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Carol Schmidt

Feb 19, 2005, 9:54 AM

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Walking, gawking, talking

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I just fell for the sixth time in three years on the SMA cobblestones, and I was watching my feet but I was tired and in a hurry. A gringo eating at a restaurant saw me fall and rushed out to get me to my feet but grabbed so hard around my ribcage that I still have aches on my ribs, though the pain has faded from my knees and hands. Luckily I've never broken anything in any of my falls; others have not been so fortunate.

This is high season and so many tourists are walking, gawking and talking at the same time, not watching their feet, and I fear for them. As someone recommended on thiese fora, when you are trying to sightsee while walking on cobblesetones, stop in your tracks when you want to look around, and then continue to walk when you can again pay close attention to your feet.

If you're planning a trip to SMA, beware! Sturdy walking shoes are more than just recommended, they can be a life saver, coupled with watching your feet even when all around you is wonderland.

Carol Schmidt

Anonimo

Feb 20, 2005, 3:53 AM

Post #2 of 10 (1092 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Walking, gawking, talking

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Thanks for the advisory, Carol; I've tripped and fallen a couple of times in Mexico, but my wife needs to be extra cuatious due to disk injuries in the past.
Actually, tripping and falling isn't confined to Mexico, as you know. We have done it while walking in suburban New Jersey.

Saludos,
Anonimo

gpk

Feb 20, 2005, 8:28 AM

Post #3 of 10 (1074 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Walking, gawking, talking

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Glad you are OK--these booby-traps are everywhere. The wet cobblestones after a rain or cleaning can be treacherous, too.

Carol Schmidt

Feb 20, 2005, 2:47 PM

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Re: [Anonimo] Walking, gawking, talking

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Back in the early '90s I fell on a raised sidewalk ridge in front of a Kinko's in Michigan and broke my nose and my glasses. The store paid for all my medical expenses and new glasses and gave me $1,500 not to sue. Here, no one to sue!

There was an interesting article in Atencion awhile back that a person's overall state of health is a big factor in whether they will fall or not, not just not seeing a crack or hole or bump. You can often recover your balance more quickly and avoid a fall if you're in good health overall.

When I was so sick in 2003 I fell more often, tripping over nothing very visible. I keep promising myself to take some sort of rehab to improve my balance but haven't done so yet.

Older frail people are far more likely to break a hip or something else and to not be able to catch themselves in general from a fall. I'm not exactly frail but I do seem to keep getting older! Some article I read once said that the biggest day-to-day fear of old people was of falling. After a fall I'm so shook up for a few weeks that I believe it.

Carol Schmidt

elcomputo

Feb 22, 2005, 7:05 AM

Post #5 of 10 (1001 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Walking, gawking, talking

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Well, in the USA, you could sue whomever the owner of the sidewalk was -- the person whose property it crosses or the municipality. I suppose you could sue here, too, but you would be whistling into the wind.

I have fallen at least six times in two years (I'm a slow learner) and have learned to avoid any hilly slopes. They are invariably covered with loose soil, probably the result of the erosion that is endemic to Mexico, that the result of burning wood. NEVER attempt to cross one of those 45-degree driveways when it's wet. The sidewalks are always like ice after a rain, and the streets are not much better, as there will be a coating of oil on them from the traffic long after the annual rains begin.

The odd thing is, I feel like the Lone Ranger. I have never seen anyone else fall, gringo and certainly not Mexican. Just me.

Odd that we geezers, rife with arthritis, osteoporosis, and all the other bone and joint maladies, should choose to live in a place where walking (while much more pleasurable than in your average American suburb) is so dangerous.

Marlene

Feb 22, 2005, 4:31 PM

Post #6 of 10 (979 views)

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Re: [elcomputo] Walking, gawking, talking

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After reading all this falling down talk, I am wondering how folks in wheelchairs or those who use walkers get by? It sounds treacherous.

elcomputo

Feb 22, 2005, 5:55 PM

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Re: [Marlene] Walking, gawking, talking

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Odd that you should mention wheelchairs. The city has just finished installing its first corner curb cuts to accommodate wheechairs and walkers for people crossing the city's busiest downtown street.

I have never seen anyone using a walker in SMA. I have seen some wheelchairs, but generally in use by a Mexican family visiting SMA, and where adults are pushing a child. I have seen this only in the Centro tourist attraction, where the streets are not so much cobbled as paved with stone blocks and relatively smooth. Still, the narrow sidewalks make for rough navigation, especially during periods of high tourist draws, as Semana Santa.

I don't believe I have seen any "self-propelled" wheelchairs in this town, and certainly not ones being used by old gringos. For one thing, sidewalks are far too narrow to accommodate them. It would be too difficult to even navigate the most narrow of sidewalks (which are all blocked at some point by a light standard or power pole), and there's too much of a danger of a wheel going over the side and dumping the occupant on the street. If the person is forced to use the street, that's also pretty dangerous.

I know of one woman here who is confined to a wheelchair. She has a staff consisting of a number of local people helping her around in it, but her use is pretty much restricted to her home and going from her home to whatever outing she's going on, and then back. She could not tolerate being jostled down a cobblestone street.

