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Rufledt
Rufledt Dork
6/26/12 8:14 a.m.
z31maniac wrote: Meh, I always park out at the other end of the parking lot where it's empty anyway. I can't stand door dings/scratches on my vehicles and the extra 50 yards of walking definitely isn't going to hurt. But I'm sure some of the stuff that bothers me, other people would find strange/dumb/ridiculous.

I'm with this guy. People here don't have the decency to put the carts back in the return things, they'd rather roll them down the hill towards the store into other people's cars. It's part of the "berkley you" attitude that people in this area seem to have. I always park far away and uphill. If these people are too lazy to put the cart away, they're too lazy to push the cart uphill into my car 100 yards away.

That said I think it's rediculous that people can get a permit just because they ate themselves fat, but as others here have said, you can never tell just by looking. I bet if I got a disability that limited my walking and required weird medication, I would put on tons of weight and people would mistake me for someone who just ate too much. You can't tell.

slantvaliant
slantvaliant Dork
6/26/12 8:29 a.m.

Re: Mobility scooters to/from the handicapped parking, vs parking further out:

Part of it is the space, as noted. My wife's scooter comes apart so it will fit in the trunk, but I have to assemble it without being in the flow of traffic.

There is also the problem of driving the scooter from the outskirts to the door. The scooters are not as agile as one might think, and the operators are often, well, handicapped in ways that impact their vision and reaction times as well as mobility. I've nearly been hit many times while on foot, and I'm much more agile than anyone in the scooters.

There IS abuse of the system. I know of people who drive with handicapped plates, who, frankly, shouldn't be driving at all.

One more thing: Some handicaps show, some don't. And, like a bad back or trick knee, there are good days and bad days.

volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse Reader
6/26/12 9:19 a.m.

I quit caring about where I park my car. When you drive a 3/4 ton truck that can't maneuver so well, that happens. But regardless of what I'm driving, when I pull into a parking lot, I stick it in the first spot I can see that's reasonably close to the entrance and get on with my life. Invariably I'll notice someone trolling around the lot angling for the elusive space 20 feet from the door. They're trolling when I pull into the lot and they're still trolling when I've left my car and am inside the store. Some people have different priorities. Mine is to get in and out of there as quickly as I can. I do this a lot better on my legs than I do rolling around the lot at 3 miles per hour. And I'm damn thankful I'm young, strong, and healthy enough to walk 100 or 200 feet without worry or fatigue.

My grandfather is 95 (yes, Ninety Five) years old. He has a handicapped sticker on his Grand Marquis. I recall one time (this was maybe 2 or 3 years ago, so he was a spry 92 or 93 at the time) we went to the store, he was driving, and he parked in a normal parking spot about 5 or 10 spaces away from the door. I asked him, "Pa, you have a handicapped sticker, why don't you park in a handicapped space?" He replied, "There's people who need those spaces who are worse off than I am."

Greatest generation, indeed.

Twin_Cam
Twin_Cam UltraDork
6/26/12 9:38 a.m.

I have noticed that the handicapped tag seems to mean that the car will always be parked horribly. Crooked, back end of the car sticking out into the lane, mostly in another spot, etc. These are usually the elderly drivers, and don't get me started about retesting, vision tests, the AARP lobby, and the like, because that'll turn into a huge clusterberkeley.

Suffice it to say, I park way the hell out in the middle of nowhere anyway, because I hate fighting for parking spaces. I refuse to do it. So I don't really pay attention, other than to point out that these people should probably learn how to park their car correctly.

DoctorBlade
DoctorBlade SuperDork
6/26/12 9:50 a.m.

I live in a town big enough to have a good police department, but small enough so that when they get bored, they double-check handicap parking spots occasionally. I do know store owners in the area have in the past made calls to the PD to clear the abusers out.

