Birthday Dinner

For my outing, I decided to take my mother out to dinner for her birthday. My mother has severe arthritis in both of her knees and as a result, she is unable to walk more than 30 to 50 feet or stand for more than a few minutes. Also, steps present a challenge for her as climbing them can be very painful for her. Since my mother loves seafood, Red Lobster is one of her favorite restaurants and she decided she wanted to go there for dinner, even though she’s been there countless times before for other occasions.  This was not surprising because she generally doesn't like to do anything out of the ordinary. I know that she chose to go to Red Lobster because it holds meaning for her. That meaning is the fact that it serves one of her favorite kinds of foods, its familiar to her, and she’s celebrated many other special occasions there before.

I already knew that one of the biggest challenges we would face might be parking. With my mother being unable to walk long distances, I knew that I could not park far from the entrance. When we arrived to the restaurant that evening, the parking lot, as fate would have it, was essentially full. I pulled up to the entrance to let her out so she would not have to walk far. However, there was still a challenge ahead of her. There are a series of steps to get to the front door. There was also a wheelchair accessible ramp to the side but that presented a challenge as well. In order to use the ramp, she would have to walk a long distance because the ramp is the longer way to the door. This was a matter of accessibility for my mother.  Each path presented a challenge due to her physical limitation and no matter which method she chose, she would have to endure some pain from the pressure placed on her knees. Favoring the shorter distance, my mother chose to use the steps to get into the restaurant. It was evident from the way she climbed the steps and the groans she made that each step was painful for her. If instead of a staircase, the restaurant builders had built a flat short slab of pavement, it would have been easier for her to enter the restaurant. With the steps and ramp being fixed structures, there was no adaptability possible to allow my mother to have an easier time getting into the restaurant.

The only place with available an available parking space was way in the back lot.

Even though the parking lot was heavily populated with vehicles there were not many people outside the restaurant entering it. If there had, there would have been an activity issue for my mother. I would assume that most people would have no trouble navigating the stairs and would not take an extended amount of time to climb them. If there were many people there they would have had to wait for my mother to climb the stairs ahead of them which would have made her feel uncomfortable and like she was inconveniencing others.

The only way to enter the restaurant is via the steps or the ramp.

Dining in the restaurant was a pleasant experience. There was plenty of sensory stimulation for both of us. The meal we had tasted delicious, we could smell various foods in the restaurant, the restaurant’s décor gave us plenty to look, at and we could hear the soft ambient hum of a busy restaurant. Even though the restaurant was full of customers, the noise level was not too loud that we could not hear each other as we conversed over our meal. Therefore the conditions of the restaurant allowed for a great deal of sociality for both my mother and me.

After our meal, my mother decided she wanted to go home so that we could watch a movie together.  Her decision to do this was based on the fact that she feels the most comfort in her own home. Also after spending an evening in a public space, I know that she wanted to spend the rest her evening somewhere with more privacy.

Overall, I think it was a great evening out. I celebrated my mother’s birthday and got to spend some time with her, which as a busy student with a full academic a work schedule, I don’t get to do very often. Even though there were some initial challenges for my mother accessing the restaurant, she was very pleased with the outing.