What I'm saying is that SMA is not particularly friendly to seniors with impairments that restrict their mobility. Other Mexican cities are much better for this, but then other Mexican cities do not have cobblestone streets as a tourist draw. And other Mexican cities are not as hilly as SMA, either.

People corresponding on this site might make some suggestions as to what retirement destinations in Mexico would be more suitable to the physically handicapped.

Cynthia7

Feb 22, 2005, 6:32 PM

Post #8 of 10 (965 views)

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Re: [elcomputo] Walking, gawking, talking

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This is not a city that is sympathetic to those with handicaps. As you said the sidewalks are narrow and have uneven stones and mysterious holes. The streets are cobblestone and and now we are repairing and widening and changing traffic patterns. Many people from NOB hurt themselves wearing their sturdy shoes while the senoritas in their spike heels run up and down like mountain goats. A year ago I broke a bone in my foot and I was in my house for 6 weeks because I couldn't get out conveniently. I had a wheelchair and walker and was confined to the house. I went to the Doctor in Queretaro and it took extra help to get me there. You notice things like no hand rails on stairs and uneven steps and bathrooms very small. It is just another challenge..

elcomputo

Feb 22, 2005, 11:18 PM

Post #9 of 10 (949 views)

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Re: [Cynthia7] Walking, gawking, talking

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I hate to admit this, but I am renting a place that has outside steps going from the stone patio to the flat roof. The steps are narrow and have no handrail. The first time I saw them I thought "There's trouble," and I was correct.

One morning about 6 weeks ago, I went up the stairs and, midway up, lost my balance. My right foot went over the side, and there was no way I could regain my balance with just my left leg. I went over the side, a distance of about 10 feet to the ground.

Fortunately, on my way down, I got wound up in the video cable going from the street to the house. It not only delayed my fall but also kept me situated so that I was falling feet first. The bougainvillia bush also slowed my fall while its thorns dug deep scratches into my hide.

I ended up hitting the stone patio hard and tumbling over like a parachutist. Unlike a parachutist, however, I did not have a helmet on. I banged myself on the back of the head and went unconscious. I revived when I heard a neighbor on his roof calling to ask if I needed any help. He probably thought I was drunk and had passed out.

It was the second time I'd had a serious fall in this house. There is a back room which is about six feet above ground level. It is reached by a set of winding concrete stairs. Not one stair step is level, and the side rails are too low to do any good. I took a tumble in which I landed with my foot doubled under me in an awkward position. The serious sprain has since healed, but there will be residual pain for the rest of my life.

I really do think OSHA should use SMA as a training site. My landlord should sell them this this house as a classroom.

Carol Schmidt

Feb 23, 2005, 7:21 AM

Post #10 of 10 (934 views)

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Re: [elcomputo] Walking, gawking, talking

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I'm glad you can still make jokes about your experiences, Elcomputo--I moan and groan to everyone I know for weeks after each fall. I've seen several others fall and know I am not alone.

Many of the doctors tell gringas who come to them after falling to get the San Miguel shoe--advertised as "combat cocktail sandals"--which have thick strong elastic bands around the ankle and mid-foot, but I don't find them supportive at all. Plus, I think they're ugly, but so many of my friends swear by them and wear them all the time. One says she has 20 pair in different colors and patterns. I have one pair in turquoise that matches many of my outfits but still I'll return to my Tiva walking sandals for summer, SASS closed walking shoes for cool days. A friend returning to SMA brought hiking boots for daily wear!

Have to agree on most of Mexico being unaccommodating to any kind of mobility problem or disabililty. Many say Mexico is like the US in the '50s in terms of social awareness of most issues. I saw one space on Mesones reserved as a handicapped space for a couple of months, but there was no sidewalk cut anywhere nearby to make the space usable.

The big box stores in Queretaro have handicap spaces but usually there is a thick chain or row of grocery carts across the entrance so you have to drive around looking for a parking lot attendant to come open access to the space.

There is no understanding that some people have "hidden handicaps," like heart or breathing conditions that make it hard for them to walk any distance--if you're not actually in a wheelchair you're not considered handicapped.

And SMA is not alone--though some cities have regular cement sidewalks you'll still find a utility pole sticking up in the middle of a narrow one so that no wheelchair or walker could possiblyl use it, and no curb cuts nearby to help. You have to look down to make sure there isn't a hole marked or not by a red-painted brick, or a metal plate for utility access that doesn't fit tightly so that there is a gap to catch a toe or a raised part to trip you.

Especially in hilly areas like in SMA, a store or home may not have access at sidewalk level and so half the narrow sidewalk is taken up by a step or two leading into the store or home, or there is a sunken step leading to that door that an unsuspecting person could fall into. And step heights are never regular.

Several times people with various disabilities have asked me about living in SMA, and regretfully I have advised them that this is not the place. Even in Mexico City where there are many blocks with "normal" sidewalks, the drivers don't drive carefully enough to allow you to cross the street with confidence if you're not agile. SMA drivers in general are more polite--the streets are narrower, many are one-way, and they are so crowded that rarely can anyone get up any speed, so they're more likely to stop and allow you to cross if you need some time. Taxi drivers in particular seem very polite here. But Oaxaca? I felt in fear of my life every time I had to cross a street. I can't imagine trying to do so in a wheelchair.

Better you know in advance what the conditions are like in Mexico if you have a disability or mobility impairment.

Carol Schmidt