Imagine going to the mall with your best friend and going to one of your favorite stores. You go to the fitting room to try on some clothes and the employee opens the only handicap fitting room that can fit you (and your hot wheels) and it’s filled with a bunch of inventory and storage boxes. She apologizes, doesn’t offer to remove any boxes, and you’re forced to be in a tiny room where you can barely fit in it. And unfortunately, this was not the first… or even third time this has happened to you.

Even if the employee did offer to remove the boxes, which has also happened before, I would have to wait a couple minutes for them to take the storage out, only so they can put it back after I leave. My friend Victoria thankfully pushed me to say something this time. I was hesitant at first because I never liked to make “a big deal” out of things, but it was, in fact, “a big deal.” We told the manager afterwards because it’s not only for my sake, but for others with disabilities who shop there in the future.

This incident got me really thinking about how some retail stores are not too aware of their setups not being disability-friendly. Using the handicap dressing room for inventory or storage is definitely a big NO! Consider these things for those of us shopping with/on wheels…

Wide and clear aisles

C’mon, how frustrating do you think it is to have racks or tables in your way, barely fitting through a certain area of a store? Clearing the aisles doesn’t just help someone with a wheelchair, but can also help an elderly person with a cane or a mom with a stroller. This is simple, but in some stores can be overlooked.

An ACTUAL, accessible, handicap fitting room

You must be thinking, Wait, aren’t all handicap rooms accessible? The answer is no, no they really are not. A handicap room doesn’t just mean a bigger and wider room. A handicap room should have the necessary bars and seating for someone to try on clothes. Whenever I go shopping, most handicap rooms don’t have bars for me to hold onto and only a stool so I never try on pants, skirts, dresses, rompers unless someone helps me stand up… I usually order these and try them on at home where I have those bars, and can do it myself. I can only try on tops at a retail store because of this.

I don’t ever feel like employees or managers are being rude, I just don’t think they thought about how this affects some customers. Most customers might not need these accommodations, but that doesn’t mean they should not be available to someone who needs it.

It’s super important to speak up and I’m not gonna lie, if Victoria wasn’t there with me that day, I probably would not have said something (so I’m still working on it myself). Especially from this experience, I learned no one knows if nothing is said! Always advocate for something you believe in 🙂