Handicapped Parking Abuse (the best, name, family, topic)

[Jaxson]

Originally Posted by jtur88

I now feel uncomfortable holding doors for women strangers.

Women never make eye contact with men, anywhere, except maybe hookers on the clock. If I hold the door for a woman, I detect that she has some kind of a disgusted confusion, because it forces her to decide whether to break out of the mold and make eye contact, which she is hard-wired to not do.

So, to avoid placing a person in a no-win quandary, I just stand back and wait until they have gone through the door in their rigidly-enforced societal vacuum, and then I go myself. I feel like I have done her a favor, which she will never know about.

This does not apply in Canada, only the USA.

Well I appreciate a door being held open even say thank you and I promise you I have never been a hooker.

[TommyKnockers]

I'm a paraplegic and I have a serious issue with people parking in handicap spots that don't need them. I was paralyzed in an accident but before that I NEVER used a handicap spot. Even now I often times, more often than not, leave them for people who "need" them more than I do. That being said, when I need one, I hate it when I can't find one and then I drive around and see that there are people parked in them that don't have either the license plate of the placard. When I say that "I leave them for people who need them more than I do" I don't mean to sound like I'm better than anyone else. I just mean that there are some people who have vans with lifts that need the extra room or there are people who really can't handle the longer distance from the regular lot. What many people don't understand is that many people don't need handicap spots because of the distance to their location. Many people need them because they have wheelchair lifts or other issues that require them to need more room than regular spots allow. Personally, I ride a Harley with a sidecar and when I'm on that I never use the handicap spots. For one, I KNOW that if I put a handicap placard on my Harley that it wouldn't be there when I came out. Secondly, if I don't put the placard on, a cop would NEVER believe that someone on a Harley could be handicapped so I'd still get a ticket...lol. Now, when I in my car, even though I don't have a van with a lift, I must have my door ALL the way open so I will use one then and it irritates the hell outta me when I can't find one open. I wrote this to give people a little better understanding why people actually need those spots so they didn't look at the "empty" lot and figure that "if one of those handicaps come up, there are all sorts of spots just as close" because like I said, it's not always the "distance" that requires people to use handicap spots.
Now that I've said all that, I have one more message; If you don't need a handicap spot and park in one anyway, and you find yourself having your ass kicked by a guy with long blonde hair, tattoes, piercings, a wheelchair and a bad ass attitude, you'll know why. By the way, it's humiliating as hell to have yer ass kicked by a guy in a wheelchair so you really might want to think twice before parking in one of those spots.......especially since my upper cuts always seem to catch you guys in the jewels......lol!!!

[2goldens]

Originally Posted by MoMark

I totally agree with you. I was at Price Cutter ( a local southwest Missouri grocery store chain) and had to park quite a ways out in the lot. As I was walking to the front of the store through the parking lot, a young woman pulled up in an SUV with a handicap tag, parked in the handicaped parking spot, hopped out, and RAN to the front entrance. Luck would have it that I was walking out with my groceries when she was and there were a lot of people now in the parking lot around us and I was really close to her as I walked past. I fell to my knees while looking right at her and in a super loud voice yelled: "Praise be Jesus!!!! She's healed!!!!" The other people around started laughing and the woman abusing the sticker turned red and got in her car quickly and drove off.

Aint that the truth!

[2goldens]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Society just has to get used to the idea that no matter what, there will be some people who will abuse it. Live with it.
------
I have a policy that Ive told my friends about, and most paople adopt it and use it. When I go to a crowded parking lot, I never take the "best" spot. I leave it there for somebody who needs it worse than I do. I don't mind the walk.

I'm with you. I always park in furthest spots (where employees should park) to protect my car. People abuse parking next to my car by swinging doors open to mess up the doors / paint job. I have both sides of my Lincoln damaged from within parking lots. I have witness so many times at Walmart, a person parking in handicapped spot, swing door open and RUN to the door then linger around the store for an hour. Give me break! My sister-in-law has polio, confided to a electric wheelchair with the van and ramp. She complains about the very same that she requires the handicap spot for the extra space for the van hydraulic ramp. Before she got her electric wheel chair, she had the portable (fold type) to fit in her trunk. She still had trouble with available handicapped parking spaces. Anytime I see someone RUNNING, I think of my sister-in-law. I totally get MoMark's post.

[Twinkle Toes]

Originally Posted by totally_annoyed

i am totally irritated with the amount of people i see that possess handicapped hang-tags, but aren't handicapped! they use them to park wherever they want. as a borough security worker, i just dealt with someone who parked in a handicapped spot. when i approached him and asked him to move his car because he was in a handicapped spot, he said "i'm handicapped."
"where's your tag?" i asked.
he then bent over into his car, produced a tag that looked brand new, not faded, barely used. what choice did i have? "hang it up." i said, and walked away, furious that this perfectly capable young man was getting away with this. he walked off, and later i noticed that he was walking all over our park, no limp or crutch in sight.

why is it that these people are allowed to get away with this? maybe that guy drives his crippled mother around, but to use the handicapped sticker when obviously he was not handicapped should be a crime. i would love nothing more than to see this man's car being towed.

what are your thoughts on this? how, if possible, can it be changed?

