(From Twitter) Handicapped parking spaces vis-a-vis social injustices

[iluvtennis]

Link to tweet

[SonofDonald]

1. Three reasons to hold a disabled parking permit

And only three.

1: You can't walk very well.

2: You can't breathe very well.

3: you can't see very well.

I get really cranked off when I see someone park in the designated disabled spot, then get out and jog into the store.

Instant call to the cops if there's no one else in the car, the disabled may stay in the car and send another into the store but if only one in the car the permit is being abused.

My fave is seeing the huge lifted pickup with a disabled permit hanging from the mirror, if you can get in and out of that you aren't disabled.

They give out a card with the permits stating who it was given to and the card serial numbers it covers, if you don't have that with you you'll get a ticket if checked by a policeman.

I've had people ask me for proof the card is mine, as it says on the paper given to you with the cards "a public safety officer OR an authorized individual may ask you for your documentation".

So I ask them for their authorization, in 13 years I've only seen one, but I will show mine to another disabled card owner, and that's only happened once also.

I don't use the spaces if there's not many left, I leave them for those worse off than myself, but sometimes I need them on a bad day.

[TheMastersNemesis]

2. I See Huge "Need A Ladder" Trucks A Lot In Handicapped Place.

[tblue37]

7. I am handicapped. My friend has one of those trucks. I have trouble getting in and

out of them*, so he has to help me, but I do ride in the truck when he is the person giving me a ride somewhere.

*Actually, getting in and out of any vehicle is painful and difficult.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

46. I've been having knee and foot problems lately.

Getting in and out of my company vehicle (Expedition) is easier than our car (Fusion).

The truck is much easier to swing a leg around. With the running board step and grab handles it's a breeze. Getting out is even easier -- Gravity does most of the work.

[lagomorph777]

43. The owners are handicapped; they suffer from microphallus.

And probably microconsciense too.

[Hangingon]

3. I think the handicapped tag is greatly misused.

I see hanging tags that are good for 3, 4, or more years. If you are disabled, get a handicapped license plate. The handicapped spaces are full of people who don't appear handicapped. The response is ALWAYS "you don't know their story. Bull!

[Mr.Bill]

5. Some people who are handicapped don't own a car.

They get driven to places by a relative or caregiver.

[Hangingon]

8. Why do they need a tag?

For cabs? For those who give them rides? If some one gives them a ride they can let them off at the door!

[TeamPooka]

11. Maybe the person driving them is also assisting in the shopping etc? try to see outside the box

of your limited thinking.
Also think about the picture above and ask yourself if your reaction here represents intolerance.
You are the one telling the disabled how to act appropriately here?
Interesting.

[Hangingon]

16. Assisting shoppers can let the handicapped out. And then park.

Walmart here, as an example, has several handicapped spaces. More than the grocery store. Their spaces are always full. Handicapped people often have to seek spaces further out in the lot. By observation, the occupied spaces are full of questionable parkers. I am really wanting to restrict handicapped spaces for truly handicapped people. No, I don't think my opinion (it is thought out - not a reaction) is intolerant. Who am I to to tell handicapped how to act appropriately? I am 75 andhave bad knees, and I walk. My wife is handicapped and has a plate. I am looking out for her.

[kcr]

26. You've got it all figured out

Guess it doesn't matter if they need to go somewhere and there's no place to sit!

[TeamPooka]

31. I'm absolutely sure your solutions will work for every single other person in the country

Your tolerance and non-judgemental attitude will pay off for you too.

[lagomorph777]

44. That's my situation; I have to assist my wife.

I have to assemble her giant mobility cart; then she drives it in; she's afraid to drive in a low vehicle across a long expanse of parking lot.

Eventually, lifting that thing in and out is going to leave me disabled too.

[Mr.Bill]

12. Would you leave a helpless crippled elderly relative at the door alone

while you parked the car?

There's some people in this thread that should quit their jobs and immediately open a medical practice because they have the amazing capability to diagnose someone's medical condition by merely watching them get out of a car and walk into a building.

[Hangingon]

19. I don't think letting a handicapped person out at the door constitutes abandonment.

It is possible to assist them to the door. I don't claim medical knowledge.

[Delmette2.0]

30. Wrong again.

I drive my Mother to shopping, appointments and restaurants. She relies on me and my sister for just about everything. She is low vision and physically disabled. Her disability leaves her short of breath and sometimes dizzy. This sweet little old lady is almost 92 and you want me to leave her at the door with the walker while I drive around to find a parking spot? Sorry i'm going to do what is best for my Mother.
If you are having a good day then go ahead and park farther out in the lot as a courtesy to someone else. But don'the ask me to leave my Mother alone for a minute.

