I know I sound old and
that I am complaining about anything new and vibrant and trendy but I
really feel motivated to discuss this issue to some degree. I first
noticed food trucks in Salt Lake City when I was still working for
the state at the Access Utah Network housed with Utah Developmental
Disability Council or UDDC. I often went further downtown to explore
and find interesting places to eat on my lunch hours. In fact when I
was still trading business with Zions First National Bank I often
went to the downtown original office. This is when I first noticed a
food truck that parked in their lot intermittently. I even bought a
couple of items tthinking (Wow, this is kind of cool). There wa a
great deal of construction going on downtown Salt Lake at the time. A
lot of the construction boys stopped at the food truck. Very
inexpensive food with a fairly high quality. There was always
somebody around to reach out and either order or grab my food. I
thought total lack of accessibility are to be honest I didn't even
think of the accessibility issue at the time because I thought this
truck was a novelty and didn't pay much more attention.
After I retired and the
subsequent operations I haven't really been downtown as much as I
used to be which I kind of miss. But, I have noticed the rise of the
food trucks. I've noticed the food trucks become more and more
sophisticated much more elegant than the roach coaches that offered
quantities of food at a lower price than one could grab at local
venues downtown or even at concerts and such.Soon the trucks were
beginning to develop significant reputations and followings
becoming high-end operations. Even in the counterculture newspapers
like ThePrivate Eye and
others these rolling restaurants republishing their schedules.
Listening
to NPR this morning I noticed the chagrin that a number of the events
announced by the radio station, and some related to fundraising for
the organization highlighted the fact that these events would be
served food and beverage from these trucks.. I stopped immediately
thinking is the last time I went to such a truck. I think I ordered
some form of Asian food you know the kind good food but very sloppy.
There is no way I could get the attention of the vendor without
somebody else there is no way I could order and there is no way to
fetch the end product and offered without the individual cook/vendor
actually coming around and down from the perch to give me my food.
Something's wrong here! Red lights flashed in my head where have the
people with disabilities.?! Why is not DRAC when on top of this? I
would like to think this situation needs to be nipped in the bud that
somehow there needs to be an alternative for people with disabilities
to access these inaccessible food sanctuaries. The whole concept of
the food truck is counter to accessible dining. In order to access
these trucks one has to be able to stand and in many cases themselves
reach up. I've noticed a couple of the trucks have counters that
might be close to accessible standards but you still have to reach
up way beyond accessible standards.
It's
an old story, crap! It's the same old story. If were not watching
whether it is transportation, brick-and-mortar restaurants,
entertainment, and now rolling stock restaurants people disabilities
continued become more and more visible. I wrote a play once about the
importance of being visible it was well received but very trite and I
think thought very trite but maybe it's time to do another play about
being visible enough to get lunch or dinner I can reach totally on my
own.
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