A Virgin employee at Tullamarine just confronted my cousin in a wheelchair, in front of a packed gate lounge, demonstrated walking 6 steps, three times raised her voice: “so you’re telling me, you can’t walk that far??!! ” Because Virgin failed to get the wheelchair for boarding despite booking.
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Clearly this doesn’t extend to disability.
Some people semi jokingly call it the "disability tax", ie all the extra costs, big and small you pay that non disabled people don't.
Mostly private security security company staff in the check in area. Wheelchairs and walking aids tend to trigger the staff. I am not aware of overseas airports indulging such staff nonsense.
Was that also the case here?
I was a flight attendant 20+ years ago (Ansett) and never in a million years would it have been ok to treat a customer with such disrespect.
We would have been lucky to keep our job.
Awful loss-of-humanity behavior worthy of condemning - yes. Actions and consequences etc.
But I doubt this person has this lizard-brain type thought and action in normal life.
We had medical equipment in our carry on (not included in the weight calculation) they forced us to take everything out and throw away sketch books and pencils.
They then chased us to where we were sitting after and accused us of putting stuff back in the carry on
That strikes me as wilful ignorance.
I would be putting in a written complaint about wheelchair incident
People have a thinly veiled hatred of disabled people, that reveals itself at the slightest inconvenience.
Australian discrimination laws are completely pathetic. So why wouldn’t this happen?
I read "virgin employee" instead of "Virgin employee".
🥸😳
Makes a difference.🫣
And to be clear, I would be laughing AT her, not with her.
Neither is the answer to both
Sorry. I certainly would if I could but permanent paralysis doesn't work that way.
:(
Hope someone makes a formal complaint...
Library Person: you'll have to come and look.
Me: I'm blind. That's why I need talking books.
Library Person: oh god oh god.
I had to comfort her.