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Home / Stories / Personal Histories / Other's Stories / Airline travel, the trip home

Airline travel, the trip home

Written by Claire on Saturday, July 7, 2007

This post recounts my adventures in air travel as a wheeler, on my voyage home from my recent trip. It takes the form of notes that I typed up at several points throughout the day.

I am in the Carlsbad airport, awaiting pre-boarding in about 20 minutes or so.

I’m in my chair, and have done everything since leaving my friend’s house as a para. I had my first ride on a wheelchair lift! The shuttle they sent to pick me up was equipped with a lift, and it was a shared ride, they picked up someone else on the way. That was different from the way I arrived at her house, when the same shuttle company sent me in a ramp-equipped taxi because they didn’t have an accessible shuttle available (but this wasn’t a problem, the taxi was waiting for me at the shuttle area when I arrived, and was cool because it went directly to her house rather than stop and drop off others on the way - and I had paid the lower fare for a shared ride, too!). I was relieved to see the shuttle had a lift, because of my less than graceful exit from the ramp-equipped taxi when I arrived (during which the taxi driver had to grab me to keep from slipping sideways), and flipping OFF the ramp of my friend’s van during my stay here (prompting strangers to come running to my aid). I am now terrified of van ramps. The lift was VERY cool. I think I prefer that over driving a small car and putting the chair together all the time. :o)

I’m feeling good right now, but am steeling myself for a major post-trip crash. I DON’T want that to happen because the kids miss me and I need to be happy to see them and be able to have fun with them this weekend. Please send positive thoughts. I think I’ll be ok, but who knows. (Note: I was not OK, I had a major post-trip crash, prompting my recent "Purging" post.)

At this point I had to take a break, it was time to pre-board. Carlsbad is a bit scary. There are no jetbridges. Even though full-sized jets fly out of here, they have those drive-up stairways to board people. But for me, it’s a lift. So they invite me to follow them out onto the tarmac and the stairway is pulled up to the boarding (left) side of the plane. We cross in front of the plane (an odd experience, crossing in front of a huge jet) to the other side. They have this lift, and there’s an aisle chair on it. There’s a good 6-inch step up onto the lift, for some reason. They take down the aisle chair and ask me what they need to do. I tell them "Nothing, thanks" as I prepare my stuff by taking off my backpack, placing it on the ground, removing my leg strap and putting it with my backpack, and then transferring to the aisle chair. I quickly grab my Roho cushion before they make off with my chair, but put it on the ground while they buckle me in. Another guy comes up and with one behind me, and one holding onto the footplate, they lean me precariously backwards and lift me up over the step. They put two chains in front of me so I don’t fall off the lift, but I find this a little unsettling. I’m not afraid of heights, but stuck in the aisle chair at the mercy of these two guys, rising high into the air with nothing but a couple little chains to keep me from falling, that prompts me to nervously comment "This is really scary." The guy says "Yeah, it is, kinda, but I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I’ve never had an accident." He’s cheery and friendly, and places his arm across the opening in front of me, I guess to reassure me that I’m not going anywhere. Then he adds in a dubious tone…"Well, except that one time…" But he was kidding, and we both laugh. I enter the plane through the door at the galley in the front of the plane, and the flight attendant says "Hi" and adds "On my last day of work, this is how I want to board the plane!" They get me to my seat, hand me my backpack, and throw the cushion in the overhead bin.

So here I am on this hour-long flight to San Francisco and I have to go to the bathroom SO BAD!!! I went just before we boarded the plane and now I have to go again, but I can’t. It must be that Venti bold I had at the coffee shop in the terminal plus the water bottle I drank afterwards. I knew to avoid drinking before a long flight, but for this short flight I didn’t think it necessary. Teach me a lesson. I must remember to keep myself dehydrated for these flights. A friend thought I should wear a diaper on the flight, but I was like "no way!!!" Now I regret it, because at the moment, I’d use it, if I had one.

MAN I need to pee. I did end up asking for an aisle chair, but too late. We’re descending, and the seat-belt sign is on. I was too shy to ask in the beginning. Teach me another lesson!

Won’t be long.