[skylucy]

52. Thank you for pointing this out to people. I have very elderly parents too and I cannot believe some

people are suggesting to "just leave em at the door". I also never thought much about or appreciated handicapped stalls in restrooms until the past year.

[deurbano]

32. My adult daughter is quadriplegic (uses a power chair) due to a disability she's had since birth.

We have a ramped van (a huge expense), but she doesn’t own it or drive it, so she has a “permanent” disability placard… that has to be renewed every two years! We live in San Francisco, and we would never have bought a vehicle as big as the van if not for her needs since parking is always a challenge. If my husband (I don’t like driving anything as big as the van in SF) is not just dropping her off, but also accompanying her, IF he manages to find a disabled parking space (unlikely in SF), he will park in that space because it will have a safe space to unload and reload her.

[Hangingon]

42. I am sorry for you daughters handicap.

I understand and would agree. Still, you seem to see someof my argument about the shortage of space.

[deurbano]

48. No need to feel sorry. She has a great, rewarding and very productive life.

I'm just saying there are valid reasons (not limited to the one I mentioned) for why a driver doesn't just drop a person with a disability off at an entrance... and for why people with disabled tags or placards (temporary or not) can need a disabled space as much (or more) than those with disabled plates.

But don't get me started about my reaction when I saw cops parked in the only disabled parking spot at a 7-11 when there were several available spots, and they were just getting coffee! (I mean, the place wasn't being robbed or anything.) One cop even threatened to check my name for possible outstanding warrants after I expressed my outrage.

[Hangingon]

49. I responded to a thread.

Hard to solve any problem that way. I jwould like to see the system overhauled. All for creating a category that would help you. My complaint is the abuse. I live in a county with a huge portion of retirees. I see guys on the golf course who have tags. No knee, hip, coped, heart etc problems. I am a senior. I could get a tag from my doctor. It is not right for those of us who can get around to take spaces from you. My whole argument.

[marybourg]

54. Maybe "letting them off at the door"

means opening the trunk, lifting the wheelchair out and setting it up, setting up the handle to allow the disabled person to get out of the car with only you to help, parking right next to the curb, no matter the configuration of the space, because the handicapped person can't step up, and you're not able to lift the wheelchair up a curb with the person already in the chair, guiding the person to the chair, setting up the foot holds, with bungee cords to hold the the person's feet in place, in the case of my particular handicapped person, go back and get my purse, close the trunk, guide the person to the store, leave him in a spot where he won't be in the way, all while the car is in a "no parking" spot causing everyone else to walk around it, some of them handicapped themselves, go find a non-handicapped spot, and do the same thing in reverse a short time later, all while I'm in my eighth decade of life myself and suffering from my own disabling conditions. Because you think a tag is somehow illegitimate, so I should "drop him off at the door, like we were both 45 and in good health? Open your eyes, poster. And your heart.

[Luz]

17. We have a tag because we have two vehicles, and you

can only get a plate for 1 car. F*ck anyone who doesn't like it. My husband has one, he needs it, and he shouldn't have to explain to anyone how or why.

[Mr.Bill]

22. Exactly. n/t

[Hangingon]

25. Thank you so much for your polite response.

[skylucy]

53. ...

[LanternWaste]

15. It would have been a waste of both my and the state's resources to have gotten a plate

" If you are disabled, get a handicapped license plate..."

It would have been a waste of both my and the state's resources to have gotten a new plate rather than a temp tag when I threw my back out some years ago and used the parking tag for all of five weeks.

But I get it... we often think we can diagnose the existence of a disability simply by a four-second glance.

[Hangingon]

23. Oh I always give it a full 10 seconds.

I understand temporary tags. Unfortunately, I see tags that are good for years.

[Mr.Bill]

36. And I see disabilities

that are good for life.

[Hangingon]

40. Yes and then some.

I have a friend whose spouse merited a handicapped space. He died a year ago and the tag soldiers on. Yes it is against the law.

[Mr.Bill]

41. Of course, that is wrong to do.

I hope he gets caught.

[SonofDonald]

33. My car has personalized plates, and I'm not getting a disabled plate.

Next year I get collectors plates, and I still won't get disabled plates.

Clear enough?.

[Hangingon]

39. That is your choice.

I will never see tag abuse corrected. A couple of years ago, there was a campaign to have the lege correct this wrong. It failed for all the excuses we see here. Just another example of why we don"t get anything done.

