Sports Betting Site Shut Down After Exec's Arrest

Walking Is For Suckers

from the might-make-Dean-Kamen-happy dept

Tue, Jul 18th 2006 10:47pm — Mike Masnick

theodp writes "Apparently, able-bodied people sick of walking are taking a page out of Homer Simpson's here-I-am-using-my-legs-like-a-sucker playbook, and are using motorized scooters for the disabled to tool around Disney World, Wal-Mart, and Vegas. Entrepreneurs are jumping on the trend, offering scooters as an easy way to see the sights. 'It's kind of bad for the cause,' said a director for United Cerebral Palsy." Of course, this was exactly how some pictured the Segway would be used (and, indeed, there are plenty of operations that rent Segways for similar purposes). However, the power scooter isn't often considered a tool for the able-bodied, but lazy. Is it really that annoying to walk?

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39 Comments

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Dan Moutal, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:01pm

LAAAZZY!
we need to stop catering to lazy people. If you are too out of shape to walk around and need a scooter then get in shape! You're heart will thank you.

If the distance is too far to walk, how about a bike?
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dorpus, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:06pm

Unless you're 50+
and you're dealing with things like joint pains that take months to heal, frequent leg cramps, osteoporosis, ...

Young people are eager to call such people "lazy", but what if you know your body well enough, that you know what will happen if you spend more than an hour walking around? Despite the reputation of handicapped parking permits being easy to get, they often aren't. Many people have their doctors tell them they'll just have to live with the excruciating pain of walking around, and take aspirin.

If the distance is too far to walk, how about a bike?

Hip fractures are one of the greatest killers of senior citizens. As we get older, bones become frail and take many years to heal.
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- discojohnson, 19 Jul 2006 @ 6:21am
  
  Re: Unless you're 50+
  i'll admit, i often take issue with your comments, dorpus. on this one, i think you're quite accurate. i'm 23 (can't wait to see this on the way back machine in 10 years) and excercise regularly, am in great shape, etc. my issue is with, well, fat people under 40 that refuse to exercise despite doctors and common sense. in my experience they are the ones riding scooters all over the place. i would say for every 1 "old" person i see 20 fat people riding around. i hear it all the time: "i can't walk far without getting shortwinded," "my legs get sore quick," or "how can i carry this bucket of fried chicken?" just take an active interest in your health, put down the junk food (moderation, of course), and take the stairs for a change. (and before the flaim war: i recognize certain genetic traits causing propensities...but that's not an excuse to not do something).
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- ItsaMeAgain..., 19 Jul 2006 @ 6:48am
  
  Re: Unless you're 50+
  Uh, bones become brittle and weak do to inactivity. There are some exceptions to this as always, but the vast majority of people out there get weak through a sedentary lifestyle. The good news is that if they gradually get back into a more active lifestyle, the body will rebound.
  
  So, feel free to hop on a scooter or some such meat sack hauling contraption. The doctors love to do hip replacements and what not on people who walk so little that they basically suck at it, fall over, and their body is now too weak to handle the fall.
  
  Think of this everytime you take an elevator to travel up two flights, instead of the stairs, or you spend 10 minutes trying to find the closest possible parking spot to the store...
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Diego, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:21pm

ok
i will walk, do what suits you...:)
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- Raekwon, 19 Jul 2006 @ 7:22am
  
  Re: ok
  Good Idea. If people want to be fatass gluttons, let them. It's only shortening their own lives. I figure, if you can't control yourself well enough to keep your body in shape enough to WALK you should die early. I'm not talking about illnesses, I'm talking about morbid obesity. If you can't handle feeding yourself you'd be better off with a barrel your brainstem anyways.
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Fen1x, 19 Jul 2006 @ 12:08am

Complain much?
This is how I see it, You got the people that are cool with everything, the people that complain, and the people that complain about the people that complain...

not sure where I'm goin with that, but yea
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Jeremy, 19 Jul 2006 @ 12:10am

start earlier
If those people with joint trouble, chronic problems, and who can't walk for an hour had paid attention ton adequate exercise earlier, a much smaller percentage would have the problems they've got now. Their bone mass would be larger, their joints more resillient, and their muscles stronger. Not all, of course, but most.

