Roll on Capitol Hill, a trip full of adventure and advocacy work

Carl in front of Congresswoman Barbara Lee

For the second year in a row, NorCal SCI’s Carl McGrew made the cross country trip to join his fellow peers in the 8th Annual Roll on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., an event organized by the United Spinal Association to advocate on behalf of persons with mobility disabilities with members of the U.S. Congress on issues that have direct impact on this community.  Just like last year, Carl’s trip was filled with surprises, pleasant ones as well as the non-pleasant ones that are captured in his summary below.

“My flight on American Airlines was from San Jose to D.C. with a stop in Dallas,” recalls Carl.  Before boarding the flight in San Jose, he went to the bathroom to relieve himself and didn’t realize until he boarded the plane that he had left his transfer board behind in the bathroom.  Fortunately for Carl, the staff was able to retrieve the board and hand it to him.  Dodged a bullet!

Carl’s adventures were just beginning upon arrival at the Reagan Airport in D.C.  “Once I was transferred on to the aisle chair and taken to the jetway, where I was expecting my wheelchair to be brought, I was notified that due to the failure of the staff to tag the wheelchair to be brought to the jetway, it was instead sent to baggage claim,” said Carl.  The staff retrieved an airport wheelchair and pushed Carl to the baggage claim where he retrieved and transferred into his own wheelchair and left for his hotel.

Congressman Brian Mast of Florida

“Upon arriving at my hotel room, I was pleasantly surprised that the door had an automatic open button, something I had never seen before,” explained Carl.  The room was spacious with open spaces on both sides of the 30” high bed which was great for him.  The bathroom was equally accessible, too.  Overall, he liked what he saw.

In a bit of an irony, the event’s first day featured training organized by United Spinal, held on the third floor of the hotel’s basement where for nearly 100 wheelchair users, there was one elevator accommodating a maximum of three wheelchairs at a time, along with two bathrooms for males and females with each featuring one wheelchair accessible stall.  It shows we’re still a long way from having full access. 

After a full day of training and meeting his fellow peers, it was on to the Capitol Hill where Carl and the group met mostly with legislative aides for several members of the Congress.  This year, ROCH focused on general issues in our community rather than specific legislation, like last year. There is a great deal of interest in autonomous driving vehicles, with the focus being on “include us in design, rather than adding pieces to an existing vehicle as we do now.  Why are there specific spaces for wheelchairs on buses, light rails and other transportation but not on airplanes,” said Carl.

A reception was held that evening in a different congressional office building where awards were given to Congressmen Brian Mast of Florida and Frank Pallone of New Jersey.  Congressman Mast was a bomb disposal expert in the Middle East and today he sports a gleaming pair of manufactured legs.  Congressman Pallone has represented his district for 16 terms, with too many achievements to list here.

“It was an excellent time, seeing people from last year and making new friends. The Rolling was successful, and every legislative assistant we spoke to, got a business card from NorCal SCI. Can’t wait till next year,” concluded Carl.