For the past five years, I have attended annual multiple-day music festivals that host a variety of bands in one venue. I have loved my experience every time until this year. About a month before the festival, I suffered a back injury that has made it difficult to walk or stand for long periods. I knew that my back was not going to be able to handle sitting on the ground for the entire weekend, so I bought a new chair that could offer the support that I need while also meeting the size specifications listed on the festival’s website. Unfortunately, just one week before the concert, the site updated to say that no one was allowed to bring chairs.
I sent at least six emails to the organizers of the event to ask about seating alternatives but received no response. Their website had no phone number, so I could not talk to anyone. Finally, two days before the festival, I received the following response:
“Please bring a doctors note to customer service / will call at Riptide and we will give you a wrist band that will allow you to sit in a chair we provide to you in the ADA section of our festival.“
Fortunately, my doctor was able to send me that doctor’s note despite the short notice that I was given. I got to the festival and received my wristband. However, the woman at customer service could not tell us any information about where the ADA section was.
We spent the next three hours walking back and forth around the venue and asking everyone we could find. No one was able to help or give us answers, but instead of admitting that they did not know, several of them sent us in the wrong direction. We found ADA platforms on our own, but the security personnel there told us that it was only for people with wheelchairs, and there was another platform somewhere else that would have chairs. That other platform did not exist.
Finally, another security guard named Shepherd listened to my friend explain my situation. At that point, I was in so much pain, and I was so frustrated that I could hardly think straight. Thank God for my friends who literally acted as my warriors. Shepherd told us to go back to the ADA platform that we had initially been turned away from, and he would bring me a chair there. When we got back to the ADA platform, there was a new security guard who told me that I could not come on the platform because I did not look disabled. He finally allowed me on the platform when Shepherd returned with the chair that I had been promised. I am grateful that Shepherd was the only person who chose to do something to help.
It took more than three hours for me to get a chair when my doctor’s note specifies that I should not stand for more than a half-hour at a time. My condition was aggravated to the point that I was limping for the rest of the evening, and I was in too much pain to attend the second day of the festival.
As frustrated as I was by my experience, I was even more angry about the treatment that other people around me received. On the ADA platform, I spoke with other people with disabilities. Here are some of the experiences that they shared with me.
Several of them had tried to contact the concert organizers and received no response. Some of them had a right to be on the ADA platform, but they did not know that they needed a wristband.
There were two women with service dogs. The dogs got stepped on multiple times because there were people without disabilities climbing the railing to get on to the platform. Security did nothing to stop them.
-Dozens of people without disabilities were on the platform. We saw the security guard named Mike letting people onto the platform after they danced with him, brought him a burrito, and spoke with him in Spanish. Other people stepped behind him to get on to the platform, and he looked at us like he did not know what to do about it. We asked several of them to leave and explained why the platform was there. Some people without disabilities were standing directly in front of people in wheelchairs, and they refused to move, even when the security guard asked them to. The security guard’s response was to give up and ignore them.
Several people were climbing on the railings of the platform and leaning on top of people in wheelchairs. No one did anything to stop them.
One person was a minor with a disability. He said that the security guard tried to separate him from his family by telling him that he could go on the platform but that his family could not.
There was only one ADA accessible bathroom, and dozens of people without disabilities were using it, so the only way to access it was to wait for hours.
The ADA platforms gathered more and more garbage throughout the night. Several spills made it dangerous for people with canes to walk on the platform, but there was no one available to clean it up.
As far as we could tell, there were no ADA accessible parking or drop-off areas. We had to walk at least a half-hour before we could even get to the entrance.
Other people needed chairs, but they could not get access to them either because everyone we asked did not know about seating that should have been provided.
I was in pain, and I was angry. But more than anything else, I was heartbroken for the other people with disabilities that received terrible treatment and attested to the fact that they had been treated that way before. My condition is temporary, and although this experience will set my recovery back, in a few months, I should be back to normal. But for many people, this experience is their entire life.
I have spoken out for the rights of people with disabilities in the past. I believe that intersectional feminism requires that we make sure that women and other people with disabilities have access to the things that they need for a fulfilling life. But this experience was the first time that I have been able to witness firsthand the despicable treatment that people with disabilities receive. It goes beyond not parking in the handicap spaces in a parking lot. As an able-bodied person, I have always assumed that events like this provided the accommodations needed for people with disabilities, but that is clearly not the case.
The Takeaway for Society
Be More Like Shepherd
Shepherd was the only compassionate person that we interacted with at the festival. He listened to our complaints and offered to do something about it. He did not know the answer, but he promised to find it out for us, and he followed through on that promise. Whenever possible, be more like him. As simple as it seems, Shepherd was my hero for the weekend, along with my friends who stood up for me time and time again.
Don’t be “Those People”
So many people were disrespectful to everyone on the ADA platform. I know that some of them did not understand why we were there, and others were too drunk to care. But if they had looked around for a moment, they would have realized that many of the people on the platform had service dogs, wheelchairs, and canes.
My friends were great about taking up the cause of educating the ignorant people who came on the platform. Some of those people respectfully left once they learned what the platform was there for. Others continued to make jokes, told people to stand up, and continued to disrespect everyone there.
Everyone can do their part to be a little more respectful and a little more aware. Watch out for other people around you and remember that many disabilities are not visible. Do not make assumptions about people’s able-bodiedness based on their appearance alone. It is not that difficult to just be kind!
Corporations Need to Do a Better Job
The thing that I was most disappointed in was the lack of organization that the company hosting the event had. None of the workers knew anything, and none of them could help us find someone who did. They could have set up the ADA platform in a much more efficient way, and they should have had chairs set up before the event. They needed more than one security guard at the ADA platform, and they needed to make sure that those employees had training on ways they could ensure that their customers enjoyed the experience.
Most importantly, they needed to communicate about the ADA accommodations before the event. It was incredibly frustrating that all of us sent several emails before we got a response, and some did not get a response at all. It would be best if they had ADA information posted on their website. If I had known that my experience was going to be so frustrating, I would not have bought tickets in the first place.
Some corporations already do a great job. I have several friends who have accompanied friends with disabilities to theme parks like Disney and Universal. Their experiences were completely different. The resorts have accommodations for people on the Autism spectrum, and people with anxiety, along with other disabilities.
I assumed many events and corporations offer similar accommodations because I have heard such great testimonies from people who have enjoyed Disney and Universal. But the more I talked to other people with disabilities, the more it became clear that companies with excellent accommodations are the exception, not the rule. There is no reason that million-dollar companies can’t put in the effort to make sure that people with disabilities have accommodations.
As frustrated as I was by the experience I had, I am grateful to the fact that it opened my eyes. I have always cared about the rights of people with disabilities, but it is clear to me now that the way they get treated is far worse than I imagined. I will take this opportunity to speak out, but now that I know, I will do my part to stand up for people with disabilities whenever I have the chance. I think we can all do our part to make this world a better place for them.
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