Monday, January 12, 2004

A GOODWILL GESTURE

With all of the snow and ice that the Pacific Northwest was pelted with this last week, it isn't surprising that parking lots at various stores were the worse for wear too.  Many retailers were good enough to have their parking lots cleared for their customers.  I was appreciative to those who did, so that I didn't have to wade through the filthy slush and get my feet wet, not to mention the danger the ice posed.
What I don't understand and have a big problem with is the fact that most – yes most – of those same retailers left the handicapped parking spots full of snow/ice.  In fact, in many instances the snow was plowed into those parking spots!
I personally am not handicapped, but my Aunt Midge is.  She contracted polio as a child and was left with a severe handicap in her right leg and hip which makes it difficult for her to walk long distances, especially in bad weather. There quite simply is no way she would have been able to navigate through the snow/ice that was left in those parking spots.  
Some retailers can be considered negligent through pure virtue of ignorance.  However, I hardly think that THE GOODWILL INDUSTRIES can use that excuse.
We have more than one GOODWILL store in the city where I live.  I visited both this week and neither parking lot was clear and certainly the handicapped parking spots where loaded with snow and ice, making it virtually impossible for anyone with a handicap to exit their vehicle.  Nor did I notice any trace of a deicer like inexpensive and easily obtained rock salt.  
I am targeting THE GOODWILL INDUSTRIES because not only are they a local retailer, but they advertise the fact that they hire the handicapped, and rely heavily on donations using that ploy.
With that premise in mind one would think that someone in a leadership role that's connected to that organization would have the foresight to handle the elementary task of having the snow shoveled out of the handicapped parking spaces, and a little rock salt spread around to make it easier for people to move about.  It is a business - right? 
If THE GOODWILL INDUSTRIES can't take care of the handicapped in this instance, perhaps we are left to ponder how they deal with the handicapped in other situations.  

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's such a shame. There must be someone to call to remedy this situation.

Anonymous said...

It does make you wonder, doesn't it? Shame we can't get a response from goodwill.
Monica