I sometimes want to take “ordinary” people — the ones who aren’t fat, the ones who aren’t neuro-atypical, the ones who aren’t mobility disabled and so on, the ones the world is built for (and largely by) — on an “exclusion walk” through the average suburban mall or shopping strip. Just so they can see how many different ways people who aren’t them are told “you aren’t welcome” or “you aren’t worthwhile”, and how often it happens, and how bloody much it hurts when it does. Just so they can get an idea of precisely how few “safe spaces” there actually are in the world for people who aren’t them. Just so they can get an idea of how often we’re told “you don’t belong”, “you aren’t acceptable”, “it’s too much work to accommodate you”, “your money is worth less”, and so on.

I’d like to think it would be eye-opening. However, I have the horrible suspicion it would only last about two or three minutes. Then the privilege blinkers would slide into place again, and they’d go on blithely through life being welcomed into just about everywhere, and ignoring those of us who are shut out on the sidelines. After all, it’s all our own fault, and all within our own control (we should have been smart and chosen the right parents, like they did!).