More Musings .
My wife has recently become wheel chair bound, and we are discovering a whole new aspect to life . People especially old men, tend to tut when you are trying to manoeuvre a wheelchair on to a bus, and I tend to loose my temper ,much to their surprise , as they seem to consider it their right to comment . Bus drivers sometimes have a blind spot when it comes to stopping for a wheelchair at a stop and sail past. Although I must admit other bus drivers are very helpful .
We haven't had any of the "does it take sugar incidents " and most people do speak directly to my wife , although getting served is sometimes hard , as if my wife buys something , she pays for it , not me ,its her money ! and some shop assistant's find this hard to cope with . Now for the major gripe . You go into a shop which has an access ramp and looks inviting to wheel chairs, it has nice wide isles between the merchandise , which the shop then blocks up with boxes of special offers, Rymans in Ipswich, is a classic example; today we couldn't even manoeuvre in the front part of the shop due to piles of paper on special offer, but they are not alone . One other shop even boasts "wheelchair access" and just inside the door is three inch drop to a tangle of trolleys . Gripe over.
I see the health service is taking some stick over the care of the elderly. I was associated with one of the hospitals mentioned and remember one of the executives stating that he wasn't looking for "excellence" just "good enough " this was several years ago but perhaps he should have been looking for "excellence". Several of my colleagues of past years have left the service because the targets and rules of the modern health service have made them feel they were not doing the job properly :their words not mine .There will always be nurses who treat people without respect and they should be in a very small minority , but I would ask if the nurses themselves have been shown much respect over the last few years . It doesn't excuse what happened, and as my past students will tell you I valued the personal interaction of nursing above all its other functions and felt privileged to have taken part in this for over 30 years ,but if people are not valued they find it hard to value others .
I'm still on the electric bike and I finding it easier to travel further and further either I'm getting fitter or the bike is working better . I can even get up hills without switching to the new battery .