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So, I work at as a cashier at a small mom and pop hardware store. When it's slow (like is has been this past week due to all the snow), I tend to work on other things such as homework or articles while at work.
This past Wednesday night I was working on an article that I am working on for AbleGamers... just writing away in my notebook... letting the silence in the empty store clear my mind so that I could think clearly.... then it happened. The new guy at work asked what I was doing.
I tell people about working with and for gaming accessibility all the time. I love it. It gives me such a good feeling. I love making what I love available to other people. And I normally get really supportive responses. "Oh, wow. That's awesome. I hadn't even thought about that stuff." "It's so awesome that your helping to educate people on this." "It's cool your willing to help others." It's always been something supportive that made me smile... until Wednesday.
My coworker isn't the brightest person... he's a little selfish... and it was clear this day. His response was... I don't even know. It made me so angry and so sad and I swear if I wasn't at work I may have simply jacked him in the face. Twice.
"Is it really important for handicaps to play video games?"
First off his tone of the word handicap was ... offensive... like someone with a disability was sub-human... then the question itself.
Really? REALLY?!
Is it important? What does that even mean? It's it really important that I play Zelda? To the world no... to me, of course. I would be so upset if I couldn't play. How is anyone else another game any different?
I tried explaining it to him, but I could have probably gotten just as much through to him if I was speaking in Japanese. I had never been so angry before. Is it important? Is it important that he has all of his front teeth? 'Cause I was about to punch them out.
Sigh. Luckily that was near the end of my shift... and I felt better when my other co-worker came over and confirmed that he was uneducated and probably no empathy for any other people on the planet. It was the interesting experience, and the first time someone has flat out reacted negatively towards gaming accessibility. Hopefully it never happens again.
Unfortunately, the world is full of cruel and hateful people. I now understand what your e-mails meant. The funny thing is ( and I've been banned from a couple forums for responding with this) my normal response something like that is to say enjoy your health while you have it because it could be gone tomorrow. And I also enjoy tossing in the "the disability club is very easy to join but hard to get out of" just to really drive the point home.
What an amazing display of ignorance. I guess it shouldn't surprise me really -- and yet it does, while making me cringe at the same time.
Echoing a bit what Bearstion said, I recently heard someone say at a web accessibility presentation that "Being disabled is the one 'minority' that everybody can become a part of"....at any point. That was a really striking comment to me.
what is even worse is when you are in an MMO, and people get nasty because you cant see a mob/ask for a little help with a quest that is hard to see. or a stray comment in the game's forum, and you have all the trolls climbing down your throat. (that particular game has the *worst* moderation, and most of the people who post regularly are total nastards.) 99% of the time, i play alone, and, since i was raised with the ethic of 'dont ask for help, do it yourself', i find it extremely hard to ask for help, even for things that need to be done in squad, like instances, because of this. some things i just cant see, because of the colours of the dungeons and certain mobs. if i whisper to the squad leader that i have trouble with that, i run a high risk of being dumped from the squad, even if the number of that particular mob in that dungeon is relativly small.
so i have a reputation as a loner who doesnt play well with others..... :-(
Well I got ask if the guy even plays video games. There are people that just don't like them and he may have meant it more that way. I'm not trying to defend him. I just like to try to get open mind at all times. If he does play video games then yeah it was very rude thing to say.
Bearstion you are just to cool. I just love those little comments. I think they say so much yet have class.
PikachuMom, I'm kinda the same way just I have different things I have troble with in-game sometimes. So know your not alone on that. That always makes me feel little better.