[Blindingly apparent]

55. I have a handicap tag. I do not drive my own car. My tag goes with me im any car that I am a

Passenger. I don’t drive myself (and believe me you wouldn’t want me to) as my vision extemds maybe 6 feet. My doctor insisted that I have a handicap tag. He was aware that I fell often because of curbs/small potholes. It would be wrong for my daughter or son-in-law to get a license plate as I am not with them on every trip.

[mountain grammy]

4. Yes, exacty!

My friend looks just fine, but she has COPD and needs oxygen. She has a handicapped placard because if she has to walk very far, she can't breathe. It really sucks.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. If you can't see very well, to the point where you need a handicapped space,

then you sure as hell shouldn't be driving.

[Mr.Bill]

21. Should that person

also not be riding in a car?

[SonofDonald]

34. Some people just can't get it.....n/t

[Ms. Toad]

29. I wish the jaw drop emoji would display in the title

Just because you can't see a disability does not mean it does not exist, and it is pretty arrogant of you to insist that the three reasons you have listed are the only reasons one might need for a disabled parking space.

4. A fatigue or chronic pain disorder that does not impair any of the three you listed, but means that you need to ensure you don't spend all of your energy in the parking lot

5. A short-term memory disorder that makes finding a car among a sea of cars spanning in all directions nearly impossible, but finding it among the few designated spots within the line of sight manageable

6. A PTSD or panic disorder that makes walking to the far end of the parking lot, especially after dark or in a strange place, a barrier that woudl otherwise be insurmountable

Having a disability that qualifies you for a disabled permit does not make you an expert on the needs of everyone who qualifies for a disabled permit.

[SonofDonald]

37. I was only given three reasons to have a disabled permit

But I'm sure there's many others, those are just the three main ones.

Disabled is disabled and is determined by a doctor, I've only called on two in fourteen years but they went home with a ticket.

I don't bother calling about huge lifted trucks, it gives me pause but then my car is lowered so it's hard to get in and out of.

It's just the ones that run into the store that makes me want to call, and I've only done that when I saw them pull into the lot.

Once I was going to report someone that parked and ran, but then they came back out guiding an elderly person to the car.

So no I'm not perfect but the first time I reported one I had left the spot open for others and then watched a man pull into the spot just to go in the teriyaki eatery and stand in line, obviously clueless, I had been walking to the door from across the lot when he pulled in.

But if we don't report them who will?.

Nobody.

[Ms. Toad]

47. Whoosh - right over your head.

You have no way of knowing that the ones who ran into the store or the man who went to the teriyaki eatery didn't legitimately have a disabled parking pass.

If they had brain cancer that destroyed his short-term memory, he may have needed his car to be parked right outside the door so he could find it.

But the absence of obvious signs of disability is not evidence of fraud. Mizrahi underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment for a cancerous brain tumor 12 years ago. Now in remission, she was left with an impaired short-term memory, making it difficult for her to remember where she parked.

"It was terrible," Mizrahi said. "If I parked at Macy's, if I parked at a big parking lot, I had no clue where my car was. I got very nervous."

Her mother, Janice Mizrahi, helped her obtain a disabled parking permit so she would always know where to look for her car.

Her medical reports state she suffered from "cognitive impairment," "memory impairment," and she "struggled with verbal and visuospatial memory" as a result of her illness and treatment.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-disabled-tag-20150102-story.html

I don't know the stories of the people on whom you are heaping scorn, and neither do you. So before you call the police on someone that you judge to be abusing the system, imaginge yourself on a day so bad you need to use your parking pass - having to defend your right to the use the pass to the police. Dealing with the additional hassle and shame brought on by people like you, who presume to be able to judge by appearances that they don't need that parking pass, compounds the challenges of living with an invisible disability.

I lived with vertigo for a year. I was constantly panicked about being in crowds because the slightest jostle would send me to the floor. No one knew to be careful around me because I looked completely "normal." I began the practice of using a cane - not because it would prevent me from landing on the floor if jostled - but to make my invisible disability visible.

At least with a visible disability, no one attempted to shame me for using the minor accommodations I needed to be safe.

[lame54]

6. As if those spots in front of the store would ever be...

Empty and waiting for them

They would still have to park far away

[justgamma]

9. I used to get mad at a handicapped person

for not using the handicap spot. There were only 4 parking spots. 1 for each elderly apartment. 1 handicapped spot. The one resident with a sticker always parked in one of the other spots and made it difficult for the rest of the residents, since they weren't allowed to park in his spot.

