I arrived in Windsor, England, the day after the birth of the royal baby. 

Before some of my 'admirers' who regularly adulate me in this space and before that quality paper called l-Orizzont starts speculating and spinning some conspiracy theories, let me set the record straight. My visit had been planned for quite some time and it had nothing - read my lips 'nothing' - to do with the birth of the royal baby. I had nothing to do, for example, with the choice of name.

Since one of group with whom I was traveling has a mobility problem, I used the trip to check the position of those who say that society is the greatest disability that people with particular impairments have to face. They say, quite correctly, that society's customs and attitudes make the life of persons with disability more difficult than it should be.

The first problem was encountered at our international airport. We asked the person checking the documents before one proceeds to the security area, to open part of the railings so that this disabled person would not have to walk all around the railings. He refused. I pointed out that had that person had a La Valette pass she would have been allowed to take a similar short cut to the one we proposed. He was not impressed. If the guard was following orders I don't blame him but i blame whoever concocted this stupid order. If this decision was his own initiative I say just one sentence: Give a bully some power and, hey presto, he will bloom. I will follow this incident with the authorities of the airport.

How friendly is England to persons with disability?

The railway systems is miles ahead of the French one. Last year Paris was a nightmare. The South West Trains company is very friendly to disabled persons. They really help, though there are some stations, e.g. Chessington South, that present structural problems which would probably leave some persons with grave mobility problems stranded.

A problem we encountered - and this is on the increase even in several places, Malta included  - is cobbled streets. These are nice to look at and embellish the environment, particularly in the old areas of towns and cities. But navigating on such streets in a wheelchair creates problems. Old people can also encounter problems. Many such areas  can be found in London and in Windsor.

The biggest surprise was the hotel. The Mercure Windsor Castle hotel is a good four star hotel with a fine tradition. Its location is fantastic and the service is good. The owners opened a new extension of the hotel. Believe it or not it is not served with a lift! Stairs are the only option. This strange decision subtracts the attractiveness of the hotel. (Our MEPA would have never allowed this development.)

Not all 'Hop on, Hop off' buses we used are disability friendly. The much maligned Arriva in Malta with its fleet of buses friendly to disabled people can teach them a lesson or two.

The shopping malls we went to are very friendly and gladly provide the needed assistance.

The provision of services to disabled persons is not a minority issue. It is of vital importance to all of us. Whenever a sector of society is excluded all society is the loser. Pope Francis during his pastoral  to Brazil spoke about the exclusion of some sectors of society from the economic progress registered by the same society. His argument applies similarly to the exclusion of persons with disability.

We are all networked together. Solidarity is not a slogan but an ontological necessity. It is also a Christian imperative.

One can also approach the issue from an 'egoistical' perspective.

We are all disabled one way or another. We all have limitations and particular needs. Taking care of the needs of persons whose impairment makes their needs more urgent will strengthen the argument I - or you - can make to get society to structure itself to take care of our needs.

It is fundamentally a question of either attentively caring for all or making the law of the jungle (albeit in a 'nice' way) supreme.

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