Home » Blog » Mobility Scooters, Obesity and Wall E…what is happening to our health?

Mobility Scooters, Obesity and Wall E…what is happening to our health?

Oh Lardy! is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Obesity, Mobility Scooters and Wall E - www.ohlardy.com

If you have been reading Oh Lardy, you know that my family loves going to Disney World!  We went this February and had a great time, even ate some real food while we were there!  My husband and I did notice something during this recent trip that alarmed both of us and made us sad and scared for the future of our nation.  We saw so many people on mobility scooters, that we felt like we were in the movie, Wall E.

For those of you who have not seen the Disney movie, Wall E, here's a brief synopsis (leaving out the robot love story!)  Essentially, humans have destroyed the earth with litter and garbage and no plants will grow.  They take to a giant spaceship to travel around in space while robots work to clean up the earth.  This takes longer than anticipated (generations) and over time, on the spaceship, humans evolve from fit people who have physical strength to move their bodies to humans who are so obese and physically unfit they can not walk.  They ride around in scooters, drink giant 64 ounce sugary drinks with tvs and advertising flashing all around them.

Hmmmm…this is a movie about the future?  Sadly, it seems very similar to the present, to me.

Any place where there are a lot of different people, you are always going to see a lot of different sized people.  That has been normal.  But, what we were seeing was something different, folks.

Are we becoming the movie Wall E?

What we saw made us scared for our society, as we saw two different groups of people who had either lost or voluntarily given up their ability to be mobile.

Morbidly obese on scooters

We saw countless morbidly obese people who could not physically walk the parks and relied on the scooters to get them around.  The scooters were helping them get around and enjoy the parks however, this made me sad.  This group of people have lost their ability to be mobile.  There are always different reasons why people are obese, however, I had never seen so many people utilizing scooters before at Disney World.  This is what initially led me to the Wall E connection.

We hear so much about the obesity epidemic and here we were witnessing it with our own eyes!

Relatively healthy, average weight 60 year olds on scooters

We also were shocked to see many people in their early 60s, who seemed healthy, of average weight, using the scooters as an easy way to get around the park.  We even witnessed people parking their scooters and jogging to the rides (some women in heels!).

Many of these people seemed to be voluntarily choosing to use the scooter as a way to make walking around the parks less difficult.  A friend of mine just returned from the parks and witnessed a situation where husband and wife were taking turns on the scooter, arguing about whose turn it was to ride.  Seriously?!

Is this our new normal?

I recognize that each individual may have had a variety of medical reasons why there were using the scooters to get around.  These mobility scooters can be hugely helpful for people who need them (people suffering from illnesses such as MS or Lupus, people recovering from surgery or injury, elderly people who have trouble with balance or need help to keep up with their younger family members, to name a few).  And, many morbidly obese people do NEED some sort of mobility device or assistance.

What makes me sad is that the obesity epidemic is so great in our country that so many people NEED these scooters.  This is quickly becoming the ‘new normal' and that terrifies me for our country's health!

Every day, a variety of vans from scooter rental companies would show up at our hotel, dropping off and picking up rental scooters.  (These companies have to be raking in the dough…kudos to that business plan).  I checked out some of these companies online and many were marketing their scooters not just toward people with legitimate mobility issues…but people who don't want to walk.  For just $30/day we can all rent scooters in Orlando.  (This is CRAZY, folks!!!)

Are we getting to the point where we can't even be mobile (either due to physical condition or to choice)?

We witnessed a situation in ‘The Land' at Epcot where there was an escalator and stairs…right next to each other.  There was a LONG line for the escalator and NO ONE was using the stairs.  I wish I had grabbed a picture of it, but we have all seen that type of thing before.

Walking up a flight of stairs is something we should all be able to do!  My daughter asked why we were taking the stairs…our new reply is ‘healthy people take the stairs'.

We are in a sad state of affairs, my friends.  As a society, we are falling apart.  I realize I am preaching to the choir here but seriously…what is happening to us is frightening.  We all know we are facing an obesity epidemic.  The maps below show a scary snapshot of our present and what is most likely going to be our future…our children's future.

Current Obesity Stats

Projected Stats for 2030

According to the CDC, the statistics we are facing make me  scared for my daughter's future and for humanity as a whole.

