By Phyllis Chesler

Police sirens, firetrucks, overhead helicopters, the roar of traffic--the noise is alarming. Visually, the pandemic-era sheds still sprawl on the sidewalks, too many huge cranes tower high above us, construction work and ugly scaffolding is absolutely everywhere, and everyone on the street is talking, but not to each other, only to invisible others on their cellphones.

But that's not what I want to talk to you about today. Rather, imagine that you've fell and fractured a bone, or that for some other reason you're in a wheelchair, on a walker, or limping heavily on a cane--imagine that you need an X-ray, an MRI, or a cat-scan. And that you're in pain.

Well, I've just returned from having an X-Ray. Here are my questions. Why do so many of the X-Ray and MRI establishments, (I've now visited three), confront you with steps, then even more steps, which are then followed by a long hallway? What if someone is in a wheelchair? Who made and approved these crazy architectural decisions?

Am I the only one who's been challenged by all this?

There's something else. Overnight, or so it seemed, all hospitals and health care facilities renamed their bathrooms. No longer was it for "Women" and for "Men"--it became "All Genders Welcome." Why not just "Rest Room," or "the Loo," or "The Toilet," or "One Size Fits All" as at home or on an airplane? All those who made sure that this gender appropriate sign exists, should now please focus their attention on creating ramps, deleting steps, and positioning physical therapy units and X-ray/MRI establishments without long hallways.