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AIBU

To think that in the 21st century....

(45 Posts)
Nandalot Sat 01-Sep-18 16:05:30

......a hospital wheelchair should be able to be pushed forwards with the patient looking the way she is going.
Yesterday, after a friend had received excellent treatment from the local hospital I went to collect her to take her home. We had to make a long trek down seeming interminable corridors but the wheelchair was behaving like a badly behaved supermarket trolley. A passing member of staff told me if I pulled the wheelchair behind me it would move easily. It did, but I felt bad for my friend who was now travelling backwards. I am not having a go at the NHS at all. I just feel the manufacturers of wheelchairs should make sure their wheelchairs can be pushed not pulled.
What surprises you about the 21st century?

lemongrove Sat 01-Sep-18 16:08:04

that it's not much different to the 20th century grin as yet.

paddyann Sat 01-Sep-18 16:09:09

That so many people dispute FACTS ,they'll argue black is white even though the evidence says otherwise .Thats the basis of the FAKE NEWS phenomenon.If someone doesn't like the truth they'll tell you its a lie.,and that goes for every level of society from trump and May down

lemongrove Sat 01-Sep-18 16:10:10

why aren't we all taking a tablet instead of eating a meal? My Mother always thought and hoped that would come true.

Auntieflo Sat 01-Sep-18 16:24:37

I don't know why, but whenever I have had to be in a hospital wheelchair, going backwards, it makes me feel nauseous.

tanith Sat 01-Sep-18 16:39:40

Hospital wheelchairs are used a lot and consequently the wheels jam or don’t turn well unless they are maintained regularly, which they are not. Porters and ambulance staff rather than give the patient a possible bumpy stop start ride they pull them backwards which works better for the patient as you found out. Wheelchair maintainance will come way down the budget list of priorities.

lemongrove Sat 01-Sep-18 16:47:04

yes, they do seem to be like supermarket trollies, with wheels that jam.

Jane10 Sat 01-Sep-18 16:48:22

I suppose hospital wheelchairs have a hard life being pushed and bumped around. Maybe it was an old one and due for replacement?
Pushing wheelchairs is hard work!

Cabbie21 Sat 01-Sep-18 17:06:20

I always think it strange that the position for wheelchairs on our buses means the occupant is travelling backwards. Not ideal, in fact one elderly lady who I see on a regular basis was once sick on the bus, poor soul.

JudyJudy12 Sat 01-Sep-18 17:18:18

I was told it was to stop them being borrowed and not returned,stolen.

Maggiemaybe Sat 01-Sep-18 18:01:38

What surprises me about the 21st century (apart from the fact that we’re actually in it) is that we’re not yet travelling on hover boards. So disappointing.

Elegran Sat 01-Sep-18 18:25:51

So what would you call the century between the year 0 and the year 100 AD, the one that was the first hundred years (ie, century) after Christ? Would you call it the first century or the nothingness century? A lot happened in those hundred years, they did exist.

Nandalot Sat 01-Sep-18 18:46:03

Just seen an article on BBC website about some wonderful wheelchairs at Barry Island with really large, balloon type wheels that can take the occupant right onto the sand.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-45297082/barry-island-s-wheelchairs-are-transforming-beach-trips

petra Sat 01-Sep-18 18:50:01

That we haven't found a cure for the common cold.

Aepgirl Sun 02-Sep-18 07:16:53

That it's always somebody else's fault for people's mishaps. Let's all go back to taking care of ourselves without notices telling us that the ground is uneven, or that a road may be slippery after rain or ice!

Apricity Sun 02-Sep-18 07:48:01

What surprises me and horrifies me about the 21st century is that as a species we never seem to learn. Despite the relatively recent horrors of two world wars and countless other conflicts in the 20th century we continue on the path of destruction. There are still horrible conflicts and atrocities being committed across the globe, women and children are still being subjected to appalling treatment, we are facing monumental global challenges like climate change that too few want to acknowledge and address and the rich and powerful just keep getting richer, more self absorbed and more powerful. All this to the grave detriment of the good ship Mother Earth and all who sail with her.

On the plus side the sun still rises every morning, the moon and stars shine every night, birds still sing, flowers bloom in spring and my grandchildren still greet me with smiles and hugs. My greatest anxiety is about the world they will inherit.

Willow10 Sun 02-Sep-18 08:25:45

Very well said Apricity. Why do we never learn .....

lovebeigecardigans1955 Sun 02-Sep-18 08:27:59

The population of the world is exploding, we knew about it a long time ago but still nothing is done. We're running out of space. We can't concrete it all over or make more land.

floorflock Sun 02-Sep-18 08:37:19

Thanks lovebeigecardigans1955 I am glad someone else has pointed that out, without some restraint on the population there may not be a 22nd Century unless they are all shoulder to shoulder!

kazziecookie Sun 02-Sep-18 08:49:57

That we are going backwards. It is getting more like Victorian times with people begging and homeless. The rich getting richer and the poor going hungry and having to go to food banks. Children having to be fed during the school holidays. I think we will be having work houses again soon.
As Apricity says we never learn still we fight each other and destroy things.
I feel for the youngsters as the world is not getting any better.

harrigran Sun 02-Sep-18 09:02:41

Wheelchairs can only be pulled backwards to prevent people from playing silly beggars and racing each other in the corridors. Just look at the kind of people you get in A&E after the pubs and clubs close.

quizqueen Sun 02-Sep-18 09:16:50

I'm really surprised we haven't made genuine alien contact by now. Well, we probably did years ago but NASA (never a straight answer) doesn't tell the truth about anything.

Coconut Sun 02-Sep-18 09:29:19

Ditto Apricity .... still so much cruelty, hatred and intolerance on this beautiful planet of ours. Michael Jackson’s “ what have done to the world” often plays in my head.....

Maybelle Sun 02-Sep-18 09:59:55

Not only do hospital wheels go better backwards! But why aren't hospital disabled toilets big enough to get a wheelchair into.
I had to push him into the bathroom, help him out of the wheelchair and leave him trying to stand whilst I got the wheelchair out of the room and only then could I shut the door!

Hm999 Sun 02-Sep-18 10:00:43

I'm with Kazziecookie. Lack of empathy for our fellow man, or us it the incredibly nature of the 21st century. I think we are going backwards.

Oh and lying politicians who think it's ok when they're caught out. They used to resign and be embarrassed.