(break here…)

I was DYING to go to the bathroom. But I kept thinking that we were going to land soon…and it went on…and on…and on…and I was like…I’m going to pee on the seat. I have never….NEVER…had to pee so badly in my life. Oh shit. So much regretting not using a diaper like you suggested. Shit. So we land. We taxi to the gate. They say "We’ll be arriving at gate 70." I spot gate 70…with another plane still in it!! I’m dying. Dying. I’m going to pee my pants. They announce "We’ll be sitting here for awhile, please don’t get up, yada yada." I catch the flight attendant’s eye…who is sitting facing me in the jump seat. I ask her…"How much longer?" She says…"Do you need to go?" (mouthing the words so not everyone can hear what we’re saying). I say "YES!!!!!" So she calls the pilot and explains the situation to the pilot. I guess there’s time. She and the other flight attendant get up and they go get this leeeeeetle tiny folding aisle chair. It’s actually really cute and I’ve never seen one before. They have a hard time figuring out how to unfold it. Meanwhile, I’m dying… Finally, I’m in the chair, she pushes me to the toilet and asks how she can assist me. I tell her I’ll be ok. I transfer onto the toilet seat and…well, you know…so when I’m done (GOD THAT FELT GOOD!!!) I open the door and she comes to get me, I transfer back…of course in full view of all the curious eyes on the plane…oh well. Shall I mention how embarrassing the whole thing was, being pushed up the aisle past everyone??? They get me back into my seat. Then they can’t figure out how to fold up the aisle chair. I’m wondering if I have held up the entire flight. But I just could not…COULD NOT…wait for the entire plane to deplane and then the aisle chair to come get me and transfer and find the nearest bathroom. *Sigh* The hazards and indignities of disability. Especially when you’re new to it and don’t entirely know what you’re doing.

They get me off the plane normally. I transfer to my chair and realize that my left clothing protector is missing. I tell them. They call down to the baggage handlers to look for it, but they don’t answer. Someone comes up from down below, and the flight attendant asks him if he can look into that…he says "that’s not my job" or "I don’t work in that department" or some such bullshit and just leaves. The flight attendant is pissed. She just wants him to go tell them to look for it. We wait. I’m getting nervous because my next flight is soon. Finally they tell me…"We’ll keep trying and if they find it we’ll send it to your next flight, is that OK?" Since the thing is broken and I need to replace it anyway, and I’m in a hurry, I agree without making a huge issue about it.

The gate agent gives me a push up the jetbridge and says "Now you’re going to need to take the shuttle from United to Air Canada" and indicates which way I should go. I ask him if it’s accessible and he says "Oh yeah…" So I wheel away and approach the entrance to the shuttle area. I’m stopped by the woman checking boarding passes and she says "I’m sorry, there’s just stairs there." I say "Ok, where’s the elevator?" She replies "There isn’t one ma’am." So I ask her "Ok then, how do I get down there?" She says "I can’t let you go down the stairs ma’am." I agree, I am not going down the stairs, that there has to be a lift or an alternate route down to the shuttle. She says "No ma’am." So I ask her…then what am I supposed to do??? She says, "You need to go to terminal 1 ma’am." I agree saying, getting REALLY frustrated…"Yes, fine, but HOW DO I GET THERE???" She says "You can’t take the shuttle, ma’am." I am about to scream. So I say, "Ok, can you please get me one of those electric carts to get me over there?" She says "We have no electric carts in this airport." Can you imagine my state of mind at this point??? Can you just IMAGINE?? My flight leaves in 30 minutes and I have to pre-board. Finally I just lose it and I say "THEN HOW DO I GET TO MY NEXT FLIGHT??????" She says "Terminal 1 is that way, ma’am" pointing down the aisle and to her left. Without another word I wheel around and I start booking it towards Terminal 1. I’m going *fast*. I’m weaving in and out of people. I’m passing everyone by. I wheel. My arms are getting tired. I wheel. I’m starting to get out of breath. It’s like 3 miles to freaking terminal one. I don’t realize it but at one point I have left security. I arrive at another security and have to go through that. There’s a huge line. I’m pissed, I’m frustrated, I’m growling in the back of my throat. If one more person gives me a hassle or makes life more complicated than it has to be…

