Pet peeves

[dwalt]

I might have said this before ( in a different life and website) but it still irks me.  The state I am residing in has more disabled spaces than regular spaces.  (almost)  Now I know the disabled need close up parking, but are there really that many people up here that are disabled???  I think not....       ok, I am done.

[mercerquietman]

Well, there is no question there are lots more spots for disabled parking than there were say thirty or forty years ago. The increase in spots corresponds to the increase in handicapped permits, not the increase in truly disabled who actually need to park twenty yards from the entrance. There is a difference, a huge difference.

[oldmike]

You are so right, MQM.  Doctors seem to be handing out permits (actually you get them at the FL DMV but with a DR's approval) in FL faster than they can add spaces in the lots!  I was just in WI and noticed NO handicapped spots in one small, strip shopping center.  I asked the owner of the sporting goods store and he told me it was because there is no curb between the surface of the lot and the sidewalk, which makes it ADA compliant and therefore no handicapped spots are needed!  

What burns my ass is when someone gets dropped off at the store by a handicapped driver and the driver sits in the handicapped spot waiting for the non-handicapped shopper to come back out!

[Eaglewoman]

Here in Colo. the disabled can't let some one off and then go park in the disabled slot. The disabled person MUST  exit from the car in the handicap slot. In our complex everyone has 2 parking spaces  or 1 space and a garage, my upstairs neighbor uses their garage for storage, then they tried parking in visitor lot, (not allowed as we have 240 units and only 19 visitor spots) so he was parking in the over flow lot about 1 1/2 blocks away. His wife wanted me to let them use my extra space because it was to far for him to walk at 5am.Of course then I would have no place for my company to park, well low and behold he suddenly has a handicap tag and parks in the handicap spot (I think its his mothers as she has one)I asked the wife if it wasn't hard living in a 3 story apartment with him being handicap- she just looked at me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dwalt]

Yeah, there is a lot of bs with those stickers.  When I broke my back my dr wanted to me to get one.  I said no and asked him why he told me walking was "good" for my back and then wanted me to have a sticker.  Oxymoron I think....

[Grandma Helen]

I know it can be maddening when you see someone who doesn't appear handicapped to be using a handicapped tag, but not all handicaps are obvious.  Someone with heart problems etc can get them.  A friend of my oldest son was an amputee in his early 20's and the first year or so he had a hard time keeping his balance on his prosthetic leg, so he had a handicapped tag.  A lot of people used to holler at him for using it when he was so young.  He always showed them his leg.  I agree that anyone using one that doesn't need it, should get a huge fine.  That's just wrong. 

[mercerquietman]

A couple about my age arrive at the grocery store when I do: They get out; neither shows any sign of difficulty walking. Neither has a cane, let alone a walker, scooter, wheelchair or crutches. I’m in the store about a half hour, and I run across them a number of times. Again, they are walking fine, no impediments at all. They are not even leaning on a cart for support and frankly are leisurely shopping, stopping to sample the give aways, shooting the breeze with others in the store, etc. They leave about the same time I do. They empty bags from their car with ease. I don’t care what anyone says about not judging. These two can clearly park with the rest of us mortals thirty yards from where they are parking now.

A guy gets out of his car in a handicap spot at my health club. He IS limping, not overly so, but he appears to have some sort of injury. I notice as I am riding a stationary bike, he is walking on a treadmill for forty minutes! While it appears he has a reason for a permit, does it make sense that he then walks on a treadmill for forty minutes?

I’m on vacation with a friend, and a husband and wife that are friends of that friend are there as well. I notice that they have a handicap sticker. I know this couple. I ask my friend, what’s their problem? She just smiles and rolls her eyes and says the wife is suffering from her “injury” (verbally italicizing it) and goes on to describe her as a self proclaimed need martyr type that was doing all she could to milk some fender bender. She has a history of always complaining and being needy. I watch as this individual walks along with us for HOURS on this vacation including standing in long lines at times for attractions. She needs a handicap sticker? Spare me.

I’m a big believer in Karma. I think those that pull this will get what they have coming.

[Serenity]

Depends on the size of the parking lot and the regulations about how many handicapped spaces must be allocated out of X number of spaces.  I had an acquaintance who wanted to sue over inadequate spaces at her workplace and we found out that for the size of the lot they had the mandated number of spaces, even though it was inadequate.

I've never seen anywhere with more spaces for the disabled than the able bodied - I notice you said, "almost" so maybe it just what it seems like.  They are regulated by law - no fewer than a certain number.

I do have a handicapped placard that I use some of the time. When I can get to the gym and work out a lot I tend to be better off. Then I end up not feeling so well and end up hobbling around from the fibro and need the slot. In the winter I am under orders to use them so I don't fall and break more bones.  I try to park near entrances and not in a slot if I can.

I first got my placard after knee and back problems which were debilitating. I thought I was done with them and then got in a rear end collision and have never been the same since.  Somedays I'm okay - some days I'm a total crip.  

In MA the blind are eligible - and should be since so many get killed by crazed drivers.  

Also, you don't know if there is more than one disabled person in the car.  I can be driving, park, my daughter (who is disabled) may go in - or vice versa.  The thing is that not all disabilities are obvious, just like Helen said. 

Mercerman - the treadmill may be physical therapy.  It sure was for my roomate after her foot surgery. 

[Eaglewoman]

I took a balance class with a woman who parked in the handicap space with a card. In the class she would jump and bound all over and then brag that she plays 18 holes of golf 3 times a week. I just know that there are people who need them worse than others.

[Serenity]

I have entirely different pet peeves.

If I say I will do something or be somewhere I am there.  I don't like it when other's done come and don't attempt to cancel.

I don't like people who say they can sign (ASL) and then make a parody of the language.

[Dee Holland Eidson]

If you live in Florida (my state) we have quite a few disabled spaces.They are needed here. One of my grand daughters is disabled. Sometimes it takes quite a while to find a parking space. I will say sometimes a person might have a problem we can't see.Like breathing difficulties a heart condition or something of that nature.Of course there are people who use them who have no problems. I am sorry to say some people are just rude and don't care.

[Eaglewoman]

My other per peeve is people who are late all the time. To me it feels I am not that important to them. I have a friend who is always late, even when she sets the time. My brother and his wife used to be late to everything, I used to tell him he would be late to his own funeral," but I was wrong-he was the 1st one there

[dwalt]

I hate tardyness as well.  My sister was the worlds worst.  We used to tell her an hour earlier just so she would be on time.

Another peeve of mine is people going out in flannel pajama pants. To me that is just plain tacky.