Laziness doesn't just affect the present. It affects your future, too.
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- dorpus, 19 Jul 2006 @ 12:42am
  
  Re: start earlier
  If those people with joint trouble, chronic problems, and who can't walk for an hour had paid attention ton adequate exercise earlier, a much smaller percentage would have the problems they've got now. Their bone mass would be larger, their joints more resillient, and their muscles stronger. Not all, of course, but most.
  
  Laziness doesn't just affect the present. It affects your future, too.
  
  Sounds like a nice simpleminded piece of reasoning. However, there is no real defense against rheumatoid arthritis, gout, or any number of other inflammatory conditions that spontaneously arise in old age, regardless of activity level. Exercise carries its own risks of injuries that will exacerbate inflammations later in life. Most athletes become zombies at old age, barely able to move, in a daze from constant painkillers.
  
  The only thing exercise has been shown to improve is reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Medical researchers had long assumed that it protected against cancers, but much research in the past few years has shown that there is in fact no relationship.
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- Ivory Bill, 19 Jul 2006 @ 1:22am
  
  Re: start earlier
  And that is why so many former athletes have arthritis and joint pain, and have difficulty moving around even as young people. Your brand of "information" sounds good, and exercise is not a bad thing, but repetitive stress injuries are a fact of life. Those injuries are the ones that lead to arthritis. Furthermore, as we get older, our bones become more brittle. That can make moving around a risk.
  
  Perhaps if were not so judgemental of those we don't know, all of us would be better off.
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charlie potatoes, 19 Jul 2006 @ 12:21am

start early
The trouble with youth is it's wasted on Jeremy... wait til u get old, dumbass...you're gonna sing a diffent tune.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Jul 2006 @ 12:46am

Not always there fault.
Having pain when walking problems doesn't always mean they were lazy growing up. Your body degrades as it gets older and even taking great care of it your entire life doesn't stop it. My father was an athlete his entire life, even Qualified for the Olympics in Swimming, yet now at the age of 66 he can barely walk through large department stores with out serious pain.

Blaming it on not excersing correctly when young also doesn't cut it for many people. Medical Knowledge is still really quite young and changes quickly. 60 years ago the vast majority of people had no clue that such problems could occur as they got older, or that taking care of their body at such a young age could help.

That whole 'food pyramid' from the government has been changed I think 4 times since I learned it in school. Much of what they thought we should do to keep healthy turned out to be wrong. Just as I'm sure much of what we think now will turn out to be wrong.
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Jeff, 19 Jul 2006 @ 12:57am

SCOOTERS FOR ALL!
And if the disabled people don't like having to compete for Free Wheels, well, then they can just walk out of the park and go somewhere else. Well, OK, not WALK out of the park. I guess they can't. Oh, *DUH*, that's the POINT, isn't it?

Seriously. There's a simple way to keep non-disabled people from using the cart. Conversion. Break the legs of any lazy f'tard. That way he is no longer able-bodied and can use the cart without breaking any rules.
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James, 19 Jul 2006 @ 1:32am

If you have problem with mobility fine use the scooters, but if you're just too lazy you're asking for trouble.

As for the comments made about how excersize only improves your cardiovascular system, check the latest research. I know several people that work/research looking for a cure everyday. It won't prevent you from getting it, but it can help you to fight it better if you do get cancer or any other illness. Jeremy has made some good points too, he's not a dumbass. Plus a lot of things have changed in the last 60 years, knowledge, and they way biological models can be tested using computers and controlled studies. Bottom line; able bodied scooters = unhealthy people.
Don't take away from the people who really need the extra help.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/exercisephysiology/a/aa090501a.htm

http://www.cancers upportivecare.com/whyexercise.html

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_1650 598.htm
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- Abacadabra, 19 Jul 2006 @ 4:19am
  
  Re:
  There are much larger factors in American society leading to the lack of exercise than scooters made available at theme parks.
  
  Entertainment addiction, food addiction, work addiction, surburban sprawl, street safety, lack of support for mass transportation, few bike lanes and entire neighborhoods without sidewalks are just a few factors that affect our daily exercise levels and therefore our health in the long term.
  
