点评:I’m a wheelchair user, and unfortunately my experience at the Funny Bone in Liberty Township was deeply upsetting and inaccessible.
My husband and I called ahead, spoke with the general manager, explained that I use a wheelchair, and followed the instructions we were given for arrival and seating. Despite that, I was placed at a table configuration that did not safely accommodate my chair. Getting me into position required an extremely difficult maneuver through a crowded room, and at one point my husband had to physically lift me while I was still in my wheelchair just to get me angled toward the stage.
A staff member then came over three separate times asking me to “make more space.” There was nowhere else for me to go. My wheelchair could not become smaller. By the third request, I was quietly crying from embarrassment and humiliation. Other patrons around us actually began speaking up for me and saying that I had a right to be there.
I finally asked for the general manager to come down so we could find a solution. Instead, the staff member came back and simply told us, “You’re good.” I had specifically asked to speak with the manager, and that never happened.
What made the evening even more concerning was watching similar treatment happen to other disabled patrons. A woman using a mobility cane was repeatedly told to move it despite trying to comply. A Deaf patron who lip-reads asked for seating where he could face the stage and was told that because he had not called ahead, nothing could be done. Immediately afterward, the manager thanked my husband for calling ahead and treated us as an example of having done things “the right way,” even though calling ahead had not prevented me from being repeatedly singled out and humiliated.
After the show, we asked for a refund for tickets we had purchased for the following weekend because I did not feel safe returning. The manager refunded us, but also asked us to give the venue another chance and offered complimentary tickets so they could “show us they could do better.” We agreed in good faith and told them which night would work. As of the day of that show, we still had no tickets, no confirmed accessible seating, and no response.
This was not just an uncomfortable seating issue. I felt repeatedly treated as a problem to manage instead of a paying customer. I also previously attended this venue while using a wheelchair and was seated in the back alongside another wheelchair user and a patron with a service dog, which left me with a similar feeling of being pushed out of the way.
I’m sharing this because disabled patrons deserve to know what they may encounter here. If you use a wheelchair, mobility aid, service animal, or need another accessibility accommodation, I would strongly recommend contacting the venue in advance and getting everything confirmed in writing. Even then, based on my experience, I would be cautious.
翻译:我是一名轮椅使用者。很不幸,我在自由镇的Funny Bone餐厅的体验既令人沮丧又极其不便。
我和丈夫事先打电话给餐厅,与总经理通话并说明我需要使用轮椅,随后也按照指示安排了抵达及就座事宜。但即便如此,餐厅还是把我安排在一张无法让轮椅安全停靠的桌子旁。为了让我能够就座,我们不得不在拥挤的餐厅里艰难地移动,过程极其费力。有一次,我仍然坐在轮椅上,丈夫不得不亲自把我抱起来,才让我能够面向舞台。
随后,一名工作人员三次走过来,要求我“腾出更多空间”。但我根本无处可去,我的轮椅也没法变得更小。到第三次被要求时,我因尴尬和屈辱而偷偷落泪。这时,周围的其他观众竟然站出来为我说话,说我有权待在那里。我最终请求让总经理下来,这样我们就能找到解决办法。然而,那名工作人员回来后只是简单地对我们说:“没问题了。”我明明特意要求与经理面谈,但这一要求始终没有得到满足。
更令人担忧的是,我看到其他残疾顾客也遭到了类似的对待。有一位使用助行杖的女性,尽管尽力配合,却仍被反复要求把助行杖挪开。一位能通过唇读来理解话语的失聪顾客请求安排一个能正对舞台的座位,但得到的答复是:由于他事先没有打电话预约,所以无能为力。紧接着,经理又感谢我的丈夫事先打了电话,还把我们当作“行事得当”的典范来夸赞——尽管事先预约也没能阻止我屡次被单独挑出来当众羞辱。
演出结束后。我们为下个周末购买的门票申请了退款,因为我觉得回去不安全。经理同意退款,但同时请求我们再给该场馆一次机会,还主动提供免费门票,说这样就能“向我们证明他们能做得更好”。我们出于善意答应了,并告知他们我们方便前往的日期。然而到了演出当天,我们依然没有收到门票,也没有得到关于无障碍座位的确认信息,更没有得到任何回复。
这可不仅仅是一个座位安排上的问题。我多次感觉自己被当作需要处理的“问题”而非付费顾客。以前我坐着轮椅也来过这个地方,当时我被安排在后排,旁边还有另一位轮椅使用者和一位携带服务犬的顾客,那种感觉就像是自己被刻意排除在人群之外。
我分享这些经历,是因为残疾顾客有权知道自己在这里可能会遇到什么情况。如果你使用轮椅、其他助行器具、服务犬,或者需要其他无障碍设施协助,。我强烈建议事先联系举办场地,并将所有事项以书面形式确认下来。即便如此,根据我的经验,我还是会保持谨慎态度。