I went camping a while ago, and the journey was long and we had to stop a lot because I can't stand much time in the car in one go, so I thought I'd give you some insight on what it's like at a supposedly accessible service station when you're disabled. very fun chapter ahead. let's just say that an abled person's idea of accessible is very different to someone actually in a wheelchair's. idk i just thought since there aren't many disabled teens out there and you don't get taught about what it's really like to be disabled you guys might be curious. tmi warning: i talk about toilets a lot.

Service station 1: nobody changes their path when they notice that im directly in front of them, despite the fact that wheelchairs are much more difficult to move than legs. everyone thinks they have the right of way over me and keeps walking towards me, expecting my mom to instantly move me. we go to costa to get a sandwich but I can only reach the bottom shelf of the seven-shelved food and drink unit. we go to the toilets and the disabled cubicle clearly hasn't been cleaned in weeks. there's no toilet paper. the pipes are close to breaking. the floor is wet and there's dirt and hair everywhere. it's a public toilet, but hair. H A I R.

Service station 2: 'disabled' cubicle in women's toilets literally four inches bigger than a normal cubicle. I could get the wheelchair in, but I couldn't shut the door or get onto the actual toilet without using my legs and literally climbing over the toilet so the chair would fit inside. can't imagine the trouble a paraplegic person would have. there were other larger disabled cubicles in a much less obvious place, we later discovered, but they weren't much better. the toilet paper was over a metre away from the toilet, there was no way you could actually reach it without getting up. and, no surprise, the floor was soaked.

Service station 3: right ok. here's a scenario. normally someone else pushes me cos i am weak and hurting (lmao good times), but imagine ur paraplegic or something, and your upper body works fine, so you wanna push urself. u go to some fast food joint. u got ur burger and ur fries in that paper bag sitting on ur lap. then u got ur milkshake. u hold it with a napkin cos it's fuckin cold and there's condensation dripping down it. u gotta push ur chair to move tho. what the fuck do u do. put ur drink between ur knees? I don't think so, do u want cold wet knees??? push the chair one handed? do u want to go in a circle and crash into people? I can't believe that all wheelchairs don't come with cup holders. it's madness. anyway, onto the toilets. the cubicle was spacious, but stank terribly. the floor was wet yet again and the soap looked close to going mouldy. lovely.

Service station 4: no toilet paper in the disabled toilet, floor wet, looks like it hasn't been cleaned in days. no soap. no hand towels. hand dryer broken. thankfully I carry hand sanitiser and tissues everywhere, because terrible standard toilets are the norm when you are disabled. we go into some knockoff of WH smiths, and I can only get halfway down the first aisle because there are boxes blocking my way. an able person can fit through, but I can't. we take a long way round, all the way round the shop so that I can look at something. there are stands of keyrings and shit spaced about a metre apart in the way of the next thing I want to look at. fine for able people, infuriating for me. we have to move all of them just so I can get through. GOOD TIMES

MacDonald's: we always take out, so I don't know what the seating would be like but since most of the chairs are fixed to the floor I presume it wouldn't be amazing and you'd just have to perch at the edge of the table. there's lots of space to move around though, although the disabled toilet is in the furthest corner down a corridor. honestly though the MacDonald's near me have the best quality disabled loo I've ever been in. (I still can't believe im basically making a whole chapter about toilets.) it's actually as clean as a normal public bathroom. hand dryer and sink within reach, soap and toilet paper fully stocked. the floor is blissfully dry and does not smell of piss at all. it's just about spacious enough to allow me room to turn around, although it takes a lot of manoeuvring. kudos, MacDonald's.

employees expect that disabled people won't come in that much, so they don't need to clean the disabled toilets very often. but people grossly underestimate how many disabled people there are. did you know that we make a up A FIFTH of the population? I saw about twenty other wheelchair users at those service stations, as well as some people using crutches and several using canes, and im sure there were more that I didn't notice. before I was disabled I never paid attention, but there are way more disabled people around than I would have expected

sorry lmao i have so much to say about this stuff, I might just turn this whole book into My Rants About Crappy Accessibility. honestly, if you guys have any questions about being disabled and stuff (especially about being disabled and a teenager) go ahead and ask, I'll answer all of em in the next chapter. don't hold back!