  • 1 out of 3 children are overweight or obese.
  • 1 out of 3 adults are obese
  • 2 out of 3 adults are overweight or obese.
  • 1 out of 3 children born in 2000 WILL BECOME Type 2 diabetic in their adulthood.
  • These people are at higher risk for heart disease, stroke, many kinds of cancer and more!
  • In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion (this number is only projected to increase, folks)

And, if people who are fairly healthy (like the 60 year olds in scooters, wearing heels and jogging to the rides) are choosing to not exercise, not be mobile, it is only going to get worse.

We should have enough strength, even into our elder years, to carry our own bodies, lift a small bag of groceries, walk up a flight of stairs.  Our society has become so focused on things being fast, cheap and easy.  If this attitude is taken toward our health…it will kill us.

Areas that need change

What are the solutions to this problem?  I wish I had the answer to that question.  We have gotten well beyond the solution of ‘eat less' (fake food) and ‘move more' (although that isn't necessarily bad advice).  There are so many factors but I see three areas that can change to address the situation

1.  Healthcare Industry

We have a healthcare sickcare industry in our society that is dead set on treating the symptoms of many of these lifestyle diseases without treating the cause.  Got diabetes?  Take meds.  Have high cholesterol?  Take meds.  Back hurts?  Take meds (or have surgery).  God forbid, the root of the problem is ever addressed!  How can we expect people to ever get better when the problems just continue to be covered up by meds, meds, more meds and surgery?

2.  Food Industry

Our food industry continues to peddle calorie rich/nutrient poor food leading our bodies to be overfed but our cells to be malnourished.  We are fed a bunch of chemical-, hormone-, pesticide-, antibiotic-laden, colorful pseudo food that is doing nothing to nourish our bodies and is just making us sicker and fatter over time.  And our government continues to allow this by subsidizing cheap gmo soy and gmo corn (which is in almost all processed foods), refusing to enforce better labeling for gmos, artificial colors and flavors and other fake ingredients and by being controlled by powerful lobbyists of the food industry.  (Many of these ingredients are either illegal or must be labelled as potentially harmful in many other countries).

3.  Us

This can be very overwhelming to us all.  However, I think we can all start to make a difference.  We can start to make better, more informed choices with how we spend our food dollar for our own families.  We can help educate other people about making better food and exercise choices.  We can help to change the food culture surrounding our communities, our children's schools and sports activities.  We can just say no to excessive, chemical laden snacks for our kids…it's not just one, folks!  We can sign petitions as they arise and make our voices heard that we are sick and tired of people becoming sick and tired (and obese).

As one of my favorite food advocates, Robyn Obrien, says…

“While none of us can do everything, all of us can do something.”

It is my hope that Oh Lardy is helping people start to do something!!!

What are your thoughts?  I'd love to hear you talk about where our society is headed?  What are your solutions?  Are you doing anything in your household or your community to make a difference?

Pin It!

Obesity, Mobility Scooters and Wall E - www.ohlardy.com

Photo Credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericparker/4128529925
Obesity Maps:  http://www.healthyamericans.org/report/100/ 

This post is featured at:

Real Food Wednesday, Party Wave Wednesday, Thank Your Body Thursday, Old Fashioned Friday, Weekend Whatever, Sunday School Blog Carnival, Thank Goodness It's Monday, Fat Tuesday, Scratch Cooking Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Family Table Tuesday, Tuned in Tuesday

32 Comments

  1. One thing that I think people don’t emphasize enough is the very meds people are being put on *cause* weight gain. Huge numbers of people take antidepressants, antipsychotics, birth control pills, antibiotics, etc. – all of which cause weight gain. I think it’s one of the keys to the obesity epidemic.

  2. We used to be a nation of rugged individualists, proud and independent. My (and your) parents or grandparents would never have considered such an embarrassing accommodation. When did we become so needy, so selfish?

    Keep up the good work Oh Lardy.

  3. My daughter runs a day-care. She does not allow junk food to be brought in by the parents and does not serve junk food. As a matter of fact, it is a policy in the gov’t contract. Many day-care facilities ignore that policy, and I can see why. It is not easy getting it through to the PARENTS, she has had quite the struggle with enforcement… she stands her ground. It takes telling some parents over and over again. Healthy diet and lifestyle starts in the home. Parents need to want to become CONSCIOUS of this. The majority of parents allow themselves to be run ragged with work and choose not to take this invaluable time out to plan for a healthy life. We need to WAKE UP!

    1. Yes, we do need to wake up! It is horribly frightening was is happening to us. Good for your daughter for standing her ground on her junk food policy!!! You are right, too…it does all start in the home. Thank you for commenting!

  4. A seriously sobering and real post. We as a society have gravitated away from how to make food simply and deliciously, so sad. Those of us who can, need to keep stepping forward to make a change. Teach the children well.

