Why I want to lie down in public - BBC

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/health-43519487/why-i-want-to-lie-down-in-public

To hear Raquel’s full story, listen to this podcast from Radio 4’s Four Thought:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09pmbdp

 

Sounds like me. For the past 4 years there has been numerous times when I find it necessary to sit on the floor inside a store, on the sidewalk, etc. Had to do it a couple weeks ago at my local natural foods store as they don't offer electric sit-down shopping carts.

 

Yes sounds like me too. I've been doing it for years.

I know it sounds very weird but I have found cemeteries particularly good since they are so lovely and quiet.

There was one time when I was in The Hermitage, St Petersburg and I was making use of horizontal time on an empty bench in a very quiet room. Absolute luxury. But it wasn't long before two very bulky security guards headed my way and asked my husband to get me to move. They were not in the least bit interested how grey and ill I looked.
Ho hum.

 

Ha i was there just a few weeks ago! but had to miss going inside, didn’t have the strength to walk around it, and also get back to accomodation, its bloody massive

 

Was there 2 years ago but didn't have the energy to get off the cruise ship and actually look at it properly. The guide book lying on the bed had to suffice.

 

I've laid down in crowded rooms against walls and on the grass in:
- Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum and the Air & Space Museum
- Virginia at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and Monticello
- Pennsylvania at Hershey Park
- New Jersey at Great Adventure
- Florida at Disney World
- New York City in Central Park

Can you tell I have kids?

When out of the house or hotel when traveling, my preference is to lay down in my car, followed by a grassy spot that's out of the view of others, followed by anywhere flat.

I've never been asked to get up when laying down. However, I've gotten many odd stares and had people knock on my car window to see if I'm OK. I would think that if I pulled out the disability card that came with my handicap parking placard, that under the disability act a business/museum would not be able to kick a disabled person who is laying down on a bench for 30 minutes out. If the bench's purpose is to give rest to normal people, then laying on the bench temporarily for a disabled person is also giving rest. We just take up a little more room.

 

In the United States, so called "Sit-lie laws" have been challenged on the basis they discriminate against the homeless, but I've never heard of them challenged on the basis of discriminating against disabled.

On the contrary, proponents of Sit-lie laws often point to the need to keep sidewalks free from obstruction for mobility impaired persons.

 

Before I got to the wheelchair stage, I used to carry a light stool hooked over my shoulder, and when I had to stop and stand which was harder than walking, I used to sit on it.

In New York, I even sat at the kerbside as I waited for traffic lights to change. I never knew I was breaking the law.

While sightseeing and using it in queues, several people approached me and asked where I bought it because it was such a good idea. It is featherlight. I will need to improve and get out of my wheelchair to be able to use it again, so no more infringing the "sit-lie laws" for now.

 

I wasn't aware New York had a sit-lie law. My recollection is it's mostly limited to a few cities on the west coast US and Hawaii.

In San Francisco, the sit-lie ordinance is rarely (if ever) enforced. I believe the police are required to first inform the person of the ordinance, then ask the person to move, offer assistance if needed, before finally resorting to a citation.

San Francisco's ordinance has been ineffective towards its original purpose: reducing the homeless population sleeping on the sidewalks by labeling it a "quality-of-life" crime.

 

I often wish when out that there were shops that offered a bed to lay down on. Even if it were like a hospital ward with curtains to pull around.