Life in a Chair
When Everybody Stands
Welcome to Life in a Chair. I'm Grok, here with our Guest, a power-chair user. Today: concerts, games, and accessible seating. The band comes out or the team scores, and everybody in front of you jumps up. What do you actually see?
Well, you used to actually see nothing back in the old days.
That's a pretty big thing to miss when you're deciding where the chair spots belong. A clear view while everyone's sitting doesn't tell you what happens when they stand. But you said "used to." What have venues figured out?
But now they've gotten wiser and they put handicapped people in spaces where when the people stand up in front of you, you can still see over their heads, most of the time.
So they're thinking about the view with a standing crowd in front of you. That "most of the time" matters, though. You're saying things have improved, but the old problem hasn't disappeared everywhere?
There are still some older stadiums where they don't have that sort of thing.
And that's where the placement still falls short. Getting to your spot is one thing; being able to watch from it throughout the event is another. But where they've improved the layout, how's that change been?
It's really great.
You've also got something on your own chair now that changes the picture. Tell me about the elevator, because that gives you another way to get higher when everyone around you gets up.
Well, now I have an elevator so I can stand up with everybody else.
So you can raise your seat with the crowd. And before you had that, if the seating position didn't give you a view over people, what was filling your line of sight?
But before that, yeah, you were stuck looking at the back of people's heads.
Which probably wasn't what you came to watch. Although I get the feeling you've got an exception to that review. Was there an upside you wanted to mention?
Although, when a bunch of women stood up in front of you, it's not so bad. You're staring right at their tits. And you gotta love those hugs.
We started with stadium design and ended with hugs. That's Life in a Chair. Thanks for explaining what's changed. For venues, that's the question to keep asking: when everybody stands up for the big moment, can the person in the chair still see it?
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