  5. It is upsetting to see. I work for an airline and I’m shocked how many airports have had to replace regular wheelchairs with the extra wide ones. Which comes first? The obesity or the inability to walk easily? My own family tends to be very large; we all struggle with weight. My morbidly obese (35 yr old) sister had foot surgery a couple years ago and has been in and out of wheelchairs ever since with issues that won’t heal. I’ve tried gently suggesting some eating changes that have helped me, but she insists her doctor says losing some of the 150 or so lbs she needs to lose won’t help her foot at all. I know how my knees, hips and feet felt when I was 50 lbs overweight. It was painful to walk. But she continues with her junk food diet interspersed with low calorie attempts at dieting with fake food and continues to get fatter and more disabled. I don’t have any solutions for her or anyone else. Most of us won’t be able to change until we ourselves are ready. I just keep hoping she will see that my strange real food diet has made me healthier and much thinner without deprivation, and she’ll finally be ready to listen to my advice.

    1. Thank you for commenting! Wow, I am so sorry about your sister. I think it is great that you are setting an example and, hopefully, one day, she will see the light. The idea that “she insists her doctor says losing some of the 150 or so lbs she needs to lose won’t help her foot at all.”…is just plain wrong. Doctors need to get with the program! ugh! Good for you, though for making such great changes in your own body and life!

  6. Sadly many people look at obese people in scooters and make the same judgemental assumptions as this article. They also cite all kinds of government studies on obesity but wouldn’t trust three sentences of a government statement or study on food or other health issues. There are many people using scooters I am sure, who’s obeisity is the main reason but let me tell you there are many handicapped, limited mobility people who are overweight and use scooters because of their handicap…it is very hard to maintain weight for many people who cannot move. The scooter has given mobility and exposure and some pleasure back in life to many who were happily left out of, behind or alone by the “normal” people in their lives because pushing a wheel chair and negotiating obstacles can be exhausting for a helper.
    I cannot walk because of cancer treatments that left me with 36 inch thighs filled with fluid in the tissue. Therapy is helpful but because of shoulder surgery gone wrong I cannot maintain the benefits of the therapy. My thighs are more than enormous as is my belly…grotesquely misshappen. If you knew the comments I have endured and the stares…..the long months of treatments, the disappointments, the embarrassment. I am so grateful for scooters. I try to eat healthy and encourage those I know to but I have suffered enough not to judge anyone in a scooter or rely on government stats or Michelle Obama’s expertise calling in life. Scooters bring out more people who have been hidden by immobility for years. For many the most insignificant movements you have no clue you are making are painful, difficult or even impossible. Most people do not see my handicaps but oh do the ever see the size if the lower half of my body. It is unbelievable how the same people that are part of the fight against government propaganda about health jump on every word about obeisity. Not every fat person has glandular problems ….true and not every fat person is in a scooter because they are fat. The reason they are in the scooter may be a major contributor to their weight. Lots of people won’t like what I wrote. To them I say just thank God its not your problem to contend with and be gracious. It could very well be chunky ole you in that scooter some day with blown out discs or a crushed hip or a multitude of other issues unrelated to weight. By the way….if obese people are so all fired unhealthy why are all the thin people taking up most of the doctor appointments???…..look around your hospital or doctors office next time you visit. Just trying to give a little perspective to all the fat people in scooters epidemic.
    By the way I hear that same wonderful government epidemic proclaimer has anither new toxic vaccine to stave off the next wave of the bird flu epidemic. Line up.
    Sad that thise in scooters have been now judged needy and selfish. This article and some if the comments are grievious. True people are obese and it is mot healthy but did you know that overweight people can be healthier than slender?

