Handicap Parking Rant: Entitled People Who Feel They Can Park Wherever They Want

Hello again my hard-working, custy-abiding citizens.

Are you ready for another rant about parking from someone who isn't even driving at this point?

Well, I really don't care. I believe I have the right since I only have one parking ticket for parking on the street during rush hour because I had forgotten that it started and I was still in the shops (paid it as soon as I got it), and one warning for going left through a yellow (the one where I had been sitting in the middle of the intersection waiting for it to clear, no less). No speeding tickets, no DUI, no driving without insurance. I think I've earned the right to rant about other people and their parking *ESPECIALLY* when it comes to handicapped spaces! So here it goes:

If you drive a tank, realize that you are going to have to park in the desert. Parking and taking up two spaces where other people have t be around you is being a total douche. YOU PARK LIKE AN ASSHOLE.COM. This should be a sister site to RHU. You can make "parking tickets" to put under their wipers. If I had something to write with, I'd have written a note to the idiot in the white truck and told him what an asshole he was and to look for his truck on the site... or here! (below)

Now let's discuss handicapped parking spaces. I'll just narrow it down to the one right in front of the office at my apartment complex since that's the one I see when I walk my dog. For some reason it is a magnet for all of the repair vehicles here. Forone thing it's the largest parking spot, and for another, its right in front of the office. All the workers have to do is walk right in.

 
I never got around to calling the company on the small pick-up, but I did call on the large box van because they were taking up the whole space. I called the office, told them that their truck was blocking a handicapped space. Instead of being blown off, I was switched over to dispatch who was mortified to hear about it and they said they would get in touch with their driver right away and have them move it. Score 1. Of course mentioning that you are disabled and that you find it really annoying that people treat as the "Wow!-This-is-a-great-big-spot-rught-next-to-the-office!" spot goes a long way in getting your point across.

Now I'll tell you about the taxi I ran into two night ago. I was out walking my dog as usual (my regular route takes me right by the handicapped parking spot by the office), and as I'm passing by, a taxi pulls into the parking spot aaaaannnnddddd..... PARKS. So I stood on the passenger's side (because that's where the ramp side of the walk went) for a minute or so to see if someone was actively walking up to the cab. Nope. Finally the driver rolled his window down, and the conversation goes something like this:

Taxi: "Can I help you?"

HM: "You realize you're parking in a handicapped spot, right?"

Taxi: "Um, yes. I'm only going to be a minute."

HM: "That's not the 'I'm-only-going-to-be-a-minute' spot. That's a handicapped spot."

Taxi: "What are you going to do if I don't move?"

HM: "I could call your boss."

Taxi: "I am the boss."

HM: *holds up cane* "Then you should know better. "THIS--*points to sign* is a handicapped spot, and I don't see a placard or a plate." *GLARES*

Taxi: "Would you like me to move?"

HM: "That would be the thing to do." *sweetest smile*

*Taxi backs out and moves to a regular parking spot*

WHY should it be that difficult??? It all goes back to: If you want my parking spot, then you can have my disability! I recently had to walk TWO BLOCKS after a bus stop to have my dog's rabies shots. The first block was uphill and I had to stop and rest twice. This from someone who hiked 10 miles of the Appalachian Trail in one day. Granted, I was in my teens back then, but I haven't done drugs, haven't smoked, and haven't done extreme sports. My body attacked me. It happens. So next time you hear of or see some clueless moron parked in a handicapped spot, be sure and tell them THEY PARK LIKE AN ASSHOLE! Get a picture, and let's put these lugnut-lickers to shame.

-- Humor Me

Comments

[Lita]

Dear god, yes. Asshole parkers (is that a word? It is now) who abuse handicapped spaces drive my family NUTS. (Two of us - my mother and myself - are disabled; my father only has to put up with us but boy, does he understand the rage!)

We used to have these yellow strips of cardboard that you could stick under a windshield wiper to tell parking lot assholes off - perhaps a bit passive-aggressive but satisfying nonetheless. One side said "PARKING VIOLATION" in large block print and the other had checkboxes listing the various parking lot etiquette violations, including taking up numerous spaces and parking in a handicapped spot without proper identification, that you'd check before you stuck it under the wiper. They seemed to work pretty well, actually - I suppose they look just "official" enough to make the violator think twice...

Unfortunately, we ran out and haven't been able to find where to buy more since. :(

[Aisle-Standing]

I totally agree. I am blessed enough not to need these spaces myself, but I have had friends and relatives who have needed them.

I would love to have your opinion about a situation (and anyone else who wants to chime in). What do you do about a person who abuses a placard that belongs to someone else? There is a woman at work who ALWAYS parks in the handicapped spot, and she has plates and a placard, BUT from hearing her talk in the break room I know it belongs to someone else. I've worked with her long enough to know she will pretty much ignore me if I say anything to her. However, I have also heard via the news that the state is cracking down on people who abuse placards. So do I report her and risk the state taking the placard when there is legitimate need from someone else, or do I let her continue to abuse the system? (Keep in mind management will not do anything because she does have a placard.)

