Really hoping you’re doing alright if you’re suffering through the heat wave in Europe right now. Having seen the PNW go into the triple digits last year (a region that barely sees temps above 85F/29C in the summer) it was horrifying to witness the toll it took on people and the wildlife.
When you live in a climate NOT acclimated for sudden dramatic temperature increases the results can be deadly and devastating for people, wildlife and the regional agriculture. I think we will be feeling the effects of these sudden heat waves for a long time.
I hope you can stay cool and safe, there’s lots of tips on how to keep you home cooler online like:
Other than that I hope you can stay as cool and hydrated as possible. When we lived in hot places and wanted to avoid a high energy bill my folks would sometimes take us for ‘inside fun’ during the hottest parts of the day. Usually a movie theater or some form of arcade. A place with AC. Understandably be cautious with Covid still.
i hope you guys know defending disabled people’s right to exist in public also involves defending disabled people’s right to exist in public in ways that others might perceive as annoying, unpleasant, uncomfortable, and inconvenient at times. a blatant example is the “slow walker” thing. someone with tourette’s syndrome who has issues with verbally ticcing is likely going to have trouble staying quiet in a public space where they’re expected to be. autistic children (and some adults) getting triggered into meltdowns due to an overstimulating environment. people with hearing problems having their phone on speaker while on a phone call. a wheelchair user taking up part of the road/sidewalk/aisle. people with autism, adhd, hearing problems, or other things that affect volume control having loud conversations. someone audibly talking to themselves, which can be attributed to many things. motor tics. dyskinesia. ataxia. pseudobalbar effect. the list goes on. some of thus may even be potentially triggering for your own issues if you’re someone who’s also mentally and/or physically disabled, but if you’re well aware of how you can’t help your response to it, you should be equally aware of how others can’t help themselves either. people who aren’t able to be disabled quietly and conveniently don’t deserve to be punished or met with anger (or turned into a spectacle) for not deciding to shut themselves away.
@lapislaputa some mobility aids like wheelchairs can very much be seen by other people as taking up too much space or being too slow in movement (e.g. electric scooters.) i’m not saying that it IS categorically annoying but that people tend to find it annoying (in large part because of how stigmatized it is to be visibly disabled in public) and that those same people need to cope about it. that’s the whole point of the post.
[transcribe: #i agree with most of this but wheelchair users existing in public is not what i would categorize as annoying. end transcribe]
yeah also like even smallest wheelchair take up more space than person stand. people find that annoying esp if in crowded or small place. like for example me chair in elevator
“This is uh. When I was growing up me and my dad used to go at it all the time. Over almost anything, but uh, I used to have really long hair way down past my shoulders, I was 17 or 18, oh man he used to hate it. And we got to where we were fighting so much that I’d spend a lot of time out of the house. And in the summertime it wasn’t so bad, ‘cause it was warm and your friends were out. But in the winter I remember standin’ downtown and it would get so cold, when the wind would blow. I had this phone booth that I used to stand in and I used to call my girl for hours at a time just talking to her all night long.
”And finally I’d get my nerve up to go home.I’d stand there in the driveway and he’d be waiting for me in the kitchen. And I’d tuck my hair down in my collar and I’d walk in, and he’d call me back to sit down with him. And the first thing he’d always ask me was what did I think I was doin’ with myself? And the worst part about it was I could never explain it to him.
“I remember I got in a motorcycle accident once and I was laid up in bed and he had a barber come in and cut my hair. And man, I can remember telling him that I hated him and that I would never ever forget it.
"And he used to tell me ’Man, I can’t wait until the army gets you. When the army gets you they’re gonna make a man outta you. They’re gonna cut all that hair off, and they’ll make a man outta you.’
"This was I guess in '68 and there was a lot of guys from the neighborhood goin’ to Vietnam. I remember the drummer in my first band comin’ over to my house with his marine uniform on, saying that he was goin’ and that he didn’t know where it was. And a lot of guys went and a lot of guys didn’t come back. And a lot that came back weren’t the same anymore.
"And I remember the day I got my draft notice. I hid it from my folks, and three days before my physical me and my friends went out and we stayed up all night. And we got on the bus to go that morning, man we were all so scared. [Laughs]. and I went, and I failed. [Crowd cheering.]
"And I came home, — [laughs] it’s nothing to applaud about — But I remember comin’ home after I’d been gone for three days, and walkin’ in the kitchen and my mother and father were sittin’ there, and my father said, 'Where you been?’ and I said, uh, 'I went to take my physical.’
"He says, 'What happened?’ I said, 'They didn’t take me.’
