The ADA, Procrastination and Gas Pumps

I have a stack of final exams on my desk that must be graded. This is serious work with a firm deadline I always meet. Yet I will do almost anything to avoid grading the exams. I love teaching but not grading. Grading exams is hard work and students are under great pressure to get good grades. I sympathize with students but can only base my assessment of their work based on what they hand in to me. This leads to frustration and, right now, procrastination in the form of this post and a need to fill the gas tank of my car. Yes, I needed gas but I really did not need to go out and fill up the tank this morning. I wanted to avoid my exams, get out in the early morning fresh air, and enjoy a short drive. So there I am pumping my gas when I noticed the blue wheelchair logo on the pump in the bright sunlight. I have not read the little wheelchair logo post in quite some time. However, I do know the law--here I refer to the ADA as it relates to assistance for disabled drivers at self service gas stations. What does the law state? Gas stations have the duty to assist disabled persons at the gas pump. The ADA requires self service stations to provide equal access to their customers. If more than one employee is on duty a gas station must provide refueling assistance to a disabled individual who has a handicapped placard or license plate. Customers with a disability let the service station know they need help by honking twice or signaling an employee. Gas stations may not charge a disabled person for pumping their gas.

I have been driving for over 30 years. Not once have I seen or heard of a disabled person being assisted at a gas station. Like anyone else, I have pumped my own gas on rainy days, in frigid cold, and searing heat. No one has ever asked me if I needed or wanted help. While I have never tried to seek the assistance of a station attendant, I find it hard to imagine this would go over well. Gas stations present many obstacles in terms of access. Bathrooms, aside from often being filthy, are rarely accessible. Ramps to enter the station are often blocked by fire wood in the winter and cases of water in the summer. If one can enter a station the aisles are so narrow they are impossible to navigate. Beer is stacked high and junk food abounds.

While the obstacles at gas stations and an obscure part of the ADA such as assisting disabled gas station customers may seem to be inconsequential, it highlights a larger problem. The ADA is just not taken seriously or poorly understood. Add in the ADA is often interpreted by people who know little about disability nor have an interest in making a business accessible and it is no wonder barriers abound. But it is not just businesses that seek to avoid the ADA. Schools, both public and private, routinely ignore or avoid ADA regulations. I had to shame my son's secondary school into making the auditorium accessible and even when they renovated it did not follow ADA guidelines. The university where I teach is grossly inaccessible and is a SUNY school! My point is that the lack of access at my local has station is symbolic of a much larger problem--the ADA is ignored or, worse, unknown. I hope that with the 20th anniversary of the ADA around the corner this may change. Moreover, it is my hope that the ADA will become known for what it really is: civil rights legislation. While I have great hopes, given the dismal state of the economy and lack of interest, I do not really expect the 20th anniversary of the ADA to resonate with the general public. However, I am planning on having a big party at my home next July to celebrate. While most Americans do not care, I for one I am grateful and proud to know a law like the ADA exists and that we elected legislators who had the wisdom to pen such civil rights legislation.