[L]

The handicap 'waiters' burn me up; I've called the police on them more than once. This holiday season has made the abusers flock in DROVES! I ticket handicap and firelane parkers where I work and in 3-weeks I've written 30 tickets!

[WMDKitty]

@Aisle-Standing -- Ugh, as much as I'd hate to remove a placard from someone who needs it (all because a relative or caregiver is a complete douche), I'm gonna have to go with "report her". The rules clearly state that, in order to use the parking placard, the disabled person MUST be entering/exiting the vehicle.

Or you could just key her car.

[Michael Chandra]

Why key the car? Don't they sell those safety hammers in your state, that you use to smash the window if your car hits the water?

[shuichiboy]

All this is well and good, but I would just like to emphasize to be careful who you target. My mother does not have any obvious disabilities, but she has them and needs that parking space. I do believe she's been accosted on a couple of occasions by people who think she shouldn't park where she parks.

[Drug Store Diva]

My old store had a woman who would insist on parking in the fire lane because she had arm surgery about 10 years ago and insisted she couldn't carry her purchases from the store to the parking lot. We've even had her car ticketed (she knows somebody in the police department who got it 'taken care of'), we've tried to refuse service until she moved her car (she complained to corporate and got a gift card for her 'inconvenience'), we've even told her that we do not charge rental on shopping carts and she should use one if her purchases were too heavy to carry, she refused (of course).

One of my co-workers did have some of those "you park like an asshole" tickets though so every time she came in, he went out to put one on her car. When she complained we just told her we had no control over what customers do and she was breaking the law by parking there. She was still parking in the fire lane when I left in May.

[Parking Bitch]

Last night at my parkade we had an asshole park over two disabled parking spots, and god knows how many people parked crooked, to the point where the person beside them would have difficulty getting out. The site supervisor left a note on the one guy's window asking him to please park within the lines, but there's nothing we can do about the people who park crooked.

People don't seem to understand that the handicap spaces are extra wide because some of our customers have wheelchair ramps in their vehicles. There's at least one guy with a regular wheelchair who loads up his chair and then hauls himself into the drivers seat, and another woman confined to her electric chair with a specially modified van.

[Toyman]

If the car has a plate or placard, there is not much you can do directly. If the parker has a non-visible disability, they are still allowed to park there.

There is a website where you can submit information if you feel the person has a pass illegally.

http://www.handicappedfraud.org/

They take data and submit them to DMV's to investigate. If the placard is being used fraudulently, they can take care of it.

[Hotel Whore (formerly Chicken Flinger)]

My mom has a placard but it doesn't always look like she needs the handicapped parking. She has necrosis in her ankles which means, basically, the bones are dying from the inside out. She had surgery but it didn't really work. Some days are good, some days are bad. Bad days tend to mean limping or sometimes using the courtesy cart. Good days tend to mean walking as little as possible to avoid bad days and maybe using the shopping cart for stability. She probably should use a cane (has one in her car) but she's embarrassed. I know we've gotten death glares for not very obviously needing the spot. We always park in non-handicap if one is close enough she thinks she can make it to our destination, but it's usually handicapped.

Handicapped parking seems to be a touchy, sensitive issue. I know at least one person who had a placard because they were on SSDI for depression (and nothing else). It may be an *emotional/mental disability* but it certainly didn't call for a special parking spot. That instance did infuriate me. She was one of those people that thought the world owed her something.

[hiya]

My 39 year old husband is handicapped. It absolutely chaps my ass when I see a car without a placard or plates in the handicapped spots, especially when someone is waiting in the car for another person to come out of the store and they're just there waiting because it's a close spot.

My husband, who is 6'4" and runs around 280, doesn't look disabled so we've been on the receiving end of snarky comments. Usually a pointed "Would you like the phone number of his oncologist to verify? usually sends people scurrying away.

[Gem]

My grandmother (who is 80) has a temporary placard that I keep in my car. I have ONLY used it when I'm taking her to the doctor, the lab for tests, or when I was picking her up at the hospital after she was released. Shoot, if I know we're going to be awhile, I even take the placard off and move to a regular parking spot. Seems fair, right?

Regardless, you would NOT believe the number of death glares, dirty looks, comments and honks I have gotten when I pull into the marked spot and put up the tag - even AFTER they see me get out, run to pull her walker out, open her door, and then brace the walker so she can pull herself to a standing position. I admit I flipped off the last one and yelled at him, despite the lecture on unladylike behavior I got.

