Senator Kennedy, 30" Counter Tops and Urinals

Lest everyone forget: It was in 1969 that Ted Kennedy allowed a woman to die of neglect after he ran his vehicle off a small bridge and into the water. His inaction, perhaps calculated cowardice, cost a human life.

While the media has completely papered over the demons of Kennedy's past, I have a liberal friend who opines that it was the Senator's demons which drove him to his action. That it was the guilt internalized by that, and many other, indiscretions which he exorcised by his work in the Senate. Perhaps. Perhaps.

A few years ago I managed an office in Oxnard California in which we were going to renovate the kitchenette used by the employees. The space contained a full-sized refrigerator, table, two chairs, dishwasher, shelving and counter top. We invited in several contractors to develop a bid to refresh the space and were shocked and dismayed at the cost. Why? Americans with Disabilities Act - a Kennedy led piece of legislation.

The Act required that counter tops be positioned at a height convenient for someone who was wheelchair bound. A 30" counter top would require a dishwasher which would fit under the lower-than-spec height. A typical dishwasher at that time cost about $300 and there was only one brand (from Europe) which fit under a 30" counter and it cost more than $1500. So too with the refrigerator: a ADA compliant version needed to accessible thus resulting in the need for a more expensive sub-scale version of the full-sized version it would replace. All-in-all the price of the renovation was significantly beyond what I had expected and had approval to spend.

As a result we did not renovate. Contractors did not get the work. Appliances were not sold. Taxes were not collected.

So? Am I an uncaring fool? I don't think so. Our office was a third-floor walk up in an old business park. There were no elevators built into buildings such as that in the 1950s. No wheelchair would ever roll across our floors. Yet, the law required that we accept the fantasy that they would and were mandated to accommodate those wheelchair bound individuals who'd never come.

Reminds me of the gender-equity issue when the City of Los Angeles was renovating the then-home of the L.A. Lakers. A group had sued the city demanding that there be greater equity between the restroom facilities for men and women. The result was that to gain gender equity between the sexes in the renovation that urinals were REMOVED from the men's room.

Laws have consequences.

Bottom line: While we celebrate the life of Ted Kennedy we'd do well to consider the long-term implications of those who want to do good for the public without considering the impact on the individual. Exorcising demons, it seems, has its price far beyond the man himself.