Side Notes by Esko: Confessions of a Photoloographer

When Evie and I go places, there is a purpose to it, apart from just enjoying the going and the places. At least that is our goal: investigating how pleasant, easy, difficult or even risky going there is for users of mobility scooters.

The way this works is pretty simple: Evie does the intellectual heavy lifting, finding out places and times to go, and she plans our itinerary to follow when we get there. I make sure we take snacks and water, and I provide the Side Notes.

As Side Notary, it is part of my duties to act as tester of certain facilities, more precisely gentlemen’s bathrooms.

I will resolutely enter the ones marked with a wheelchair symbol to indicate that the installation is accessible.

If it seems at all possible, I will drive my scooter in there, and maneuver in the limited space of the cubicle to create a realistic sense of movements associated with such operation, irrespective of whether these actions were performed or merely imagined. One thing I mostly only need to imagine, is the urgency that is often concomitant with visits to bathrooms.

While on these assignments, I also naturally make notes of cleanliness, equipment, et cetera. The best way to document everything is of course taking photos, which is why I have embarked on a career as a photoloographer.

An example of this was our recent adventure to the Round Rock Summer Arts Fest in downtown Round Rock. This was an occasion when the fruits of our efforts became immediately ready to harvest. I took a photo of a porta-potty marked accessible, but found that it had been rather unfortunately placed, so that entering it with a wheelchair or mobility scooter would have been risky. It was dangerously close to a curb.

Evie took action and presented my work to the organizers of the event. They not only promised to look into it, they actually rectified the situation immediately. When we passed the same place a few minutes later, the thing had been turned 90⁰ so that the door faced away from the scary curb. Mission accomplished!  Not bad for an amateur photoloographer.

Thanks to the team at the Round Rock Summer Arts Fest for listening and acting quickly!