  We need to focus on activities in the daily lives of our citizens if we really want to make a difference. Criticizing the exceptional activity while someone is on vacation is almost pointless. I exercise regularly, and at 25, I think it would be FUN to rent a Segway at Disneyworld!
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  - chyna, 19 Jul 2006 @ 4:47am
    
    Re: Re:
    jeez, on occasion, a woman wants a man to sweep her off her feet, not motorized carrying, golly!!!
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LazyMofo, 19 Jul 2006 @ 2:02am

Finally
I've always wanted to use those scooters... and now... :D ...and I am able bodied... and in good shape. I'm a motivated lazy person who wants to ride scooters instead of walking when he's not running 5Ks... so :P
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Dru, 19 Jul 2006 @ 2:57am

Hey,

Why are you all talking about lazy people should walk? Seems that they are paying money to rent scooters. Since we are free here we can be lazy and pay to rent a scooter and so could anyone with a handicap. These are businesses renting this equipment and anyone with money can use that service. I didn't read in the article anything about lazy people renting all the scooters and handicap people having to suffer and walk. Why are you even talking about that? The lazy folks who rent scooters just ensure for growth for the rental companies and then that will help those who need help mobility since there will still be services to offer that because they stay in business because of demand.
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Louis, 19 Jul 2006 @ 4:16am

RE: Unless you're 50+ by dorpus
First of all, dorpus, no chance in hell you're out of your twenties yet, so feigning knowledge about an age that is still 20 to 30 years ahead of you is at best merely patronising.

Second of all, if at age 50 I'm as physically unable as you descibe in your first post, I'll shoot myself. Both my sets of grandparents are over 75, but they're still walking around without the aid of mechanized transport and my grandfather swears by gardening and walking at least 2 hours a day, my other grandfather still works on people's cars over the weekends! Hell, I´ve known 50 yr olds who go rockclimbing on a regular basis.

Third, one of the causes of arthritis is the overuse or extreme straining of a joint, which can be due any number of causes, repetitive exercise among them, rifle shooting another. But you`re sure as hell not going to develop athritis from taking a walk every now and again.

Fourth, apart from arthritis, which, believe it or not, not every senior citizen suffers from, a major cause for joint pain is the shortening of tendons and muscles and the growth and hardening of cartilage. Which is best treated with, tada, diet and exercise. It is important to keep the joints moving and to stretch and move your muscles.

Fifth, your statement that most athletes become zombies during old age needs backing up, just printing it doesn´t make it true. In my experience, people that exercise regularly generally look healthier and retain their youthful appearance and energy for much longer.

And no, I don`t believe that exercise only reduces the cardiovascular disease. At the very least it increases your metabolism which results in better appetite, better digestion, better healing, cell and bone regeneration and better concentration. Which is important for me, I find that if I don`t exercise at least 3 to 4 times a week my work performance also takes a dive.

A quick search revealed this article on the subject of aging, osteoporosis and other age ailments and how exercise can help. I know statistics abound everywhere on the net, but I take this article any day over the rantings of a few posters in the commentary section of Techdirt.

Exercise is good for you, period. So take that walk.

http://exercise.about.com/cs/exseniors/a/aging.htm
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MrPaladin, 19 Jul 2006 @ 5:07am

Freedom of Choice
Are you people saying that people dont have the rights to choose what they want to buy, use, eat, smoke? alot of these people above saying how bad a social outcry this is are also among the number who would allow smoking, tho its been proven more harmful to your body, you would defend the persons right to choose to do it... or you walk your miles smoking one yourself...

If people will pay for it it will be made... people will buy it... it may piss some people off but they are gonna have to get over it...
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Que, 19 Jul 2006 @ 5:28am

Kids are dumb
What about these freakin' kids with the wheels in their shoes. Just the other day I saw one at the mall riding on his heels while his mother (assuming) was pushing him. Makes me sick!
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Laura, 19 Jul 2006 @ 6:33am

Would be nice...
For those who can't walk much for temporary reasons. I was rushed in for emergency surgery for my appendix not so long ago - I'm recovering now, but if I had a vacation planned to somewhere like that even in the next month or so I'd have to cancel because I just can't walk that much again yet. It would be nice to have an option other than cancel in that kind of situation.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Jul 2006 @ 6:53am

