Monday, July 19, 2010

My Handicapped Parking Beef......

Some people who use parking spaces that are reserved for the handicapped really get on my nerves. I'm not talking about the ones who just park there with no permit and no obvious handicap - those ought to be taken out and shot.

The ones who get on my nerves are the ones who HAVE a permit (or have someone who has the permit) but don't need the parking space.

My mother-in-law is legitimately handicapped. She walks (veeeeerrrrrryyyyy slllllooooowwwwwllyyy) with a walker, and she is very unsteady even then. When we take her out to eat with us, we use her permit and park in a space reserved for the handicapped. There have been times when we have been searching for a parking space when she WASN'T with us, and we joked about how nice it would be to have her placard with us. But we were JOKING, and I would never actually do that. Even at a Braves' game. When the parking for handicapped is right next to the stadium. (I wonder if Granny likes baseball?)

Some people take advantage, though. I knew a woman and her husband, for example, who had a temporary permit after he had knee surgery. Even after he was fully recuperated, they continued to use the parking permit until it BY GOD EXPIRED. I was embarrassed to go anywhere with them if one of them drove, because the four (or five or six) of us would all hop out of the car, and it was obvious that none of us was handicapped. I guess it was technically legal, but it wasn't right.

I saw a car parked in the handicapped zone the other day at the store, and the driver had left the handicapped person in the car. Now if the person who has difficulty walking wasn't actually DOING ANY WALKING, was it reasonable for them to take up one of those reserved parking spaces? Maybe I'm being picky, but I'm thinking those are reserved for the folks who need a little extra help getting to the building.

I don't know what got me thinking about this issue today. On a similar note, I saw a car the other day with one of the "Disabled Person" license plates. It was a souped-up Mustang with one of those high-rise spoilers on the back. I didn't get a good look at the driver. You don't reckon someone just stole Grandpa's license plate after he passed, do you?

1 comment:

Maggie said...

Daddy-O has a handicapped plate on his car, left over from my mom and the DMV won't give him a non- handicapped one. Loooong story.

Anyway, we try to not abuse it. I have, however. At Christmas, shopping, at the mall, 2 days before the day, in a blizzard. I know, I suck. And I still feel bad about it.

And I always wonder about handicapped plates on sports cars. Just doesn't gel in my head.