    1. Thank you for your comments. I am so sorry for your medical issues and no worries about the typos! Hope your rehab goes smoothly for your shoulder surgery! Yikes! I realize there are many reasons why people use mobility scooters…I mention several of them in my article. Of course, certain illnesses that make mobility an issue can cause the person to gain weight, as can being of heavy weight cause illnesses. I am also aware that these mobility scooters offer a world to people who have limited mobility and make it easier to get around (another thing that I mention in the article). They make things much easier than a traditional wheelchair. However, the amount of people who do need them because of obesity is pretty overwhelming. And, 50 years ago, there was not this same amount of need. Nowhere in the article do I judge obese people…I am making a comment on our society as a whole…a society in which I think our processed food industry, our health care sick care system and numerous other avenues are causing people to become more overweight, more unhealthy. I think it is great these scooters exist for people that need them. I think it is extremely sad that so many people do need them. And, I do not think our ‘new normal’ of a world full of unhealthy people (no matter what size…as you said, thin people can be very unhealthy too…sometimes even more so!) is a positive ‘normal’. I think that is a huge statement of our society. The obesity statistics can not be denied if you look at the stats from the CDC, or if you don’t believe in government statistics, taking a look around your nearest place where the public gathers. Nowhere in the article did I say people in scooters are needy and selfish….I am concerned about the health of the people in our country and am concerned about our future. Now, the people who do not need the scooters at all and are simply using them to make getting around ‘easier’, so they don’t have to walk as much, are just plain lazy in my opinion. Those people do exist. I know some people like that, unfortunately. I wish you all the best with your recovery and your illnesses. Thank you for stopping by.

      1. These scooters make people who would normally be hidden from society visible. Yes there are obese people using them for whatever reasons. Perhaps many abuse it. I would agree. Obesity is not a good thing and I am not implying it is. Part of my point was that you not only do not know the reasons but you have no way of knowing how many more or less there were 50 years ago because mobility was simply not available much less readily available. You were not judgemental. It was a comment that was particularly upsetting…the needy and selfish was a quote from it.
        I used to judge thin seemingly healthy people taking a handicap parking spot until I learned that just because some can walk short distances does not mean they can endure a shopping excursion for multitudes of reasons. I was young had no medical issues back then. My opinions are more tempered now.

  7. Sorry about all the typos ….In rehab again for a frozen right shoulder from a botched surgery. Right handed and wishing scooters had left handed controls.

  8. Oh my, I hardly know where to begin. The increasing weight/size of people has affected so many areas of life. Seat size affects transit systems like planes, trains, subways, buses and taxis (land and water), ferries; it affects public venues such as theatres, cinemas, restaurants, concert halls and retail establishments. If I am going down a store aisle that was made to accommodate 2-way traffic but I am behind a very large person, I am not (easily) able to pass. This gives me an opportunity to slow down, calm myself and imagine being in their shoes. It is difficult to not be angry. But who should I be angry at?
    Many countries envy Canada’s universal health care. You refer to sick care and it is certainly that, but it is also an enabler. Our physicians are dissuaded from advocating self-empowerment with respect to diet, exercise and fresh air. Such a regimen does not enrich an industry that feeds off medication, hospitalization and surgery.
    I am a new subscriber but like what I see so far. Perhaps you can influence change in the disbelieving. You can certainly ‘preach to the choir’. And maybe you can help us walk the talk and present a good example. If you can do more than that, sign me up.

  9. This article popped up on my pinterest feed today. Interestingly enough, this movie was just on TV and my husband and I were just talking about how it will be the US in 50 yrs give or take a few. I think of myself as far, FAR from a conspiracy theorist but I can’t help but question the nation’s food and pharmaceutical industries. What we’re eating has been proven time and again to be making us sick, causing us to utilize the “sick care” system (love that description- nailed it!), which is throwing pills down our throats which only bandaids the problem rather than fixes it. This is more concerning when you think about how many times those medications given are ones that will need to be taken for as long as the (curable through diet and exercise) problem exists. I can’t help but wonder what kind of kickbacks are there that we don’t know about. This world still has some good left but when it comes to money and business ethics are kinda circling the drain… would it really surprise anyone to find out the food industry has their hands in the pharmaceutical industry’s wallet?

  10. Ah – the drugs we are put on. My latest “episode” with the medical profession was that I need to “work thru” the pain. I was then given a prescription for the pain. I was told there was nothing else the doctors could do. I took a good hard look at my situation and decided that if I am to “work thru” anything, I will have to do it without the mind numbing drugs. I was in such a fog that I literally was not functioning. So, I started coming off the medications (the ones for pain) and started to function again although with a good deal of pain. What I learned though is that some of the drugs were working against each other – I was getting no benefit from them at all. A few weeks later, I finally am able to move – still with pain but it is tolerable for the most part. My brain is working. A big ah moment though was that I have lost weight just by coming off the meds! I am starting now to work on other health issues. I have never used a mobility scooter but I did use a cane for a while. After getting rid of the pain meds, I have also ditched the cane. Feels good – real good!

