Wheelchair Accessible Date: Ellie Stitzer, Ashley Morgan, and Shoshana Jackson

Our group ventured out to downtown Columbia last week to plan out the perfect accessible date for the wheelchair-using person-of-our-dreams. These are our reflections on the experience. 

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First Stop: Shakespeare's Pizza 

We decided that we would plan to meet our date at Shakespeare's Pizza, a CoMo classic. Shakespeare's is overall a pretty accessible place (and it should be as it was just recently completely rebuilt). Ordering and picking up the food could be a potential challenge, as both counters are quite tall, but there are some ways around this. The employee could come around the counter to exchange money, hand over the receipt, or give the wheelchair-user the pizza or alternatively take it to our table for us. Or, if there is a non-wheelchair user on this date, they could help with anything that might be out of reach. The same could be said for reaching utensils, plates, or soda that may be out of reach. Most of the tables in the restaurant are accessible for a wheelchair-user, although there were a few booths with small steps that would make them inaccessible. 

Another thing our group discussed is how the bar area would be too tall for a wheelchair-user to really access. This is the standard for bars. For Ellie, who is a wheelchair-user herself, the height is not really an issue because her wheelchair has the ability to raise up. However, many wheelchair-users (including people who use manual chairs) do not have this option. Also, the elevating feature is quite expensive and is not covered by insurance, so it is not an option for even many electric-wheelchair-users. 

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Second Stop: Columbia Art League 

For the entertainment portion of the evening, our group decided to go to Columbia Art League to continue the theme of a unique, low-cost, local-staple filled evening. The Art League is located directly next to Shakespeare's, making it very easy to get to.  There were no stairs so there was no struggle upon entry, as soon as we entered, the two workers there at the time kindly greeted us. The Art League is small, but overall everything is spaced out in such a way that wheelchair-users could easily get around. There is a big, wide ramp that leads to the second level of the gallery. Some art may hang a bit too high up for a wheelchair-user to be able to really get up close to and appreciate, but for the most part everything is easily visible. 

Also, FYI, these cookies are an art installation, NOT to eat (which we learned too late). 

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Last Stop: Ellie's Apartment 

If this date is going as well as we hope it would, our last destination would be Ellie's apartment. To get to her apartment, we had a few options: 

Option One was to walk from the Art League all the way to the apartment - a 30 minute, 1.4 mile long walk. Hey, if the weather's nice and our date was up for it, this walk might be a nice time to keep getting to know each other and enjoy Mizzou's beautiful campus. But, if it's freezing cold out like it was last week, or our date was not able to do such a long trek, this isn't a great option. 

Option Two was to walk 10 minutes to the shuttle pick up across the street from the Student Center and then ride the shuttle for approximately 10 minutes to the shuttle drop off that is located directly across the street from the apartment complex. This is a pretty good option, but it's only available until 7:45pm (apparently people who rely on public transportation don't have night lives?). 

Option Three is maybe a little bit cheating for this assignment since it's not technically "public transportation", but Ellie just happens to own a wheelchair accessible van! If both people on this date were wheelchair users, this would not be a viable option because there is only one space for a wheelchair to fit. If not though, this would cut the travel time from the Art League down to only 6 minutes. 

         

From this point, things are more or less smooth sailing. There are no steps to get into the apartment and there is plenty of space for a wheelchair user (or two) to get around. 

Our group wanted to highlight this stop especially to show that whoever the wheelchair-using heartthrob is in this scenario, they probably have some expertise on accessibility. Ellie has her own set up and a way to do things, like getting from place to place and transferring out of her chair, that works for her. Her apartment is set up with accessible technology that is specific to her access needs. Another wheelchair-user may have a completely different way of doing things and a different set up. This is where Mia Mingus's idea of "access intimacy" comes into play, and how much access intimacy is prevalent between the two people on this date could potentially determine if there is a future in the relationship.