Short Waits
Another reason people get the carts is the parks allow someone using a cart to get to the front of lines and take a few people with them. You just need one person in your group to have an "injury" that reduces their ability to walk and no lines for the day.
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anon, 19 Jul 2006 @ 7:14am

lazy lazy lazy
Personally I hated it at Disney World the last few times I've been there. While many overweight people were trucking around on foot like the rest of us, there were far too many of them on those scooters. They clearly had no disability beyond too much weight, and could hop off to buy that ice cream but otherwise zoomed around causing foot-traffic issues. Come on, people - WALK! I have no problem with people who really need them using them, but 90% of the people on them were just fat. I've heard fat people complain about "fat discrimination"... they're really not helping their cause pulling crap like this.
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RenderingSanity, 19 Jul 2006 @ 7:43am

I suppose you have a right to rent a vehicle to cart you around if you don't want to walk. You also have the right to smoke(though that right is vanishing swiftly in some places) and the right to eat fast food in excess.

Does having the right make it good for you?

It's up to the individual person to make these choices, as unhealthy as they may be. Stop trying to tell someone how to live just because you don't like what they're doing. If they want to be lazy, so be it.
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- anon, 19 Jul 2006 @ 8:19am
  
  Re:
  It's not just a matter of them choosing to be lazy... it's that the sidewalks and trails in parks were not built for everyone to be on these vehicles. Why should I have to step off a FOOT path or sidewalk so a gaggle of lazy people can drive by? Why should I wait longer in a line at Disney because some lazy people are riding their scooters through the handicap entrance? It's not just a choice they're making for themselves, it's a choice that causes inconvenience for others. THAT is what offends me.
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Tarky7, 19 Jul 2006 @ 8:21am

I was at Disney World a few years ago with a famous rock band opening up a ride, doing PR for one of the companies sponsoring the gig. We ended up getting our Disney driver high later in the evening. So he took us to THE DISNEY MORGUE. That, my friends, was a site to behold. In the morgue were frozen trays of dead overweight Americans, many of them quite obese. The scene was a real buzz killer, but none of us could stop laughing !

The question was floated, "WTF ?" and the answer was quite revealing.

Apparently, the scenario usually goes like this. They get off the air conditioned plane, into the air conditioned airport, to the air conditioned rental car, drive to Disney, go into the conditioned restaurant, pig out on fried foods, then its out into Disney World, where after a mile of so of walking in the Florida heat, drop dead of a massive coronary.

Then the fun part begins: the 'ambulance' arrives (cartooned, of course), complete with EMT's dressed up as cartoon characters and the quickly and discreetly in character haul the body away, so as not to upset the gaping throngs of Disney goers.

This goes unreported due to Disney's massive Orlando based PR machine and all remains well in the magic kingdom
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- Mikester, 19 Jul 2006 @ 9:26am
  
  Re:
  This goes unreported due to Disney's massive Orlando based PR machine and all remains well in the magic kingdom
  
  And as such is unverifiable. Nice try.
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  - Jeff, 19 Jul 2006 @ 5:36pm
    
    NO IT'S TRUE - HERE'S A PICTURE!
    http://defrang.com/articles/2005/12/17/disney-morgue-found
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Tarky7, 19 Jul 2006 @ 9:37am

Touche
That is true. Speculation on my part, but having just returned from 3 months starting up a business in Orlando I can safely say there is a serious disconnect with 'crime' as you see reported by local TV news in Orlando (shootouts at ATMs, death by police suicide, a rapidly growing gang/drug crime problem) and the news about Orlando you read about in the national news (barely a blip)

Perhaps it is nor Disney, but Orlando driving the PR. Which ever, 'they' are highly effective in keeping the perception that Orlando is a vary tourist friendly place.

