Money, Masks and MCS

Here is yet another way petro-chemical and wireless pollutants and policies create barriers to access, barriers that personal actions and responsibility alone cannot overcome…

Background: Michellina  wrote about her masked experiences on her blog The-Labyrynth, which inspired Colleen to write about her mask breakthrough on her blog Life in the City with a Future, which inspired me to share her link and post on the subject here, which then inspired Suki to chime in here adding her experiences, as well as a link to some really great resources from from The (US) National Center for Independent Living on environmental health barriers to access, which links back here to one of my  posts! And here’s an example of just how prevalent fragrance chemicals are.

And then… my friend Melody posted this photo, which brings up another issue:

How can we have access to our money when wearing disability related “accessories”?

What about the masks we wear  to breathe? Or the hats and scarves we wear to keep some of the fragrance chemicals off of our hair? Or the special fabric head-coverings to protect from wireless radiation? These are necessary “accessories” which prevent further disability, and allow some of us to lead somewhat more normal lives, kind of like what wheelchairs are for people who can’t walk.

Do they have these signs (and policies) everywhere now?

How do you manage?

I guess it’s a good thing I can do almost all my banking over the phone.

If I need cash (which is not that often), I get it from an outdoor bank machine, and quickly wrap it in a piece of tinfoil so I don’t have to open my cash tin in the car. Then at home (while outside, never inside) I transfer it to my tin.

Money is such stinky stuff, saturated with 1st, 2nd and 3rd hand fragrances (among other things) from people’s hand cremes, soaps and sanitizers, laundry products, and air “fresheners“… that I have to keep my cash in a tin because wallets get too saturated and then re-release all the chemicals, and then, I must allow and trust other people to take my money out of the tin and put change back in while I hold the tin open (so the chemicals now on their hands don’t contaminate the exterior of the box for me). I don’t touch money  unless I really have to, because the fragrance (and other) chemicals are so difficult to remove from my skin afterwards. When I do have to handle $, I do it outside, and try to use old plastic bags as gloves (which I then hang on a line outside to off-gas and re-use the next time), in order to prevent the residues from affecting me.

Back to banking

I don’t see myself ever going INTO a bank without wearing a mask (even if or when I do recover so much as to be able to mingle with the masses again).

When I was at the cabin, and did not have computer or phone access, and needed cash to pay for things, I tried using an indoor bank machine which was separated from the rest of the bank, but I ended up getting too sick too often from other people’s scent trails…

Next, I tried asking someone who was going into the bank to ask someone who worked for the bank to come outside (as I stood out there wearing my mask)  telling them I was not able to safely access their machine, and asked if they would cash a cheque for me and bring the $ outside (as a way to provide access). They agreed. But it was a small town, where they were nice that way. They also had a free-standing building that had a door to the sidewalk and windows through which it was also possible to wave and catch the attention of someone inside so they could come outside (and once they knew me, they weren’t afraid of me).

That would not be possible with my own bank, which is on the 3rd floor of a building.

How do you manage?

?

♦

Need Protection?

Accessible Customer Service in Ontario

Human Rights and MCS

NCIL Environmental Health Barriers Toolkit