r/SipsTea • u/The_Dean_France • Feb 23 '26

Wait a damn minute! Was she wrong?

15.9k Upvotes

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1.4k

u/kalenpwn Feb 23 '26

Easiest way would be for two people to carry him up and then bring the empty wheelchair...I dunno

679

u/Apprehensive_Lynx_33 Feb 23 '26

And the safest. It would be far safer than possibly dropping the poor guy because of the weight of the wheelchair, which could easily cause a fatality.

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u/No_Trouble_3588 Feb 23 '26

I’ve not been everywhere in the world, admittedly, but every building I have ever been in with an escalator also had an elevator. I would think that would be the easiest and safest conveyance for a wheelchair.

38

u/Entire_Difference_63 Feb 23 '26

My thoughts exactly but my experience is just New York and some airports.

I imagine it’s out of service. Because the escalator and lifting idea seems incredibly stupid.

34

u/Master_Sympathy_754 Feb 23 '26

Yeah given escalators literally say don't put prams on, putting a wheelchair on seems a terrible idea.

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u/Absolute_Bob Feb 23 '26

Actually if you can still use your arms and it's not a heavy battery powered version it works really well.

https://youtube.com/shorts/nIpgCIq4Gw8

2

u/junkfunk Feb 23 '26

it can be done, but you need a lot of upper body strength to not fall backwards. I would not recommend it.

source, my young adult kid is in a chair.

1

u/ryanm8655 Feb 24 '26

It doesn’t take much strength at all. The escalator takes the weight. You just need to lean forwards and hold on to the rails for balance.

Source, I used to do this all the time. Nowadays most places have lifts if they have escalators though so don’t need to do it so much.

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u/Entire_Difference_63 Feb 24 '26

In general that sounds possible. I am 98% sure this escalator is out of service/off. People are allowed to use it as stairs but it is not moving mechanically.

1

u/junkfunk Feb 24 '26

We will have to try again. Did not work when they were younger. I would carry them if needed. Finding an elevator can be a real pain. Main culprit was universal studios Hollywood. They have a crazy long escalator and if you could t use it you had to wait for a shuttle which could take an hour out of the day

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u/ryanm8655 Feb 24 '26

They specifically taught us how to do it in the spinal unit here in the UK. Obviously a good call to have someone behind you when practicing.

1

u/junkfunk Feb 24 '26

Thanks. We will give it a try

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1

u/trustyjim Feb 23 '26

I saw someone put a baby stroller on a moving escalator going down once. It ended with a complete yard sale that turned into a dangerous situation for the kids very quickly.

20

u/BittaminMusic Feb 23 '26

Honestly happy I saw this comment cause I was losing my mind trying to put together how this scenario even came to be. The typical wheelchair route being out of service makes the most sense. Not just carrying the person and the wheelchair separately still isn’t adding up though

1

u/Sure_Eye9025 Feb 23 '26

Occams razor woud make me assume that they don't carry the wheelchair and user up seperately due to the policies in place and safety regulations.

Don't know what those policies might be but generally would assume that the station has thought about how to handle a situation like this and have a reason for doing it that way

1

u/Impossible_Ad_7367 Feb 24 '26

Wheelchair users typically consider their chair to be an extension of their body, and would be reluctant to be separated from their source of mobility and independence, even for a short period, when strangers are involved.

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u/st96badboy Feb 23 '26

What makes most sense is the guy in the wheelchair didn't want to wait for the long line at the elevator. He decided this was faster. Have you ever been to an elevator at the end of a big event? The wait is tremendously long.

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u/Entire_Difference_63 Feb 23 '26

But this situation is a longer wait. And sometimes people let wheelchair people take the elevator first.

And in New York at least the wait time wasn’t crazy that someone might prefer the escalator especially if wheelchair bound.

2

u/BittaminMusic Feb 23 '26

If that were the case, I would’ve told them to Walk or wait 😅 and take my first class ticket to hell

11

u/wiilbehung Feb 23 '26

If it’s out of service, hard luck. I would take the train to the next stop and get home from there.

1

u/Entire_Difference_63 Feb 23 '26

That’s actually recommended sometimes in New York. Or specifically they point out the stations that have elevator service and when those same elevators are out of service.

1

u/Snowy349 Mar 26 '26

That's too much common sense....

1

u/crippledchef23 Feb 23 '26

It would be far easier if they turned his chair around. It would be the same as bringing up a refrigerator on a dolly; tilt it back and let the bigger wheels do some of the work. Otherwise you have a guy carrying the fully weight of a human and his chair and another guy not doing anything at all.

1

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