And, there are many scooter to rent in case you get ired of walking...
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Mark, 19 Jul 2006 @ 9:52am

Fat wagons
In a moment of frustration, while waiting for an obviously non-disabled person who demanded that the city bus we were riding put down its assisted boarding ramp so she could drive her scooter aboard, I started calling such devices "fat wagons." It's a self-fulfilling term; if you're not fat when you start using that scooter, you will be soon.
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Mason, 19 Jul 2006 @ 9:54am

I still can't leave the house
Once they develop a machine to lift my fat ass out of the recliner and into a Segueway, I will finally be able to leave the house!
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Mike Mixer, 19 Jul 2006 @ 11:24am

Lazy
Mad Magazine predicted this 30 some years ago. It went through the phases of an empire from begining
to end comparing ours to ancient Rome. The personal
transport devices in that skit looked an awful lot like Segways. I think the end is near.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Jul 2006 @ 12:39pm

And who are you assholes, anyway, to tell someone that because they dont exceed yours, or a doctor's, or the government's standards of crippledness that they deserve their vacation less because theyre lazy? Some people like being pampered. Being carted around will make it more of a vacation. Thats _none of your business_. If you object anyway, then I suggest you protest the cruise industry first.
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Jayrad, 19 Jul 2006 @ 1:28pm

Excercise AND weight training
"Exercise" does not simply mean walking or running. Any health magazine will tell you that weight training becomes MORE important as you grow OLDER in order to keep your bones and muscles strong. This is something merely walking/jogging will not provide.

And to the person who mentioned athletes, well, how many althletes do you see who let themselves go completely after they retire? A great deal of them put on a ton of pounds, and become, dare I say it, lazy. Also, a lot of "athletes" are also not of normal size. An NFL linebacker or NBA center may very well work out 3 hours a day, but being 300 pounds or 7'2" tall is an early death sentence, no matter what.

It makes sense that a person with an all-around healthy lifestyle (eating right, excercising, weight training, and keeping your mind active and challenged) will live longer than those who don't.
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Todd Henkel, 19 Jul 2006 @ 1:56pm

No cuts!!!
While many people use scooters for uncontrollable health reasons, an increasing number appear to indeed be choosing lazyness.

I put those that are lazy in the same category as the people who use handicap parking, get out of the car and walk normally - throughout the entire mall or Super WalMart. If you can walk that far, you can walk an extra 100 feet from the regular parking and leave the spot for someone truly in need.

It is unfortunate that this creates animosity towards those truly in need. What happens when Disney World has too many patrons abusing the system to get in attractions without standing in line since they "look" like they are "handicapped"?

Disney is not qualified to discern medically required vs. lazy. This might lead to the truly handicapped losing this benefit.

And posters need to stop being defensive about the genuinely needy. The point of the article was not about those in need but about the trend of those using scooters but who physically capable to go without.

I myself have had a somewhat rare arthritis since 16. When I recently switched medications, my mobility was greatly reduced. I was determined however not to request handicapped parking, scooters, etc. and kept pushing. And I will do so until I can go no further.

Those that choose to be lazy ought to think again about what their future may hold. Someday they may not have the luxury of choice and regret the times they chose to sit...
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Jeff, 19 Jul 2006 @ 5:39pm

Oh sure give PHYSICAL DISABILITIES all the attenti
What about all the nutty fruitcakes out there with MENTAL DISABILITIES? Why don't they get free cuts in line too? C'mon, I'm sure we can point our fingers at a few of ourselves here on this post and come up with a good list of names for people with MENTAL DISABILITIES, right?! :-p :-)
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Tarky7, 19 Jul 2006 @ 8:46pm

Bravo !
Well Jeff, I must say you get an A- for effort ! Not quite like I remember it but the pic will suffice. I tried serching for a pic of the real thing but came up with nada !

And yes, I am Mental ! 'tard, I think is what the others used to call me. Put me in a scooter and it would be a "wheeled 'tard" ;)
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Jeanette, 1 Sep 2006 @ 9:08pm

Walk in the Shoes of someone young with RA (Would
I am 27 with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sjorens Syndrome and degenerative disk disease. I try to walk everyday and take care of my two fairly young kids, however, some days the pain is insane and it would be nice to be able to use things like those "scooters". People look at you and make assumptions, but some "disabilities" are not readily seen.
I used to rollerblade and kept fit, so I do not want to hear that it is because I "didn't take care of myself." I am in no way over weight, in fact I am down towards the bottom of the "chart" for my height.
Even with having a lot more difficulty and not being able to be as active as I used to be, I am still in better physical shape then most people I know around my age.
It is when people start to say things like "scooters are for lazy people" that people such as myself start to have difficulty if we ever need to use them. I will sooner walk slower then a turtle pushing a cart through a store, so that I don't have to hear these uneducated types of remarks from people.
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