Opinion: Winter woes inspire call for kindness

By Sarah Trick For most people this season marks the start of some fun adventures, like skiing, sledding, or snowball fights. But for people in wheelchairs like me, the first snowfall is a cause for pure dread. My motorized wheelchair, which gives me so much freedom most of the time, is completely useless in the snow. I wasn’t too worried this past Sunday night as I made my way to an Advent carol service. In fact, I was looking forward to getting into the spirit of the season. While on the bus, I thought about what I wanted to say in my op-ed column for this week’s Times. I wanted to get across to readers how much harder winter was for some of us, how it rendered us either housebound or in peril. I’ll give lots of advice to clueless able-bodied people, I thought. It will be great. But when the bus stopped calling out the stops and let me off far from my destination, I knew I was in trouble. As regular OC Transpo riders know, a few years ago the transit company started an automated system for calling the stops, which has been a godsend for those of us with disabilities. Obviously it helps people with visual impairments to know where they’re going, but since wheelchairs must face the rear of the bus, it tells us too. But last Sunday night, the automated voice went silent, leaving me adrift in an unfamiliar area of downtown. I missed my stop without even knowing it had gone by. The bus driver was sympathetic but was no help, saying he “had to focus on driving.” After pointing me in a direction (which I later found out was the wrong one), he was off to his next stop. The sidewalk wasn’t plowed and the snow was too much for my chair. I hadn’t gone very far before my wheels were spinning. Undaunted, I did what any resourceful young person would do: I got out my phone and started whining on social media. This accomplished nothing except to worry my mother. After about half an hour of cursing, I noticed a young woman walking by and called for help. She quickly called her roommates, and the four of them began an epic quest to get me back to the main road. This took up much of the rest of their evening, since they had to fish me out of several more snow banks as I kept going, and I am very grateful. So instead of ranting about how the able-bodied just don’t get it, I will thank Samantha, Laura, Jenna, Kelly and...