I hope when they get to be her age, someone has that much compassion for them. *eyeroll*

[NC Tony]

I always say if someone who doesn't need the space parks in the handicapped spot, you should be allowed to take a baseball bat to their knees. If they want the handicapped spot that bad, I'll give the a reason to park there.

[Aisle-Standing]

I'm aware that not all disabilities are obvious. I know people who use the placards but don't have obvious disabilities.

To clarify a bit, the person who uses the spot is a co-worker so she is on her feet eight hours a day along with the rest of us. From what she has said in the lunch room, the tags are actually for someone she is a caregiver for, not herself.

[Rescued retail slave]

Here's one for you. An article on the Houston Chronicle was talking about handicap violations, and some real jackasses were coming in the comments talking about how disabled people want equal rights, they have the right to fight for parking too. One man says he makes a point to pick a car in the handicap parking and surround it with baskets so that "crips" will learn they have to park far away like everyone else. I have a tag and only use it on days when my rheumatoid arthritis flares. So I wasn't nice when I unloaded on this dude...I get alot of snarky looks when I get out with my cane, and even asked why I need one since I'm young. (really rude!) I told the last guy that I injured my knees flying tanks in the WWI. He actually seemed to buy it. **facepalm** Friends have suggested other reasons, such as practicing my cabaret dancing, Willy Wonka impersonations, and the fight with the last dude that asked about my arm brace.

[Kat]

@Suichi: As long as you have a placard, it shouldn't matter. My friend has an invisible disibility, and it's not /too/ severe in that he can park futher away if has to, but if there's a lot of walking ot be done... no. He told me once where he and some of his other buddies went on a road trip and they went shopping at the Edmonton Mall and he spent the entire time there in a wheel chair because of his disability. Which is pretty shitty. But since it's not at all visible, he's told me he's gotten some pretty shitty looks for parking in handicapped spots, despite the placard. And these assholes who abuse the system make it all the more harder for guys like him, with invisible disabilities.

TL;DR: people suck.

[Nixxee]

I have two stories, about 8 years ago I was with an agency that did home health care, I was with my client. This lady, when sitting looked perfectly normal, needed a wheelchair. We parked in a designated spot and sat for a minute to review the plan at the local grocery. Here we are looking like we are a couple of gossiping 30-sometings and getting the death glares until I pull the chair outta the trunk.

Second story I am having issues with my feet looking like who did it and ran, just ugly, I parked in a handicapped spot WITH A PERMIT, and got a death glare... until, in a fit of evil I kicked off my shoe and showed Mr. and Mrs. Busybodies my bloody sock. It was a very bad day and it was a spectacularly gruesome display. Once they picked up their collective jaws I told em "You really should mind your own business."

[Logan]

I used to take care of my mother. Drive her around to her appointments, etc. She had a handicap placard. As long as she was able, she still liked to try to get out and shop and such as much as she could. So when I took her shopping, I would use her handicap placard. Later it got to the point where she was unable to do that. I would do the majority of shopping for her. I would also take her to her doctors appointments. Afterwards I would usually need to stop and get her perscriptions and sometimes chinese food, While she would wait in the car. She often offered for me to use her handicap placard, but I wouldn't while she waited in the car. If she were going to go in the store, I would have used it for her, but if she was just waiting in the car, I didn't need it and wouldn't abuse that.

[LabRat]

Major props to you for defending the space. My Father is in his mid-forties and already has more metal in him than a tank (he has had disks removed and his soine fused and reinforced). While he can walk, he often needs a cane and it is hard for him to lug things around, especially groceries (Me and my brother try to go with him when we can but we are both full time college students who work multiple jobs). So I understand your anger when people pop in the hnadicap space thinking its okay if it only takes a "minute" (as if anything takes just a minute).

For my dad and those like him, those few feet mean a lot. If you are lucky enough to have a full functioning body, then the walk wont kill you. They should be glad that they aren't in need of it.

[RockerChic]

I personally prefer to park farther out. When I would return my library books after hours with a deserted parking lot, I wouldn't even park in the handicapped space.

My dad had a total knee replacement done about 7 years ago. The doctors offered him a temporary permit and he refused it.

[maximusdumicus]

@Lita: just do a google search, like: "fake parking ticket" and you will find plenty of sites that will give you a ticket that can be printed out.

[mom with walker]

Toyman, that url you posted should be http://www.handicappedfraud.org/index.php?mod=reports.
The first was just a forum of ads & rants.

I use a walker post stroke. I really hate drivers who cut sharply across my path. Should just ram 'em.

[HAMSHER]

if you report the co-worker using the placard i don't think it will be taken away from the person it belongs to, the owner and or the abuser would probably just get a ticket and face a fine.

[Humor_Me]

It was interesting. I walked by the front of the complex the other day, and the R.T. Brown truck was politely parked in a regular parking spot. I guess they got the hint. : - )