  11. I commend many decent comments from lovely people, here, but mostly Tamara and her brave and honest blog! I am a lady in the UK and the same thing is happening here to such an extent that scooter users have been demonized by our own press (BBC and UK mainstream media) To clarify, I am, myself a scooter user who is just 46 but I became this way after spine surgery last year. I am also a petite 9 stone and a little over 5 foot tall….however I feel I have to explain my being on a scooter to every stranger with a raised eyebrow…its embarracing! I am a UK size 10 (I think a 6 is USA) love to wear nice clothes and heels on my scooter…but I am compleatly disabled from the hip down. My home as been modified by my husband for my disabillity and I am fortunate to have a hot tub where I can excersise in reletive comfort. I still love my good, healthy fresh food and even wine…but I just want to cry when a stranger stares at me simply because I am on a scooter. I am not a monster (but these stares tell me so) I am a women simply making the best of life! Thank you for your frank and honest blog, and your lovely commenters…at least now I feel that I am not alone.
    Toria UK x

  12. I have so many things I can say on this subject, I completely agree with you. I try not to judge people I see in public because I don’t know what they’re going through or why they are in the condition they are in. But it’s hard not to when I know so many people who purposely live this way. I have a family member who uses her husband’s handicap sign to get close parking spots when she goes places alone. I have another family member who switches doctor’s all the time until she finds one who will give her medical leaves from work and then goes on all day shopping sprees with friends while she’s out of work. I have a few other family members who say they’d much rather pop a pill than exercise and eat healthy any day and don’t care that their medical problems keep getting worse. My husband and I always take the stairs over the escalator/elevator. We park at the far end of the parking lot rather than driving around trying to grab the close spot. We try to walk instead of taking public transportation (went to NYC for a weekend last year and one day walked over 7 miles!). We had people who thought we’re crazy that we walk to our local YMCA for our kids swim classes. It’s 1 mile from our house and so many people say it’s such a far distance, they can’t believe we’d walk that!!! When did 1 mile become a long distance?? We call all that free exercise. We do all that because we want to stay as healthy as possible. We have one set of parents who are in their early 60s, look like they’re in their 80s and can barely get around. Meanwhile the other set of parents are in their upper 60s, are in good shape and try to exercise and eat healthy as best as they can. And they’ve had people not believe their eligible for senior discounts because they don’t look as old! They have some minor medical issues that could turn major, but are keeping things under control through diet and exercise. That’s how my husband and I want to be when we get older. When I retire, I’m hoping to have at least a good 15-20 more years to enjoy life and do things before having to really slow down and change my lifestyle. I don’t know what my future might bring, but I’m going to try my hardest to stay as healthy as possible as long as I can. And to me, I just don’t get why that isn’t a normal attitude for a majority of people. I’m scared how I see our society going and am trying to educate my children about being healthy. They get it now , but I just continue to hope they’ll continue the attitude as they get older.

  13. I found this post to be kind of ignorant. The worst thing is, if I hadn’t have gotten GBS and suffered nerve damage in my feet and legs at age 39 I would never have understood things the way I do now. This article could have easily been written by me before I got sick. I admit though even today, while I am not thin, I am not morbidly obese either, whn I see someone like that on a scooter in the store I wonder if it is JUST that reason and not a separate health reason because they are taking the scooters I need legitimately. So having said that I suffered for a couple of years because I DIDNT want to be seen on one of those things in the store. Because I look so young anyway I felt that ppl were staring at me thinking I was being lazy. But I have since realized over these last few years that what you are witnessing are people who in the past HID in their homes and never went anywhere. The real reason you are seeing so may scooters isn’t because there is an epidemic of fat people, although there has been one for some time now, it is because the SICK people who need to use these things FINALLY are, Think about it, 20 years ago, where were the ten percent population who were disabled? You hardly EVER saw them just being normal and shopping. WHY because they were not able to go and so relied on others and the mail order industry to help them. They never got out or went anywhere because there were no scooters and when there were the stigma was bad. What you saw at Disney World was the stigma of NEEDING help being stomped out and it was a GREAT thing. I also CAN walk, but the pain gets so bad from doing it that I cant go many places. IF I go to a place like that, a scooter is a necessity but when I get off of one I look normal, so realize that even if you cannot readily see a disability it is most likely there and don’t assume like that.

  14. Today, a morbidly obese woman on a scooter almost ran over me and my 5-year-old son. She then had the gall to get snippy with me because she thought I was in HER way. I had a short verbal argument with the awful human being before I forced myself to walk away before I started swearing in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. Disney needs to start regulating these scooters somehow.

  15. Thanks for this post! I just came back and was alarmed at seeing how many people are doing this! Sad and frustrating. Disney should not make it so easy to rent one.

