As a new resident to Prince George, my choices for moving here included the friendly community. However, after tonight, I am severely appalled.
I witnessed something absolutely repulsive. My father, a disabled man with a severe debilitating disease was denied the opportunity of seeing the one movie he wanted to see this month. How? No one within the handicap-reserved seating at the Famous Players would move. For those of you who are unaware, both ends of the back row of all the movie auditoriums are reserved for the disabled. These seats are marked with the designated handicap emblem and are often missing one seat for wheel chairs.
My father rarely participates in recreational activities because of the lack of properly designated seating and parking. For a man who can only take five steps without sitting down, this is a difficult feat. This movie, perhaps one of only three my father gets to see a year, was completely filled in the designated handicapped area by the time we got through the lineup. My mother approached these people sitting in this area and asked them if they were disabled. When they said no she politely asked them to move. They declined, using much profanity and argument. When we persisted and got the manager, they still declined. These people on both ends of the handicapped row began an uproar at the injustice of having to give their seat up to a disabled man. Mind you, Famous Players personnel need to be recognized for their efforts and their professionalism. What is even more repulsive is that my father was made to feel ashamed of his disability.
If you were in his shoes, would you not want courtesy and empathy extended to you? I know I would.
To all those people who sat in that back row, shame on you for not having respect for the disabled.
I sincerely hope that if you too experience immobility one day, that no one extends courtesy to you, so that you will be denied the very little pleasures left in your life.
Just remember, we will all eventually be judged by our actions one day.
Megan Newton
Prince George
