Nasty Incident on Summit Cruise

[kitty9]

I guess this thread falls under "What Would You Have Done".

 

We were disembarking a recent Celebrity Summit cruise when I encountered a very rude couple. Our color tags were announced and we proceded to walk to the line where everyone was disembarking the ship. I had recently been placed on prednisone for my post polio bout with chronic lung disease, and the medication was taking a toll on my joints, causing me to walk even slower than I normally do, with my cane. A young couple were walking behind us when I heard the woman say, "this Bi tch walks too slow---just go around them so we can get off. If we're stuck behind them, we won't get off the ship until next week". She and her husband literally, physically, shoved us aside and went in front of my mom, sister and me. Well, my sister, who's been my protector for a very long time, got incredibly upset by this and confronted the couple. They began cussing at her and said they missed their call (we heard them tell another that they were drunk the night before and didn't hear the wake up call) and needed to find their friends. The woman kept saying that disabled should have to wait until everyone else gets off the ship because we hold up everyone else. My mom got into her face and said, "I hope that you never become disabled, but if that day comes, I hope that every day of your life you meet someone like yourself, who makes you feel like dirt, because you're disabled".

 

I don't know about you all, but I'm just getting so sick and tired of the many inconsiderate people I meet in everyday life, many of them on cruises. I've taken to hiring private guides because I'm tired of hearing many people complain that I hold up tour groups, even though I try very hard to be as considerate as I can when on tours. Hey, it's not like the ship is going to leave a ship-sponsored tour behind and the bus isn't going to leave you because I might take 30 seconds more to climb onto a bus.

[DesrtDrmr]

Oh, Kitty, what a rude encounter!!!! I'm so sorry that you had such a lousy ending to a cruise..........it's bad enough just having to get off the ship!

 

When I run into people like that................thankfully, not very often, I rather wish that they have SOME kind of setback, at least once in their life, so they learn some compassion...............because, unfortunately, I think that's the only way they are going to learn.

 

It sounds like you've got a pretty great Mom and Sis! :)

[mommabean]

Try not to let it get to you too much. Most people on a cruise are pretty nice. The ones that aren't, are going to verbally attack anyone in their way, disabled or not. If it wasn't you they attacked, it would be someone who isn't thin enough, good looking enough or whatever. If you know you are doing your best, try to ignore people like that. They obviously have their own personal issues to deal with. Sometimes saying nothing at all to people like that is the best. Let them say something stupid and leave it hanging in the air for everyone to reflect upon...including themselves. Their behaviour probably will come back to haunt them sooner or later anyway...all in due time.

[DEL67]

There are always a few jerks in the crowd, try not to let it get to you.

 

It wasn't as bad as your experience, but on our recent Zuiderdam cruise, a young woman pushed in front of us to get in the elevator and then blocked it so my husband could not get in. When I said that we were there first so I would appreciate her moving over, she said it was too early in the morning to be upset. And of course, did not budge! The other passengers who overheard her were incensed and made sure that we were on the next elevator.

 

It doesn't make it better, but just remember, for every jerk, there are probably 100 people who try to help!

[Wennfred]

Del67, That would of been the longest elevator ride, when they doors opened, there would of been 2 people on the floor laid out, as for the OP, Im so sorry to hear what happened, I being a calm type of guy, I dont think I would of had the patients for something like that, Those were 2 sets of black eyes in the making or the opening of a can of Tortuga Rum cake whoop ass. with all said, there are some people that just dont get it and do deserve to be touched up once in a while to bring them back to reality.

[elaineof6]

kitty9-

 

I think I love your mother and your sister. ;-)

 

Some people are just going to be jerks. My belief is, they'll reap what they sow. You know, what goes around, comes around. Karma and all that.

 

You may not be present to see it, but that action will come back to bite them in the butt some day.

