Gin For Accessibility

Abigail’s Perspective

The night of the big date is here! Let us see just how accessible a date in downtown Columbia is. Josh and I decided to meet up at Strickland Hall on Mizzou’s campus. However, the accessible button was broken. So I simply had to tell him to meet me outside. We chatted to calm the nerves and tried to adopt a cute little brown squirrel to no avail. The nerves were definitely hitting so it was time to get going. 

We left Strickland and rolled/walked down campus to the Heidelberg. The Berg is one of my favorite pubs for its cozy feel, affordable options, and strong drinks. Joshua was a perfect gentleman and opened the door for me. Right away, since it was dinner time, the place was a tad loud. The reason I enjoy this restaurant so much is because it has taller bar height tables that my power chair can raise up and meet. This allows my arms a break on days that lifting to my face is hard work. Unfortunately, to get to the bar height table we have to go through the tight fit tables. Which means the nervous “excuse me” is hard to get out over the noise. With the loud laughs and happy chewing sometimes I have to even tap the person to scoot their chair in which can be awkward on a date but Joshua was really great about it, as any good date should be. 

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After delicious fried pickles and doubles cocktails it became harder and harder to miss the crazy dart throwers by the one tall table we sat at. Not cool Berg, not cool. 

Joshua....

Our next destination was to hit Billiard for some good old fashion pool. As boring as some think it is, it is enjoyable. We noticed the outside looked like a bar, which is right up our alley. Entering inside it was very spacious with both tall tables and short ones alike. The tables were low enough to fit both kinds of wheelchairs too. :) Abigail seemed really receptive to an activity you could do with your arms. The typical tinder date of “hiking” does not really work for wheelchair goers so she really enjoyed having an activity she could do without being hindered. It left room for A LOT of smack talk which is great for any first date. 

After being there a while and the alcohol doing what alcohol does, it was time for the restroom. Of course, this is the point we had to separate, but as I hear the girl’s bathroom was amazing. [Abigail Here: The girls bathroom was great! The accessible stall fit my power chair, snug but still fit, and therefore manual chairs could fit no problem. The accessible stall also had the easy to use door handles instead of knobs which is great for those with lower manual dexterity.] I had managed to make my way into the men’s room and snapped a shot with the toilet paper falling almost to the ground. If they are not careful, with the Corona Virus going around, and all the toilet tissue flying off the shelves, it might get swept up, but I digress. They did have the holders around the toilet to help anyone that is needs it too.

Abigail...

I’ll tell you right now, if Joshua wasn’t such a great guy, I would have “walked”. The sidewalks off the main strips of Broadway and 9th are impossible! My power chair was struggling and I was starting to get a little sore in my back from the bumps. I even had to back down one bump so my chair would not tip. It seemed the most logical thing to finish the square from Broadway back to Kaldis, we didn’t know where we wanted to go so it didn’t make sense to go back the way we came. I guess we should have expected the worst and gone back the way we came. Anyways, I was freezing and sore but the company was great! I do not know or manual chairs would have made it. I definitely would have had to ask for help and on a first date that can be awkward. 

Joshua…

At this point we felt it was time to sober up at a coffee shop so we could get more intimate time. Something a little quieter. But when we went in, we couldn’t get to the best place, but being happy in any situation, we hung out in a different part, then the night closed with a good night and saying that we had fun! :)