Most public places are ADA compliant. Few are truly welcoming for older, disabled folks

My buddy Howard Peretz, the “Old-School Sports Junkie,” is pretty funny.

He did a standup set recently at a Phoenix comedy club to promote his new book, “An Unusual Legacy: Random Wit and Recall from a Life Well Lived.”

It was his first attempt at telling jokes on stage, notable because he’s 83 years old and because he did his performance from a rollator transport, a combination of a wheelchair and a walker.

“It’s sitdown comedy,” Howie said.

Most of his jokes made light of his life as an older person, a fast-growing demographic that mainstream society isn’t doing enough to include and accommodate in daily life.

“When I was a younger man, I wanted a BMW,” he said from the stage. “These days, I’m just hoping for a BM.”

No wonder we see few older, disabled folks

He’s in great spirits, but I worry about the guy.

He’s a lifelong sports fan and author who remembers rooting for the New York Yankees back in the 1940s. He doesn’t go to nearly as many games as he used to, even though he’s got the time and the money, which wasn’t always the case when he was earning a living in the toy business.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him during the Arizona Diamondbacks’ recent run to the World Series. Covering that stretch added a few new stadiums to my scrapbook and confirmed something I’ve noticed without ever thinking about: It’s rare to see older people or disabled people out in the world.

I can’t count the number of venues I’ve been to over the last seven years, not to mention festivals, concerts, airports, hotels and restaurants … plus comedy clubs.

There just aren’t that many accommodations that could help people with mobility problems.

Are there special walking lanes on concourses? And why are service elevators so slow? Stadium stairways are so common and steep that former altar boys such as myself half expect to see Jacob and Jesus slap a high-five somewhere between the bleachers and the box seats.

ADA compliant is not the same as welcoming

As for my guy Howie, the stage he performed on didn’t have a ramp. A few of his buddies, including his physical therapist, had to lift him up and carry him — wheelchair-walker and all — up to the microphone.

The club is ADA compliant — as are the stadiums, airports and hotels I’ve been to recently — but there’s a difference between “compliant” and “welcoming.”

It’s something to think about for all of us.

Since Howie requires a rollator to get around, he can be considered disabled. It’s the one minority group that any of us could join at any time.

So, if age or accident takes away your ability to walk, you have to phone ahead whenever you want to hear someone tell jokes? Or catch a ballgame? Or board a flight?

It leaves the impression that the folks in charge, whomever they might be in a given scenario, aren’t thinking about anybody but the able-bodied.

This seems like a mistake.

America's population is quickly aging

About 1 in 6 people in the U.S. are 65 or older. That’s nearly 56 million people, according to the Census Bureau.

That population grew by nearly 40% between 2010 and 2020. Also, there are about 43 million Americans with disabilities, about 13% of the population.

It seems to me that accessibility accommodations would be big business.

And maybe it’s just the right thing to do?

Why should older people or disabled people be so limited in the places they can visit comfortably and without extraordinary planning?

This can’t be the best thing for society, can it?

I mean, if not for Howie, I wouldn’t have heard him tell a joke about his prom date, or the emcee say that he was disappointed Howie didn’t describe the buggy whip he picked her up in.

And if that seems insensitive, consider the reason he wrote his latest book. Howard Peretz wanted to remind everyone to lighten up a bit. It’s his experience that being too serious tends to make people miserable.

“You’ve got to have a sense of humor about life; otherwise, you take all the fun out of it,” he said.

My buddy Howie’s pretty funny, but he can be profound, too.

We need to make sure we’re including people like him as often as we can, and there’s a difference between “compliant” and “welcoming.”

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Stadiums and other public places don't fully welcome older fans