get a new one ready. I hopped into action. It is very difficult to change a broken trach tube alone. You have to hold the old one in place and then switch it for the new one and then hold that in place while you thread the ties through. Basically you need three hands. Plus, this is all done on Maggie who cannot stay still. The trach change doesn't hurt her and she is very cooperative, but her movements are involuntary.  I took over while Lucy held the tube in place and Maggie was all squared away with a nice new breathing tube.

Then I had a cup of coffee, though the caffeine jolt was unnecessary

This is the second heart rate raising incident in two days, though the other was just for a moment. On Labor Day Maggie and i went downtown to shop. We didn't buy anything, but we wandered around Union Square and hit both the San Francisco Center and Westfield mall on busy Market Street. It is a shopping mecca and Maggie loves it.

Market Street is the main artery in downtown San Francisco. it is an incredibly busy place with street cars and buses everywhere in addition to taxicabs and regular cars braving the madness.

As we wandered back toward our car, we had to cross Market. No problem, there are plenty of signals and it's pedestrian friendly. We crossed at this very intersection shown in the picture and for the first time ever, the front wheel of Maggie's wheelchair got stuck in the streetcar track. I pulled and tugged but nothing happened. Buses and streetcars were waiting for the green light to proceed.  I could see the pedestrian light counting down and could feel some adrenaline starting to pump. Maggie was oblivious to this of course. She thought it was hilarious that I kept yanking on her chair I yanked again with that mom strength and out it popped. We got to the other side of the street and I saw a man and a woman with their eyes popping out watching us. The guy just said "good job there." I nodded but just kept walking, not trusting my voice yet. 

 There wouldn't have been any real danger, of course, Maggie was clearly visible and she would not have been hit or anything. But Maggie and I would have shut down Market street while we got her unstuck.  That alone was getting my heart racing.  

As we drove home, I told Maggie she was Nell and I was Dudley Doright. She was unimpressed. I think she puts me in more of a Snidley Whiplash category. After all, I'm the one who got her stuck on the tracks. 

That's three very different types of technical difficulties in three days. Of the three, I'll take the computer problems. they are aggravating, but not scary. 

Here's to a calmer remainder of the week. 

Muni Madness

Maggie and her classmate were unable to board the L Taraval yesterday because the driver refused to move the streetcar a few feet so that the wheelchair ramp would line up with the door to the coach.  I just wrote this letter to the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni)   

Dear Muni:

I need to bring a matter to your attention. On April 3, 2013 two classes from Mission High School took a field trip to the San Francisco Zoo. These were special education students, several of whom use wheelchairs. My daughter Maggie is one of the wheelchair users.  The kids, teachers, aides and nurses boarded the J Church at Mission High and transferred to the L at the Church street station and then reversed the process coming home. This group uses Muni regularly and rarely has any issue. Unfortunately, yesterday was an exception.

Because of her medical conditions, my daughter had to return to school a bit earlier than the rest of the group to receive a needed medical procedure.  She and another student (also in a wheelchair) left with two aides and a nurse shortly before noon. 

The L Taraval was sitting empty at the terminus ready to be boarded.  However, the car was pulled beyond the ramp for the wheelchairs.  One of the aides talked to the driver and asked him to either back up a few feet so the kids could board in the front door or pull up a bit so they could board through the back door and make their way up to the seating area reserved for the disabled.  To their amazement, the driver refused to do so.  

Please understand, the coach was completely empty as that is the end/beginning of the line. The driver was waiting for several minutes to leave as is the custom at that particular place. There was no hurry, and  there was no inconvenience to any other passengers. Still, he refused to move the coach so as to allow my daughter or her classmate to board the streetcar.  This is inexcusable.

 Because they could not get the two wheelchairs onto the streetcar, they had to wait for the next one. That driver too had to wait several minutes before he took off. (I presume that is for the schedule – there are always cars sitting there waiting.)  The resulting unnecessary delay make my daughter late for her scheduled procedure and quite uncomfortable, something that could have been avoided if driver #1 had shown even the slightest courtesy or concern for the passengers.   

Interestingly, by the time the second car arrived a third wheelchair user had arrived. This person was not connected with my daughters group. Driver #2 originally told him he would have to wait for the next car as there wasn’t room for three wheelchairs. His companion and the school personnel easily made all three chairs fit and everyone rode without incident.

It seems some sensitivity training is needed for driver #1 and training on the proper wheelchair capacity for all your drivers. Muni provides a crucial service for the disabled members of San Francisco who rely on public transportation. Generally Muni serves this community pretty well; but this incident shows there is more work to do.

I hope you can determine who Driver #1 was and let him know that his lack of courtesy and refusal to accommodate the needs of the disabled – when the accommodations have already been provided – could have had disastrous results for my daughter rather than simply the discomfort she had to endure. I hope too that he will be disciplined for what I can only presume was mean spirited violation of Muni’s policies. 

__________________________________

The website says I can expect a response in 7 days. I can't WAIT to see what they have to say. 

They really should start finding someone to abuse who has a nicer mother.