[kitty9]

My mom and sister are the greatest people on earth, but the interesting thing is, they are also disabled. My mom has severe rhumatoid and osteo arthritis and my sister has been legally blind without correction since birth, so we all know how tough it can be to have problems. My mom is only 4'8" and her hands and feet are completely deformed by the disease, but she's out there protecting her "babies" all the time. When I was still teaching in the public schools, we would have a "tolerance week" where the able bodied students had to be disabled for two days. Some had to wear blind folds to simulate blindness, some wore noise cancelling headphones to simulate deafness, and others had to be in wheelchairs or use walkers for the two days. It really enlightened them to the challenges of being disabled. We would take them into the community, to supermarkets or the mall, and they had to see what it's like to have physical challenges. It was the greatest program.

[muskrat897]

You might wish to read my thread about rude people.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=157245

[PamsaRN]

so sorry you had to go thru that....people like that need a lesson in life....they don't realize that they are the richest people on earth .....and they have no idea how lucky they are....i wish they could walk a day in our shoes....just so they could understand...especially for chronic diseases you can't always see....hang in there, pam

[curly4dana]

i have to say that i found your thread quite by accident or cooincidence...not that i believe in those...but...i was once a perfectly capable young woman with no ailments whatsoever. that is until i rolled a car back in 1992. i spent over a year in the hospital learning how to walk again as well as working on my memory. i suffered a shattered pelvis and a closed head injury that required brain surgery.

after all these years, i have become a useful and productive member of society, albeit with a limp. my left leg is almost 2" shorter than my right. my ankles and knees, along with my hip are very painful and every morning i ask them to work with me and help me through another day.

the year i spent in the hospital was one i will never forget. i was one of the fortunate few that actually made it out of there in an upright position. it opened my eyes to the hardships handicapped/disabled folks go through every day. i was confined to a wheelchair for that year and a walker for 6-8 months after that. i still had to use a cane for almost another year as my balance was off a tad.

what i went through in that year in that wheelchair, then walker, then cane was something i would never wish upon a soul. the dirty looks, the nasty comment for moving too slowly...etc. it gave me a new-found respect for the disabled! it also showed me what i hadn't seen before...the rude, intolerant behavior of some people. i guess i never noticed it from my position of "able body-ness" that i lived in all my life.

i have to say this...those people, had i been there would have suffered what my husband refers to as the rath of dana!!! lol they would not forget, for a loooong time, how rude and arrogant they were. i refuse to let people like that get away with it...i am usually the first one to, in my ever-charming manner, let them know that they too, have parents and aunts and uncles that will someday grow old, not to mention that they will someday, as well...

i hope that when that day comes, there are bright young minds like theirs, standing behind them in line at the movies, grocery store, whatever, making snide remarks and calling them bitc** because they aren't moving fast enough. do you think for a second they would let someone call their mom such a thing????? but of course not!!

 

kitty...don't let people, and i use that term loosely, don't let them get to you!! you have just as much right to enjoy your vacation as they do...no matter WHAT speed you enjoy it at!!! as has been said before...what goes around comes around.

i think ivana trump said it all when she said..."the best revenge is none at all!" they will get theirs...it's just a shame you might not be there to see it! ;)

 

as for you dear kitty...keep on truckin' as they say! kiss your mom and sister for me and tell them i said...way to go ladies!!!

i also hope to meet you ladies on a cruise some day! it would be my pleasure to walk behind you! :) (even if it's with a limp...lol)

[holidayathesea]

You know what though? If you walk slow, you're able to take in more of the scenery and able to fully enjoy life. Whereas the couple behind you runs through life and doesn't take the time to enjoy it.

[LoriTX]

Sorry you had to go through that!

 

My Brother in Law is on Oxygen...so when we are embarking/disembarking all 4 of us are pulling rolling carts of oxygen bottles and his portable oxygen machine....

 

Well its obvious what is in the bottles.....For heavens sake he has a NOSE HOSE ON!!! But because he is able to walk people dont UNDERSTAND!!!

 

Well the looks and coments we get when people dont pay attention and Trip over them.......Like we are pulling that stuff just for them to trip on!!

 

Also the Comments on Embarkation when they let the 4 of us go to the head of the line and USE THE ELEVATOR!!!

 

He also has a mechanical heart valve.....so it takes longer to go though security!!

 

Lori