Grocery shopping. Appliance shopping. Window shopping. Shopping for yourself.  Shopping for others. Shopping for necessities or shopping for fun. There are many different types of shopping that people do. While some people absolutely despise shopping, others really enjoy it. The way we shop has evolved over the years. Have you ever thought about how many different steps it takes to actually buy something? From figuring out transportation to get to the store, to reaching and grabbing an item or rummaging through racks of clothes to find the right size, to putting the items in the cart or carrying them to the checkout, to getting cash or a card out of your wallet.. There are many things that people have to do when going to a store. Most of the time, these steps aren’t even thought about because most of the time they become second nature to people.

“Do you have your list ready?,” my mom always asks me about a week before Thanksgiving every year. I always know what list she’s referring to even when she doesn’t specify it—it’s my list for Black Friday shopping.  For well over 25 years, my mom and I have gone shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It has become tradition.  When my sister was younger, she used to come with us and we would have a fun girls day. Starting when I was in college, it was the only day I had to get all of my Christmas shopping done.

Before online shopping became a popular option for people, people had no choice but to physically go to stores to get items.  For most people, getting to stores isn’t usually a problem; however, when you have physical limitations that prevent you from being able to drive, it can often become an obstacle. As I’ve written about in previous entries, finding reliable accessible transportation to get to and from places is often a huge barrier for people who are unable to drive.  In Oshkosh, there is only one accessible cab company for non-medical rides (although they do medical transportation which is likely a big part of the problem) and it’s so unreliable. For example, a few years ago, I waited nearly three hours for a ride back from the grocery store. When you have a limited number of care hours, you can’t spend over half of the shift just running to the store— it isn’t feasible. The bus system is accessible, but, again, it takes too long to get to and from stores. Needless to say, I currently do most of my shopping when I’m with my parents or online.

Getting to the store is just the first step.  Nowadays, many places have automatic doors, but, if that isn’t the case, I have to wait until someone opens the door for me. Fortunately, people are generally eager to help. Once I’m in the store, I’m able to navigate through on my own pretty well. Having said that, problems arise when the aisles are narrow or products are in the middle of them.  This frequently happens especially during the holiday season. I try my best, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’ve never taken out a display or knocked multiple items off shelves and racks before.

If I’m looking at clothes, I’m usually able to rummage through the racks with my left hand. Albeit, tricky at times, I have just enough fine motor ability to move hangers up and down the rack.  When I find a clothing item that I’m interested in looking at closer, I’m able to grab it and put it on my lap.  Depending on what is, I can usually balance it on my lap long enough to decide whether or not I want to purchase it. Yes, items frequently fall on the floor and occasionally get run over, but I try my best. Although, not always the case in the past, someone is usually in the store with me, so I’m able to take the item to that person either to carry or put back on the rack or shelf if I decide I don’t want to buy it (I don’t have the strength or coordination to be able to put things back where they came from).  

If I’m shopping non-clothing items, depending on what it is, I’m sometimes able to grab the item off of the shelf and put it on my lap. Obviously, heavy or breakable things are off limits for me to try to pick up. If I’m able to reach and grab a thing off the shelf and set it on my lap safely, I then usually try to balance it and bring it to the person who is with me. Again, things occasionally end up on the floor, but I do the best I can.  

When I was going to school in Whitewater, there was a grocery store just a few blocks from campus. When the weather was nice, there were a handful of times when I went grocery shopping by myself. I don’t know how I ever managed to do it, but I would even get a gallon of milk on my tray. Since there were lots of people who had physical disabilities in Whitewater, people in the community were used to helping out. People would reach items off shelves for me. I even had cashiers go into my purse, take a check out of my checkbook, and put it through the register which would automatically fill it out. They also knew to hang the bags on the back of my wheelchair. It was a neat situation because it wasn’t unusual to see a person with a significant disability shopping alone in Whitewater.

Now that I have a worker with me most of the time, shopping is a lot easier. Fortunately, my apartment is less than a mile from a grocery store, so when it’s nice out, I’m able to walk to the store with my caregiver.  The person follows me around with a cart and grabs the items that I indicate I want. When I checkout, the caregiver helps me place the items on the counter and then gets my credit card out of my wallet. Obviously, with having people go into my wallet, I have to know exactly what I have in it. Furthermore, it goes without saying that I have to trust the person who is going into my purse. Once I’m done paying, the worker bags up the groceries (or whatever the items are) and hangs the bags on my chair.  If there are too many bags to fit on my chair, the worker will carry them.   Now that I have a caregiver all day, I’ll try using the cab to go shopping more during winter— maybe it has improved.

 The concept of online shopping didn’t become popular until the mid-part of this quarter century. As it became more and more advanced, it changed how the world runs.  For many people with disabilities and disabilities and health conditions, being able to shop in the comfort of their own home has been life-changing. As simple as it sounds, being able to make purchases totally independently has been awesome. I have my credit card information in a secure place where I can independently access it, so I don’t need any assistance buying things online.

Personally, I like doing a combination of in-person and online shopping.  While the convenience of shopping is really nice, I really enjoy going to stores. Shopping often turns into a social opportunity and I love looking at different things. For me, navigating through the jammed aisles and crowds is part of the fun of shopping. Online shopping is great in certain situations.  There have been multiple times when I’ve purchased items off Amazon because I knew I’d receive it within two days.  That’s a really useful feature when you can’t just hop in the car and run to the store. 

Whether people like it or not, shopping is a part of almost everyone’s life. Some people face unique challenges while navigating through stores; however, if you love to shop as much as I do, you don’t mind navigating through those obstacles in order to partake in something you thoroughly enjoy!

***The views expressed here are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of InControl Wisconsin, the Network or any of our sponsors