Otherwise, I know people who have 'em and don't use them. I also know people lazy enough to take Grandma's car because it has the handicap tag on it. Me? I have enough stress so I don't' worry about it.

patgizz
patgizz GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
6/26/12 9:53 a.m.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: In reply to rotard: Well I think that's the point. There are too many people taking advantage of the system. There are folks out there with real problems, that need to go to the store, want to go to the movies, or just get a coffee at McDonalds. Some may drive themselves, some may have people that drive them.

the biggest problem - IMHO - other than fatties that eat themselves into a rascal and expect prime parking - is people that "take grandma's car to park close because she has handicap plates" as i've heard people say countless times. or the people who do drive someone around with a disability, but then when the person that needs to be near the door is not with them they still park there.

my wife works in the DD field, and nothing pisses me off more than seeing a buick/grandmaquis/caddy with disability plates that is obviously grandpa's ride, full of teens, parking in a handispot when someone with an accessible van is driving around and can't find a spot with access to get their chair out the side door

mtn
mtn PowerDork
6/26/12 9:55 a.m.
Twin_Cam wrote: I have noticed that the handicapped tag seems to mean that the car will always be parked horribly. Crooked, back end of the car sticking out into the lane, mostly in another spot, etc. These are usually the elderly drivers, and don't get me started about retesting, vision tests, the AARP lobby, and the like, because that'll turn into a huge clusterberkeley.

I took my then 86 year old great aunt to get her driving test, thinking there was no possible way she would pass. She did. Damnit.

We've since taken the keys from her, and it royally pissed her off, but there just wasn't any reasoning with her. The battery has since gone completely dead, and when I was over there (independent living retirement facility) taking it out to recharge it, a lady about 90 years old pulls in in a Lincoln Town Car. She spent at least 5 minutes going back and forth trying to pull it in straight, and when it was (apparently) good enough, it was still at a pretty good angle. I felt like asking her if I could do it for her.

mtn
mtn PowerDork
6/26/12 9:58 a.m.

Oh, and this same aunt as the above post--I drive her around a lot when I'm in town. When I do, I almost always drop her off at the door if the parking lot allows--i.e., it is okay to sit at the door for 3 minutes as I get her walker set up and her on her feet. When I do that, I rarely if ever park in the handicap spot, and she always yells at me for not parking in it.

pres589
pres589 Dork
6/26/12 10:04 a.m.

"When I was three, I thought the world revolved around me, I was wrong" - U2

friedgreencorrado
friedgreencorrado PowerDork
6/26/12 11:57 a.m.
Wally wrote: Why does anyone care what other people do? Since my wife had her stroke there are times when getting around are a problem, and she has gained some weight as her doctors play with her medications. I can't believe how many people can't keep their opinions to themselves. Sometimes her limp and speech issues are bad so I park near the store and get her a scooter. People, especially feel young men feel the need to come over and tell if she would get off her fat ass everything would be fine. A few weeks ago we went to a graduation in a basketball arena. She is a bit clumsy so she sat in the handicap section. I didn't want to take up a seat since space was limited so I stood in the row behind the seats. Someone came up and sat down delivered a rant about how we needed to leave because fat wasn't a handicap. When I told him to mind his business he went and got a security guard to throw us out. The guard told him to butt out so he sat next to my wife and talked to his mom the whole time about how people like us should be in jail for taking a seat that in his mind we didn't need.

This x25,348,095,723,945.

Gad, I get enough of that just because I still smoke. I can't imagine how enraging it would be to have a disability and have to put up with that M3 E36. When did people start imagining that everyone else's life is there as a spectator sport?

"You know those things will kill you, right?"
"My grandfather lived to be 95."
"Oh, and I suppose he smoked?"
"No, he did not. But he did know how to mind his own berkeleying business..."

LopRacer
LopRacer Reader
6/26/12 7:31 p.m.

I think the most touching thing I saw at a Wal mart in resent memory was an older couple(80's ?) who clearly used the store scooter to make shopping easier wife driving husband riding side saddle next to her as they motored from one stop to the next at which point he would climb up and get what they needed off the shelf and then off they went. I couldn't help but smile. I wouldn't be surprised if they even took their own groceries out to the car and returned the scooter to the door. What struck me was they could have taken two scooters and been justified but seemed to enjoy sharing and only using one thus not hogging two scooters. Don't know if they had a handicap plate or where they parked. I just liked their attitude.

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