You know how they say that some people will turn up for the opening of an envelope?
Well, that would be plain daft!
We will, however, be delighted to turn up for the grand opening of a toilet!
Wednesday 22nd June (tomorrow, as I type this) will be the second “official opening of a toilet” that Adam and I have had the pleasure to attend. The first, in the photo above, was in May 2011 when The Eden Project opened their Changing Places toilet.
If that sounds crazy, it gets even more weird when you realise how excited a nine year old boy is about this. The Ordinary Boy is excited about our day out to a service station!
Not just any service station and not just any toilet.
Cornwall Services is opening the first Space to Change toilet facility to open at a service station. It will have room for us to manoeuvre a wheelchair, a ceiling hoist to lift Adam from his chair and a bench to lay down on to prepare clothes and switch to using the toileting sling before using the hoist to sit him on the toilet.
It might not make your child enthusiastic but I am guessing they are generally spoiled for choice about which toilet to use at a service station.
What does it say about the world when a nine year old child is excited about a new toilet facility?
It says that the world is not accessible enough.
It says that there is still much to be done.
So tomorrow, we will be overjoyed at the new opportunity we have to stop and eat, drink and use the toilet on our way in and out of Cornwall.
Tomorrow, Adam can enjoy having lunch with his friends and will be able to drink as much strawberry milkshake as he wants.
Tomorrow I shall be a bit nervous as there will be some people there from local press.
Then the day after tomorrow will be time to focus on another place Adam wants to go.
I hope that the management there will be as understanding as Alex Lawson, manager at Cornwall Services.
As for what to wear, I would rather like to wear a posh frock but I have to be realistic.
Cornwall Services have a soft play area which Adam is keen to try out. He can’t move much on his own so it will involve some heavy-duty mum work. Not totally practical in a dress!
Ordinary Hopes 