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Blog Ufonda
The descent from Pechersk to Druzhby Narodov Avenue, as always in the evening, was clogged with slow-moving cars. The radio in the cabin was torn by an explosive news story - the president banned the use of Russian services VKontakte and Yandex! The hand is tired of switching channels in search of good music for the evening traffic jam. I didn’t even want to open Facebook, imagining a stream of expert opinions and betrayal, which will reach its peak in the evening, to switch to something else in a couple of days. Exhaling loudly, I continued to pedal methodically, waiting for my turn to pour into the stream of multicolored irons filled with people hurrying home. "The President of Ukraine signed a decree restricting access to…." The cool song was interrupted by a six-hour news release, and that’s when I noticed it. The guy was moving slowly but steadily up the road. If you know how a cyclist rides at low speeds uphill, then you can quite imagine the image of this young man - only instead of active movements of the legs, he did the same with his hands. After all, he was in a wheelchair. The guy was driving in the lane for cars along the high sidewalk. Apparently, this was the most convenient and easy way to go upstairs, bypassing the steps and thresholds. Cars quickly went around him one by one. Many thoughts flashed through my head at the same time, shouting at each other. Thoughts and images. At first I imagined the lively crossroads of our city, filled with disabled people, whose image is actively exploited by beggars and gypsies. Then, for some reason, the fantasy took me to Stephen Hawking, and I introduced him in Kiev, trying to get on our public transport. Then, for some reason, the city lights about inclusive education, located in the most unsightly places of the city, flashed. My thought, like the petal of a seven-flowered flower from a children’s cartoon, made a circle, and the moment it touched my head again, I turned on the hazard and turned to the curb. A few quick steps. Fear, fear that he will now be dissatisfied, grumbling, will drive me away. Fear that I will be funny, not understood. That he will be offended! - Hi, my name is Vika, can I help you? "Hello!" And I’m Dima. In principle, I can, but if you do not mind! "It’s still more fun than being stuck in traffic." We smiled at each other. Dima was very cheerful, calm and friendly. He said that he would only go up, and then he would get on the trolleybus. I bit my tongue in time so as not to ask, how is he going to get into it? Then she remembered that most have low thresholds. Well done, she thought of him. - Probably, it is difficult for you to move in our infrastructure? "Yes, it’s difficult." But if we stop showing at all, it will be worse, they will forget about us at all. - Well said! It’s true. An accidental acquaintance of mine voiced an idea that is not as resonant as the new presidential decree, but strikingly similar to it. Restricting access to VKontakte and Yandex affects the information freedom of many, but most will find a way out. They have an alternative. While restricting access to infrastructure for many social groups - there is no alternative. People with HIV / AIDS cannot go to another hospital and get medication there. Women who have experienced domestic violence cannot choose which social center to help them today. A person in a wheelchair most often travels only one available route, if at all. Dima and I exchanged phone numbers, and he went on with his business. My heart was pounding with adrenaline, a silly smile on my face. I jumped down the slope to the car, feeling very grateful to Dima for allowing him to help.
After talking about this idiotic decree for a week, we will go to teach my mother how to enter the Classmates bypassing the ban. At the same time, if a new threshold arises in the way of my new acquaintance, he will have to turn around and go back.
Author Victoria Kuzmik Source: http://www.aids.ua/