Remember the picture on the previous screen?
Here it is again:
If you live in a Western country such as the United States, you won't see anything wrong. However, Israelis may notice some things that are out of place.
Let's analyze what we see. We're looking a public relations advertisement designed to raise funds for renovating the Magen David Adom offices clinics in Jerusalem. Magen David Adom is the equivalent of the Red Cross. Nonetheless, we don't see any sick people going to or coming from the building. Everybody looks quite healthy.
As a matter of fact, a closer look reveals one person who is wearing a tie, and another who is wearing a tie and jacket. Their faces do not show any concern or worry. To the contrary, they all look like they are either going to a business meeting or for a casual stroll in a business district.
Look at the bottom part of our picture, front and center. It shows steps leading up to the office of Magen David Adom. We'll assume that those in wheelchairs or those carrying stretchers will be able to use a ramp that is not shown in the picture. However, that is part of the problem. The photographer, as well as those who approved this fundraising picture, did not see a need to focus on accessibility. They see Magen David Adom as a business – and they don't want to emphasize the fact that the disabled or crippled may work in their business.
Remember all of those nice articles about inclusion of the disabled in businesses? Well, it makes politically correct reading, but it is not something that you would want to include in a fundraising advertisement in the Real World.
What, then, is the American Real World? Perhaps it is Hollywood. Hollywood actors and actresses do Real Things. We are expected to emulate their behavior. Their pulchritude is an ideal, even though it has an age limit. Those who do not meet Hollywood standards cannot appear in an advertisement.
Perhaps the American Real World is reflected in Disneyland and Disneyworld. Everybody is our picture is happy. Sickness, death, and other gruesome issues do not and cannot exist – even in an advertisement for Magen David Adom!
Oh, yes, America has deaths, funerals, and shiva calls. However, those ugly things are to be forgotten as soon as possible. They are not a way of life. They are not even things to discuss in polite company.
No, we don't have to spend your life dwelling on the inevitable.
However, we should also not take the other extreme. After all, sick people are the main clientele of Magen David Adom, and they do require access ramps.
We should not sanitize the sick or disabled out of Magen David Adom. That institution exists in order to care for them - and not for a bunch of healthy businesspeople.
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