A security agent near the front of the line waves me forward bypassing everyone. I sigh in relief. I’m so late. Boarding has got to have started by now. But they make me remove my shoes, and we go through the whole rigamarole of patting down my body in sensitive places in public, while completely ignoring all kinds of places I could have hid something in my chair. Finally they let me go, and my gate is nearby, thankfully. I arrive and they are almost finished boarding. I curse silently. I missed pre-boarding. I approach the gate agent, and she says "are you ready to board?" and I say yes, I’ll need an aisle chair. She says "We don’t have one." I tell her flatly and in no uncertain terms "Well, you’re going to have to get one." Shit. This is NOT my day…

She nods, looking unpleased. She calls for an aisle chair and two attendants. Another gate agent comes up to see what’s going on, and he’s more friendly, but he says, not unkindly, that I should have been there much earlier. With a baggage carrier (or something) listening in curiously, I explained what happened with the inaccessible shuttle and having to cross the terminal on my own. The first gate agent doesn’t give a shit, but these two guys express indignation at the oversight regarding the inaccessible shuttle and shake their heads and wonder why things have to be so difficult for "people like me." I have to agree with them at this point. With absolutely no hope at all, I explain to them about the missing clothing guard and that the airline was supposed to send it over if they found it. They shake their heads like …"No way…" but the guy who works down below calls down on his radio to ask about it. The nice gate attendant tells me "There’s no way you’re going to see that thing again" and I reply "I know, I know, but I have to ask." The guy with the radio comes back and he says "They found it and I’m going to go get it. Should I put it with your chair when they take it down, or do you want me to bring it to you?" I ask him if he can bring it to me so he takes off. The gate agent says we can board now, so we roll down the jetbridge, but there is no aisle chair. The entire plane is boarded and they’re just waiting for me. still no aisle chair. The guy comes back with my missing clothing guard!! Everyone exclaims "I can’t believe it!!" They say they thought it was gone for good. I agreed. The guy who works down below says that it’s amazing, because they won’t do that with missing baggage, but they did it for my missing chair part. So, I was lucky there. Finally the aisle chair arrives, but for some reason, the gate agent decides I don’t need it! lol He starts pulling on the back of my chair, towards the plane entrance. I’m like…what are you doing?? He says "Don’t worry, it’s ok…" Ok, I’m SURE it’s OK but I want to know what you’re doing (didn’t’ actually say that, though…). He arrives at the entrance to the plane and pulls my back wheels up the threshold. I’m tilting dangerously forward and someone with less ability than myself would have been dumped out of the chair. I had to grab the sides of the door to keep from falling. Had I known what he was doing I would have put a stop to it but I’m still a little too trusting with people and hesitant to complain when I don’t understand what’s going on. Now I’m on board…IN my own chair. He keeps pulling me backwards past first class. I fit, but it’s tight. I tell him "I’m not going to fit through here, further back". He says, "Oh, yes, you will." I see what he’s doing FINALLY…if he had just told me, I would have been fine, much prefer that over being manhandled. I’m in the first seat past first class and there’s no bulkhead. I can indeed get into my seat without an aisle chair, except that I’m facing backwards, can’t go any further in my chair, and can’t transfer like this. I’m in the middle seat and there are two people in the window and aisle seats. I say, "Ok, I can do it, but I need to be facing the other way." He says "No you don’t!" !!!! Does he think I don’t know what I can do or not do??? He’s nice but, what the fuck??? So the fight attendant is watching and I just spin around and say "I can do it but I’m doing it THIS way" in no uncertain terms. I wheel back through first class towards the galley as the flight attendant watches and says "Yeah, you know what you need to do" in total solidarity with me and understanding that this guy is being pushy with me. Note that the plane is full as I have not pre-boarded, but boarded late, and everyone is watching this whole thing (turns out that one of them was a para watching this whole thing with great interest, up in first class, but I didn’t’ realize that till later). I spin around in the galley and approach my aisle front ways. The seat rests don’t raise so I have to raise my butt over not one but two, to get to the aisle seat, but I’m fine (obviously).

Whew. Made it. They sure don’t make it easy for us, do they? They are getting a letter from me in the near future.

Now I’m on the plane, my battery is about dead, and I have to go to the bathroom again!! 5-hour flight, this one. *sigh* Can’t wait to get home, in spite of everything. At least I can pee when I want to, as an AB…there is that.

[tags]Wheelchair, Pretending, Pretender, Airline Travel, Flying[/tags]