Maybe this person had an ailment that didn't involve walking with a limp or needing the use of crutches or a cane. AND he is under NO obligation to reveal his medical history to you - a complete stranger!

[ptsum]

Originally Posted by totally_annoyed

i am totally irritated with the amount of people i see that possess handicapped hang-tags, but aren't handicapped! they use them to park wherever they want. as a borough security worker, i just dealt with someone who parked in a handicapped spot. when i approached him and asked him to move his car because he was in a handicapped spot, he said "i'm handicapped."
"where's your tag?" i asked.
he then bent over into his car, produced a tag that looked brand new, not faded, barely used. what choice did i have? "hang it up." i said, and walked away, furious that this perfectly capable young man was getting away with this. he walked off, and later i noticed that he was walking all over our park, no limp or crutch in sight.

why is it that these people are allowed to get away with this? maybe that guy drives his crippled mother around, but to use the handicapped sticker when obviously he was not handicapped should be a crime. i would love nothing more than to see this man's car being towed.

what are your thoughts on this? how, if possible, can it be changed?

As a borough security worker, maybe you should educate yourself as to what constitutes a handicap, there are various different types of handicaps that people have, some are obvious and some are not so obvious, that young person that you're griping about could very easily have had a heart condition which would qualify him for a handicap sticker even somebody who has had a hip replacement or knee replacement qualifies for a handicap sticker or tag, before you get your nose bent out of shape because somebody, to you doesn't obviously look like they're handicapped, maybe first you should look into it and find out a little more about it before making judgments, unless you're a doctor and are qualified to make such judgments I would think that you would be a little more cautious about what you say about people with handicap stickers or tags and as to whether they qualify for them or not.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by totally_annoyed

i am totally irritated with the amount of people i see that possess handicapped hang-tags, but aren't handicapped! they use them to park wherever they want. as a borough security worker, i just dealt with someone who parked in a handicapped spot. when i approached him and asked him to move his car because he was in a handicapped spot, he said "i'm handicapped."
"where's your tag?" i asked.
he then bent over into his car, produced a tag that looked brand new, not faded, barely used. what choice did i have? "hang it up." i said, and walked away, furious that this perfectly capable young man was getting away with this. he walked off, and later i noticed that he was walking all over our park, no limp or crutch in sight.

why is it that these people are allowed to get away with this? maybe that guy drives his crippled mother around, but to use the handicapped sticker when obviously he was not handicapped should be a crime. i would love nothing more than to see this man's car being towed.

what are your thoughts on this? how, if possible, can it be changed?

I knew a lady whose disabled husband died and she kept the hang tag even though she was not disabled herself (in rather good health, actually), because it allowed her to get the close parking spots. Likewise, I have known of people who use their parents' vehicles so that they could benefit from the hang tag.

What aggravates me are people who are only disabled because they are SO FRIGGIN FAT that they have a multitude of medical ailments because of it. Whenever I see a really morbidly obese person on one of those mobility scooters in Walmart I want to tell them that maybe a little EXERCISE might do them some good!!!! LOL

20yrsinBranson

[Jaxson]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

I knew a lady whose disabled husband died and she kept the hang tag even though she was not disabled herself (in rather good health, actually), because it allowed her to get the close parking spots. Likewise, I have known of people who use their parents' vehicles so that they could benefit from the hang tag.

What aggravates me are people who are only disabled because they are SO FRIGGIN FAT that they have a multitude of medical ailments because of it. Whenever I see a really morbidly obese person on one of those mobility scooters in Walmart I want to tell them that maybe a little EXERCISE might do them some good!!!! LOL

20yrsinBranson

What if the person became "so friggin fat" after the disability made their mobility an issue? Yes anytime being over weight adds to the problems but maybe they can't walk far due to other things.

I wish cops would check the registration paper that are given when a tag or plate is issued. In our state you are told to carry it with you but I have never heard anybody being asked to see it. Sometimes it is not the same person to who the vehicle is registered to that needs to handicapped parking.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by Jaxson

What if the person became "so friggin fat" after the disability made their mobility an issue? Yes anytime being over weight adds to the problems but maybe they can't walk far due to other things.

That's true. Often diabetes will cause a person to gain weight or other medical condition (congestive heart failure, emphysema, etc), which could lead to reduced mobility and obesity. But you have to admit that a LOT of fat people are fat because the eat too much and don't exercise enough. I am overweight myself so I know that it is hard to keep it off. But when I see these 400+ pound plus people in their little scooters I think.....DAMN!!!!

20yrsinBranson

[Jaxson]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

That's true. Often diabetes will cause a person to gain weight or other medical condition (congestive heart failure, emphysema, etc), which could lead to reduced mobility and obesity. But you have to admit that a LOT of fat people are fat because the eat too much and don't exercise enough. I am overweight myself so I know that it is hard to keep it off. But when I see these 400+ pound plus people in their little scooters I think.....DAMN!!!!

20yrsinBranson

Yes there are the bad apples in the bushels as well. Did you see where one state's governor in the east wants a tax on soda pop? Says it will help reduce the obesity problems that state is facing. If one puts on taxes there will be other states to follow suit. Obesity is a problem in the USA that does lead to other health issues. I just didn't want you lumping all people using those scooters as only having a fat/lazy issue.