Hey! Let’s play ADA Mad Libs! Mad Libs is a game where a sentence is written out with key words missing. You plug in the words and — ta da! — a wacky story ensues. First I’d like to give a shout out to Carol J. Williams, the Los Angeles Times reporter who doesn’t quite understand the ADA (and it’s Cali-counterpart) for inspiring this game. Reporters like Williams just can't resist writing articles that follow the same old tired pattern suggesting scofflaw businesses are victims and ADA enforcers are somehow villains. In fact, anti-access articles are SO common and SO formulaic that they make great Mad Libs play sheets. So great job, Carol! I couldn’t have ______ ___ that article any better myself!

Ready? Let’s play.

Business owners in ______ were ________ to wake up and discover their places of _______ were being sued by disability rights activists who filed lawsuits in an attempt to _____ their establishments.

“All I want is _____,"said _______, a disability ______ who so far has filed ___ ADA lawsuits.

However, business owners claim they simply haven’t had enough _____ to comply, and if only the ______ had given them 30 or 60 or 90 or 120 days advance notice they surely would have ______ the law.

“_____ ____," exclaimed disability rights activist _______. "The law’s been in effect for ______ and surely that’s enough notice for even the most _______ business owner.”

“I know exactly what those business owners in ______ are going through,” said _________ an actor and director whose business in __________ was also once ______ by activists. “I give to Goodwill and Jerry’s Kids and therefore I feel I am entitled to _____ the ADA.”

The _______ Chamber of Commerce has come out with a statement promising to ______ the ADA activists, in an attempt to _______ future complaints. “Why can’t we all just ______," asked Commerce chief _________." Besides, what’s the big deal about _____ _______? We put those little _______ outside and even serve them at the back entrances. Surely that’s good enough for _____ ________.”

***

Fun, fun, fun!! Print off this Mad Libs sheet, pass it out to your friends and compare answers! And then send them to me at Josie@newmobility.com — who knows, they might just end up in the magazine.

Thomas Mundy is a sack of Sh*t. Extorting small business owners for minor violations is ridiculous. Ya you are in a wheelchair ... boo f*cking hoo. You have been dealt a rough hand. Big deal. Live with it. This jerkoff is no better than people who purposely slip on ice outside a shop and sue or see some water on the floor of a grocery store, slip on purpose and sue. All the same. I have the greatest sympathy for anyone dealing with a disability, disease or something but no sympathy for a guy who wants everyone else to feel as bad as him. 255 lawsuits to date !! This idiot deserves anything bad that happens to him and I hope he gets it. He may a well come into small businesses with a gun and say ``give me a grand``. Almost every single business will have some violation no matter how good their intentions. Go to hell Thomas Munday and take the scumbag lawyers that represent you with you. !!

""This hurts their cause," Venetos said of the disabled suing proprietors who are making good-faith efforts to meet ADA standards. "It's a bad thing to say, but you feel wary when you see someone come in who is handicapped, someone you've never seen before. You wonder if they are going to try to do something that is basically extortion." I hate this part. Unfortunately, nicely telling most business owners one's needs doesn't get much attention. I do believe that after all these years, city/county/state building codes should incorporate ADA/Title 24 standards. Most violations could than be corrected during the building/remodel phase. As for me, I haven't sued, but I did apply for a city planning job for the sole intent of being interviewed by my town's mayor and city council. Too bad I didn't hear about the Accessible America Award earlier. I think my town might have won!

What's truly missing is common courtesy, most especially on the part of any business owner who wants money out of my pocket.

I pulled up Carol Williams LA Times article--then I pulled up Thomas Mundy's site www.mehrban.com. I don't know which is worse, Williams' article or Mundy's webb site, which actually says "Confined to a wheelchair in California? You may be entitled to $1000...." "Confined" to a wheelchair??? His site sure "reads" like he is a bottom feeder. What Williams fails to follow up on is "Did Mundy's threats make businesses more accessible?" If so then perhaps the end justifies the means. Then again perhaps wheeler's should file liable lawsuits against Mundy's website for suggesting to the public: 1. You are "confined" to your wheelchair. And 2. You are entitled to $1000.00 each time you can't see yourself in a mirror. Talk about creating a messed up stereotype! He should write copy for Jerry's kids. ADA compliance is extremely important to me, but so is dignity.

OOPS! I sit corrected--in my previous post I said the site www.mehrban.com was Mundy's--it is not. It is the Merhban Group. Which advertises two services on it's site-- ADA lawsuits and advertising above urinals. HMM. The "ADA lawsuit" part of the site says "You should be willing to accept less than $1,000 for your violation if you want to resolve your claim without trial." It sure sounds like they are about making a quick buck, not about making things more accessible. Come on, telling people they are entitled to $1000.00 because the mirror is too high? To me that is all about greed, a quick buck and makes a mockery out of the ADA.

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