[freemay20]

10. Thanks for this...

Seems people missed the point of this post.

[TeamPooka]

13. no shit huh? freaking amazing.

[LanternWaste]

18. "White history month is called History as it's Currently Taught"

"White history month is called History as it's Currently Taught"
Response from my 1985 freshman poli-sci professor to the half-witted question "why no white history month?"

"Juneteenth is a made-up holiday..." (friend-in-law during camping trip last year)
"All holidays are made up." (my first (and only civil) reponse to him... which is one reason he never goes camping with us anymore)

[Mr.Bill]

20. Once I asked my mom

why there is a Mother's Day and a Father's Day but there is no Kid's Day. She said every day is Kid's Day.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. Good. Same logic can be applied to "All Lives Matter". . . nt

[Kaleva]

27. I have one but I rarely use it since being on SSDI

Back when I was working or trying to work, I used it often back then as my legs, mostly my left leg, was of little use and it was tough to walk. It's also been a long time since I've used one of those motorized shopping carts.

Now, my left leg may be sore and the foot one size bigger then the right and feels like it is burning but I can walk so I park in the regular spaces. There's others who probably need the space more then me.

[CTyankee]

28. I am 78 and have arthritis in my lower back. I have a 15 minute window on how long

I can stand/walk in the supermarket. I usually have our home health aide do the weekly shopping but occasionally I have to go out and get something and I have no choice.

I use my handicapped permit so I don't have to use more of my precious 15 minutes in the parking lot. In the store I can hang on a bit to the cart. Unloading groceries is also burdensome. I can only get so many large bottles of juice, milk, canned goods. I have to take Advil and stretch out when I get home.

[DinahMoeHum]

35. Lazy is NOT a handicap. . .

[SonofDonald]

38. I love it, never seen that before n/t

[malaise]

45. I got into a frightful argument with a woman recently over handicapped parking

There were several other empty spaces but she simply wanted to be closer to the bottled water store.
I asked her what happens if a disabled person drove up. She said she wasn't staying long. She just got louder. I told her she was a thoughtless asshole and she proceeded to demonstrate her knowledge of the variety of uses of the word fuck. When she was finished I told her she was still an asshole and went around to the back for the security guard who clamped her car. The plaza is not far from me and I have friends who have businesses there so I know where to find the folks who will settle scores. I did laugh.

[davsand]

50. I live with Meniere's Disease.

I've had to give up my career--my business--and now can't walk across a flat parking lot without staggering and maybe falling. I'm 57 years old and I'm looking for an office job so I can keep food on the table and the lights on. I dislocated my shoulder with multiple fractures a couple years ago when I fell on a sidewalk, so you better bet that I take this falling stuff seriously. I fall at home in my house sometimes, and I scream and I cry, but I'm not willing to just give up.

My family and my therapist have all been up my ass for the last year as my condition has deteriorated to get a handicapped tag, and I've resisted doing it. "I'm in much better shape than a lot of people out there" has always been my response. One of the more frustrating things I've had to adjust to with Meniere's is the unpredictable attacks of vertigo. Last month I had to hang on to cars to get back to my parking space because an attack hit me while I was in a Walmart picking up bandaids for my mom. I'm buying Bandaids for an 87 year old lady, and I'm staggering around a Walmart parking lot like a blind drunk sailor, hanging on to other people's cars, right after noon, because I am terrified of falling yet again... Not exactly living the dream. The "perk" of a parking place a few feet nearer the door was looking pretty attractive that day.

I look fairly normal on the outside, and on a good day I can walk with somebody holding my hand or even a cart to hang onto. I can even walk unassisted on good days as long as nobody cares if I stagger sometimes. Do I meet some arbitrary qualification to use a handicapped tag? Am I disabled "enough" yet? I'm not going to say anybody needs to walk in my shoes--hell, I don't want to be in my shoes.

Not gonna lie, if I'm using a handicapped tag and some asshat wants to tell me I'm abusing it because they can't see an obvious reason for it, then I'll be delighted to explain why it's none of their fucking business. If I park in a handicapped space without a tag, yeah, I'm an asshole. If I'm parking in a handicapped space with a tag or a plate, then it's nobody's business. Period.


Laura

[Ms. Toad]

51. +1000

Meniere's Disease was ruled out fairly early in my year of vertigo - but I know the terror and the invisibility. That's why I've reacted so strongly to the OPs scorn directed against people who don't seem to be living wtih a disability.