Elevators where?

I was playing basketball at Carmichael when I fell awkwardly and rolled my ankle. I was in a lot of pain and iced it but I had a noticeable limp. When I returned to my dorm later that day, I realized that I would have to climb three flights of stairs with a hurt ankle. I tried to power through it, but after the first half flight of stairs, I decided to hop up the rest of the stairs with my backpack on, using the railing to balance. That was quite the leg workout. Unfortunately, I had to go up the stairs because Bragaw has no elevators or at least any that I know of, for the public to use.

What if I was to be more harm than just an ankle injury? What if one of my hall mates had an accident that prevented them from walking? Then they would have to move out of where they called home for the past three months. If they are far from where they grew up, the moving may even become more difficult as you do not have your family to help accommodate you moving.

What if I wanted to have a friend over to my dorm that used a wheelchair? I could drag him up the stairs and try to get some help to lift my friend up the stairs, but these options are far too dangerous for everyone involved. So the reality is that he cannot come to my dorm room.

Stacey Milbern comments on a social model to fight the injustices that impaired people face in a video titled “My Body Doesn’t Oppress Me, Society Does.” “ I have a physical impairment. And then disability is like what society creates as barriers because of the impairment. So like, as you’re saying, if we’re in a place where my access needs are getting met, then my impairment isn’t so significant. But when it’s not because society doesn’t want to, then that’s the problem.”

So under the social model, my ankle or my friend's inability to walk is not the problem. The problem is that there is no elevator. So why do we put up barriers that hold others back when we could be in the same position?