72 year old says new steps are too steep to climb
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A South Nashville senior citizen goes on vacation to India. When she returns, 2 weeks later, there are steep stairs in front of her house that she is afraid to use.
Alice Klingshirn says she can’t get her mail, or easily get to the street where her car is parked.
She says she calls the city to complain, but when she feels the city is dragging its feet, she calls Messed Up.
The 72 years old former ex-ray tech went to India in late October. In the two weeks she was gone, city crews tore up the street and put in new storm sewer drains.
Alice says the street needed it, but not at the cost of her being trapped in her front yard.
Officials with metro public works tell me that engineers tried to contact Alice prior to installing the stairs, but because she was out of the country, they were unable to, so they did what they felt was right.
Officials with the Metro Water Department tell me that crews try and leave a community the same or better than the way they found it.
Officials say normally the city tries to communicate with residents prior to construction, should there be a dramatic change to their property.
After Messed Up’s involvement, crews returned to Alice’s home and began tearing down the steps. The plan is to make a gradual ramp that the woman can easily navigate.
Oh come on!! This lady can travel to India and Norway but can’t traverse 4 steps to her mailbox? Seriously? Did she use a Hoverround or Jazzy chair to visit the Taj Mahal? I see the city putting in drainage ditches as a great thing, and the steps were the least they could do. But it takes TAX PAYERS MONEY to tear up the steps and put in a ramp? I see some serious whining goin on, and taxpayers are paying for it. If you think about it, the first time it freezes, she’s going to wish the steps were still there, when she falls on her ass on that ramp. Just physics. It’s a waste of tax money…be happy with the steps. You can still get around juuuust fine, there, World Traveler.
I am in complete agreement with sullyandbailey. She is such a globetrotter she has a website about her extensive travels and adventures but can’t climb 4 steps? I think she complained about this out of spite, about the fact that it was done without her knowledge. Travel Tip: Alice, you will want to avoid the Spanish steps in Rome. I think Andy got fooled on this one.
Apparently, SullyandBailey and Vexil failed to note two important things.
1) Alice uses a cane to get around. This is a big deal when you have steep stairs and no hand rail.
2) Alice did not have stairs before the pipes were installed. Her yard was flat.
What you don’t know is that Alice is a cancer survivor.
S&B, your anger should be directed at Metro who put the stairs in. They wasted your tax dollars, not Alice.
Vexil; God bless you, you want to see somebody about those jealousy issues.
Not jealous of anyone, just extremely curious how someone capable of traveling around the world is incapable of climbing 4 steps. Not sure what being a cancer survivor has to do with the selective mobility.
It would be nice to see what it looked like before Metro put sewers in.
Jayinnashville, they briefly showed a photo…it was flat as a pancake.
So it went from being flat to elevated about three feet up?