I was upset,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

A strange thing happened today, for the first time EVER, in all the time I have had MS and been classed as disabled, which is some 5 years now, I was made to feel embarrassed, and was upset. I walked away and was not even going to be "eloquent" with a manager!!!

Normally, and I had made a pact not to, I was not going to use this Blog to rant about MS and stuff, but just his once..............

Let me set the scene -

Today was my Mother's 70th birthday, after I had ribbed her for being old and told her she really should now consider an OAP home(!!), I deliberately never told her I would join her and my Sister at Cliveden Hotel for afternoon tea, and everything was set for the afternoon.


I pulled up today outside the hotel, the concierge offered his help, I asked for disabled parking. He informed Cliveden had none but very grudgingly let me park next to a car half way down the car park. I drive a 3 year old Volvo S60, it is not a wreck and quite respectable. My Sister joined me a few minutes later, in her brand new BMW Z4, she just parked near the door, he never even looked, so you just need a nice car, or good figure!!!!

I  never reacted to this, we were at the hotel for afternoon tea, to spoil my Mother for her 70th Birthday.

There is no disabled ramp access, I have a walker device to help my mobility, but with help from my Mother and Sister, I was able to get up the steps to the hotel. No comment was made by any staff, no help or alternative was offered. We were shown to a table, and again no "easy" route was suggested, had there been people at other tables I would have had further problems. So either the staff were embarrassed or just plain ignorant!!!

Afternoon tea was very good, and the staff were very attentive and I could not fault their service. At least there is a plus point here.

And then the major issue arose..............

I needed the toilet, I went off looking for the disabled facilities, the easy access facilities designed with the disabled in mind. The ones on the same level, with no steps to negotiate, and maybe a little wider than normal with a few handles as well.

Firstly a cleaner pointed at the "Gents" so I struggled down 4 steps, with my walker, but the toilet was down a spiral type staircase. I can't go down those with the walker. So I struggle back to the lounge, find a member of staff and ask for the disabled toilet, after a few minutes of consultation with a colleague, I am told the apparently only disabled toilet is "out of order!!"

My Mother and Sister suggested I used a "Ladies" toilet whilst they stopped others coming in. The staff thought that was a good idea!! So I struggled down another 4 steps, used the "Ladies" whilst my Mother and Sister stood guard. Maybe if they had rifles they could have marched up and down as well!!

I have MS, I was diagnosed back in 2007, through the progression of the illness I have been forced to use the walker since about 2010. In all that time today was the first time I have EVER been embarrassed through being disabled and having to use a walker.

I never thought of parking as an imposition, I never thought that I drove an embarrassment of a car, perhaps I should have used my Wife's Volvo XC90 instead. I certainly would never have felt that an establishment of the calibre that Cliveden claims to be would not have disabled facilities and a contingency plan in place if existing facilities are not in use.

Maybe they were meant to say "if I walked into the ground and cocked my leg against a tree like a dog, or maybe added to the water in the fountain lake................."

So I just wanted to spout off here a bit, because I was left a bit, or actually a lot, deflated, and surprised that in this age of disabled focus, and when the Para-Olympics have just been such a high profile, how anywhere, and especially somewhere of Cliveden's calibre and alleged excellence, can be so bad at dealing with a fairly low level disabled person!!!