Grab bars in the shower is a damn convenient feature. At any age.
The author reflects on living in an accessible apartment designed for mobility support, initially unaware of its features but growing to appreciate them. He finds grab bars in the bathroom not only useful but transformative for safety and independence, regardless of age. His experience leads to a broader realization about embracing accommodations without shame as part of aging gracefully.
- ▪The author lived in an accessible graduate student apartment with wide doorways and grab bars but didn’t notice at first.
- ▪He now uses the grab bars daily and views them as a sign of wisdom, not weakness.
- ▪He reconsidered his judgment of people using airport mobility carts, recognizing he may soon welcome such assistance himself.
- ▪The bathroom’s safety features make everyday tasks easier and reduce the risk of falls.
- ▪The author acknowledges that aging makes environments feel less stable and that accommodations improve quality of life.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
It took me a few months to notice that my small one-bedroom graduate student apartment in Princeton was what building inspectors would call “accessible.” The doorways are a little wider than you’d expect, and in the bathroom, there are aluminum grab bars along the walls near the toilet, in the shower, at various other points where a person might reasonably need to arrest a fall. I don’t know why I didn’t realize this when I walked through the empty apartment last September, but I’m pretty sure I know why the person showing the apartment to me didn’t mention it. She thought, not unreasonably given my salt-and-pepper hair (mostly salt, to be honest) and other physical cues, that a ground-floor apartment with a nearly fall-proof bathroom was just the thing.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Washington Examiner.
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