Some people…

I should not be surprised anymore when I see the nasty and selfish side of humanity but a couple of weeks ago, I was appalled by the behaviour of some Arsenal fans in front of me at the Emirates Stadium.  Seeing as it’s nearly Christmas, I’ll tell this anecdote through the form of a festive tale.

Twas the 8^th of December and Arsenal vs Everton was about to begin in North London. A Down’s syndrome couple were sitting just below me waiting for the teams to emerge from the tunnel. As is standard, when the players did come out onto the pitch, everyone rose and gave them a standing ovation (an odd thing to do considering they’ve done nothing). This doesn’t affect my view because the wheelchair platform is raised, making for a perfect view of the pitch. However, I was slightly concerned that the aforementioned pair wouldn’t be able to see the match because even after kick-off, everyone was still on their feet.

A man in front of me was also aware of the problem and asked if they wanted to move to sit up near the wheelchairs. They said no and a lot of you are probably thinking that’s their fault if they couldn’t see. Wrong. People who have learning disabilities don’t like change and because that is where their seat was on the ticket, they couldn’t just move. I spent the first 15 minutes of the match worrying about the couple because the girl started crying and I felt sorry for them. The stewards were soon on the scene, asking for people to sit down. Most did, except for a few ignorant morons.

A group of men refused and one of them even had the nerve to ask the two “you’re alright. Aren’t you?” when clearly they were not. That angered my brother and I who shouted, telling the idiots (obviously we used stronger words) to sit down. They didn’t hear and no fight followed but we all know that ‘Wheelchair Boy’ would have took them no problem.

Now, I’m all for the introduction of safe standing like in Germany but until that happens, people need to think that there could be people who can’t see at the back. It’s another case of people either being ignorant and unaware or purely selfish. Some people are just [insert swear word here].

On that festive note 

Bye for now!