  16. “We also were shocked to see many people in their early 60s, who seemed healthy, of average weight, using the scooters as an easy way to get around the park. ”

    Please do be careful wiht this. I look like a totally healthy 50 year old person. I am trim, normal weight, etc…. However I have a rare form of muscular dystrophy with an onset of 40 to 50 years old that is continuing to weaken my muscles to where I cannot walk long distance or do stairs, but going to a ride off or on I am fine.

  17. Where I live in Florida there are way too many obese people on scooters (and obese people not on scooters) in stores by me and other surrounding towns I’ve visited for it to be mainly medical related. there’s no way all these people have side effects from medication, and they get on and off their scooters fine so their legs work as well.
    Most of these people eat too much, don’t want to walk, and with a scooter available they don’t have to. I think store and amusement park scooters should only be available to people with a medical pass and that would help stop this nonsense.

  18. I pray you are never struck down with an invisible illness. You have no idea what it is like to suddenly lose your mobility. All you see is FAT people being LAZY. What you fail to realize is that the list of INVISIBLE ILLNESSES outweighs the list of visible ones.

    Those “fat and lazy” people you seem to despise so have always existed. But before present technology, they would have been bedridden like I was, and still am , some days. 1.5 years of misdiagnosis and improper medications caused me to gain 30 lbs while barely eating. I kept fighting and found a good cardiologist who believed me and my self-diagnosis of Dysautonomia and Hyperandrenic POTS. I am now on more appropriate medications, 3 times a day, and can get out of bed many days. But I also take a medication that must be taken with food or it releases 40% more medication and stop my heart.

    I suggest you have some compassion and research instead of judge. If you think we relish the idea of using a mobility aids to avoid walking, you are deluded. I would happily build a time machine and go back to the unbroken body that carried 10 children, cooked from scratch, sailed, swam, walked miles without worrying about tachycardia, chest pain, dizziness or shortness of breath…

    https://invisibledisabilities.org/ida-books-pamphlets/accessibleparking/dontjudgebyappearances/

  19. Great ideas you are added. This is a very helpful post for my little daughter. Her needs this Mobility Scooters for this entertaining. I like your concept to learn this use a scooter. Thanks for sharing your great experience.

  20. Wal E was a frightening look at what this society is becoming as we eat considerably worse and get less exercise. The more we can do to combat this the less likely that future will be for us and our kids.

  21. Currently at Disney world (from England, first time visiting Florida). Absolutely horrified by the scale of the obesity crisis here. It’s utterly harrowing that people are over eating themselves into disability. It’s very upsetting to see how many people are in this state and how it is so normalised here. No one bats an eyelid. I have never seen anything close to this in the UK / Europe. It’s very sad that obesity has become commonplace and completely accepted — even encouraged! in Florida / US. Why are so many people allowed to be in these electric scooters with no medically registered disability. What it going on. Why do people using these contraptions get priority on the Disney buses, getting on first and taking up 3+ seat spaces when they are not registered disabled. Just don’t want to walk. Stop with the excuses, the majority of these people have eaten themselves into this situation and continues to do so. Where’s the self respect and respect for those around. What can possibly be done! A massive wake up call is needed. It’s insane and I wouldn’t come to Disney world ever again.

  22. I am overweight and use a scooter. People look at me like they are horrified that someone my size is riding a scooter and older people are walking around. The fact is I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have had four knee surgeries and still need crutches to walk. Sometimes it takes all I have to get to the store because of extreme stiffness. On days when I can get to say Walmart, which is no more than once a week, I am confronted by hate. My one day out of the house for sometimes two to three weeks. I cannot believe the cruelty. Yes, obesity is out of control but so are hate and judgment. Sometimes I can only sit in the car. I watch people walking around and I wonder if they know how really lucky they are. I use to have a life. I am not what I look like to the public. I traveled all over the United States for my job, which I loved. Bit by bit my illness took over. I no longer could rent a car because I could not lift my luggage. I could not be still for more than 15 minutes or I would stiffen. I always had to sit in window seat on a plane because of my stiffness. Finally the day came that I could no longer get off the plane. I lost the job I loved and lost my ability to control my life. I was at the mercy of a disease that had no mercy. Now I am easy prey to the judemental, the haters. All I can say is hopefully you will never be struck down and left to merciless.

  23. Reading this insightful blog made me feel extremely guilty, I am also one of those culprits. Actually, I do not rent the scooter, I own one of them and use them even to buy grocery from the neighborhood market, never realized its implications. Thanks for waking me up 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *