Friday, December 05, 2003

Special Accessibility Indeed

This here's the story about how Vin and I found our private study space the other day...much by unbelievable fluke. We'd headed to UTSC to find cubicles somewhere, but just after getting there, he decided that he wanted a tour of the new ARC instead. So we headed off that way and we went past the library and its many group study areas, many of which were well occupied. We were running out of places in the ARC to study in when we walked past the huge new lecture hall. Vin peeked in and after being thoroughly impressed, suggested that we go study in there cuz it appeared to be empty. I figured that it was that way because it was locked up for the night, but decided to check anyway. Sure enough, when I tried the handle to the top left door it was locked. Disappointed, we continued on our way to see if the last study room down the hall would be open. That too was locked, so we started to turn back towards the unexciting and already occupied group study areas to find a spot.

The route we took back brought us past the upper right door of the huge lecture hall and just out of curiosity I tried that handle too--locked. Vin walked by it after me and decided to give the wheelchair access button a punch. He did, and then stood stock still staring at the results. As I was a little ahead of him, I couldn't see the door from where I'd stopped and from the perfectly astonished look on his face, I knew he must be shitting me.
    "You're shitting me--that didn't open the door."
    "I don't believe it. It's open." (chuckles to himself, shaking head in disbelief)
    "Don't shit me. It couldn't be that easy."
    "I don't believe it. It's that easy."
Still not believing him, I walked around to take a look at the door for myself so that we could get the joke over with and get on with our studying. But he wasn't shitting me. The door had swung wide open. It really was that easy.

Both of us in disbelief, we stepped cautiously into the lecture hall as the door quietly closed behind us on its automatic hinges. A few seconds later we finally caught each other's eye and burst into giggles.
    "I can't believe it was that easy."
And so, Vin and I had our own study space for the night. People saw us sitting in that huge lecture hall all by ourselves and tried to join us--we knew because we could hear them jiggling the door handles--but none of them thought to push the wheelchair access switches and so we were allowed to study in private. A few hours later, just as we were going to leave, we heard one last pair of people come by to try the doors. Just as it sounded like they were going to give up and leave like everyone else ahead of them, we heard the muffled click of the button, and the door swinging open to allow a voice through the doorway:
    "I don't believe it, it couldn't be that easy."
But of course as Vin and I already knew, yes, it really was.

No comments: