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This letter showed-up in my mall's town's paper. I have mixed emotions about it:
I moved to this beautiful state a year and a half ago, with a husband totally disabled by a stroke and a daughter born with down syndrome. We were so blessed to have neighbors come to us offering to be friends and to help in any way possible. A church adopted our daughter, making certain she got to all their services and events. They also brought bible study to our home. For, you see, my husband is very nervous about being away from home too long.
One afternoon, I finally coaxed him into going to a movie at ___(My)____ Mall. The handicap vehicle he must travel in is 20 years old. Even with $2,500 in work done to keep it running at least for a year, that night it refused to start when we tried to return home. I knew that would be no problem at all, because I had seen the love our community offered.
I asked the first person if he could help. He never even slowed down. The next refused to look at me and walked past. The third looked over at my husband and daughter and snickered as though their disabilities amused him.
After approaching six people with similar responses, I gave up. I called our insurance company and asked that they send someone and to tell them we were just inside the theater. I described myself, my husband in a massive wheelchair, and my daughter, who wore a santa hat. After 45 minutes, then 15 more, I called the place that was supposed to have helped us. He couldn’t find a trio made up of a gray-haired woman in a black down jacket, accompanied by a man in a huge wheelchair and a girl in a santa hat, who stood at the outer doors of the mall under the theater marquee. They left. It took another 20 minutes for him to arrive again.
My husband was getting agitated at being away from home so long. Do we have to stay on the one tiny place on ____(Home Street)____ with neighbors across the street and behind us to find help for the helpless?
I had some issues with this letter. The majority of letters our paper get seems to be complaints about one thing or another, many that just seem pointless. First off, what did this lady expect random customers in the mall to do about her broken-down vehicle? Our area does have a bit of a problem with begging and panhandling, so these customers probably thought they were cutting-off someone who wanted money. Secondly, she never mentions EVER approaching anyone in a uniform, any employee in a store, or going to the mall office. I know for a FACT that the owners of the store across from the movie theater have actually helped people with their vehicles before, or have let them use their phone to call for towing, etc. Thirdly, why call the insurance company; I hope she meant towing/roadside service. If she had gone to the office or come to security, we could have helped her find numbers for towing, or offered to call, or offered other advice since we encounter many people having car trouble. It seems like she avoided asking help from anyone who COULD have possibly helped. Since it has been so cold here, I also don’t completely believe that they stood outside or at the doors for an hour; if they were inside our double-doors the tint would have made it very hard for a driver to see them, plus he would probably expect them to be at the vehicle that he was called to; they had a responsibility to look for him. Finally, she complains that she always gets help in her hometown. It’s wonderful that they’ve reached-out to her like that, but she now seems to expect it from everywhere. It is sad when you expect help and decency from other humans and don’t receive it, but her town is a little more homey and close-knit than the one my mall is located in, even though it’s not even a ½ hour away. I’ve actually heard people complain that my mall’s town has very rude, suspicious and stand-offish people in it. I’ve greeted people before with a “how are you?” and have gotten a hearty “F**k you” in response, so I somewhat agree.
I don’t know what she expected to happen, am more than a little upset that she didn’t get any help, and angry that this will sour more than a few people towards our mall, because by naming the mall, rather than the town, almost seems like she is blaming THE MALL for not helping her, when she never asked for our help at all. I have wheeled people’s chairs to their cars. I’ve gone through the phone book for roadside assistance. I’ve lent people my personal phone, handkerchiefs, etc. What’s the point of having mall staff in clearly-marked shirts, security in uniforms, directories to the mall office, etc. if nobody uses them, then complains that they didn’t get/find/were told what they needed!? If she had approached us, we could have done what we could, even if all it ended-up being was to be a sympathetic ear to her, which is what I think she really wanted overall. Sigh, I just don’t know; it really frustrated me.
I moved to this beautiful state a year and a half ago, with a husband totally disabled by a stroke and a daughter born with down syndrome. We were so blessed to have neighbors come to us offering to be friends and to help in any way possible. A church adopted our daughter, making certain she got to all their services and events. They also brought bible study to our home. For, you see, my husband is very nervous about being away from home too long.
One afternoon, I finally coaxed him into going to a movie at ___(My)____ Mall. The handicap vehicle he must travel in is 20 years old. Even with $2,500 in work done to keep it running at least for a year, that night it refused to start when we tried to return home. I knew that would be no problem at all, because I had seen the love our community offered.
I asked the first person if he could help. He never even slowed down. The next refused to look at me and walked past. The third looked over at my husband and daughter and snickered as though their disabilities amused him.
After approaching six people with similar responses, I gave up. I called our insurance company and asked that they send someone and to tell them we were just inside the theater. I described myself, my husband in a massive wheelchair, and my daughter, who wore a santa hat. After 45 minutes, then 15 more, I called the place that was supposed to have helped us. He couldn’t find a trio made up of a gray-haired woman in a black down jacket, accompanied by a man in a huge wheelchair and a girl in a santa hat, who stood at the outer doors of the mall under the theater marquee. They left. It took another 20 minutes for him to arrive again.
My husband was getting agitated at being away from home so long. Do we have to stay on the one tiny place on ____(Home Street)____ with neighbors across the street and behind us to find help for the helpless?
I had some issues with this letter. The majority of letters our paper get seems to be complaints about one thing or another, many that just seem pointless. First off, what did this lady expect random customers in the mall to do about her broken-down vehicle? Our area does have a bit of a problem with begging and panhandling, so these customers probably thought they were cutting-off someone who wanted money. Secondly, she never mentions EVER approaching anyone in a uniform, any employee in a store, or going to the mall office. I know for a FACT that the owners of the store across from the movie theater have actually helped people with their vehicles before, or have let them use their phone to call for towing, etc. Thirdly, why call the insurance company; I hope she meant towing/roadside service. If she had gone to the office or come to security, we could have helped her find numbers for towing, or offered to call, or offered other advice since we encounter many people having car trouble. It seems like she avoided asking help from anyone who COULD have possibly helped. Since it has been so cold here, I also don’t completely believe that they stood outside or at the doors for an hour; if they were inside our double-doors the tint would have made it very hard for a driver to see them, plus he would probably expect them to be at the vehicle that he was called to; they had a responsibility to look for him. Finally, she complains that she always gets help in her hometown. It’s wonderful that they’ve reached-out to her like that, but she now seems to expect it from everywhere. It is sad when you expect help and decency from other humans and don’t receive it, but her town is a little more homey and close-knit than the one my mall is located in, even though it’s not even a ½ hour away. I’ve actually heard people complain that my mall’s town has very rude, suspicious and stand-offish people in it. I’ve greeted people before with a “how are you?” and have gotten a hearty “F**k you” in response, so I somewhat agree.
I don’t know what she expected to happen, am more than a little upset that she didn’t get any help, and angry that this will sour more than a few people towards our mall, because by naming the mall, rather than the town, almost seems like she is blaming THE MALL for not helping her, when she never asked for our help at all. I have wheeled people’s chairs to their cars. I’ve gone through the phone book for roadside assistance. I’ve lent people my personal phone, handkerchiefs, etc. What’s the point of having mall staff in clearly-marked shirts, security in uniforms, directories to the mall office, etc. if nobody uses them, then complains that they didn’t get/find/were told what they needed!? If she had approached us, we could have done what we could, even if all it ended-up being was to be a sympathetic ear to her, which is what I think she really wanted overall. Sigh, I just don’t know; it really frustrated me.
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