Screw the Handicapped Parking Spots
Blogger Daphne at Jaded Haven came close to ripping out a school librarian’s throat over a parking space (1). Her car was standing in one of eight empty handicapped spaces where she was waiting to collect her child who volunteered for Safety Patrol; a busybody without enough math skills to count the empty spaces asked her to move.
I sympathize - I have often witnessed others who similarly sat in handicapped spots but willingly moved when a handicap-tagged vehicle approached. This is just a sensible approach to areas with limited parking spaces. I have no problem with designating spaces for the handicapped in parking lots with 2,000 or more cars, but in small strip malls and such, it is absurd.
In a very large lot, there is no problem finding a parking place and the handicapped should not be forced to hobble miles to get to a venue; however, in limited parking areas there should be NO handicapped spaces. Many handicap-tagged cars are driven by relatives of the handicapped and so I see no problem with the relative dropping off the cripple close to the store entrance and then going to find a parking spot further away just as I do. The relative certainly can walk just as far as the rest of us.
On the other hand, if the handicapped individual is not being driven or helped by someone else because their handicap is not that severe then certainly they can park further away. Leaving a parking spot vacant just to accommodate a not-so crippled individual is an abuse of privilege.
A person who is so disabled that he needs two or more people to wheel him around can just as easily be dropped off a few feet from a store or school entrance while one of his helpers goes and parks the car.
I believe the physically handicapped can survive without a designated space. Either they have help or they don't need help; in either case, they don't absolutely need that space.
What about the intellectually-challenged? Many of us have seen how skilled and athletic these people can be in the Special Olympics: doing wheelies on a basketball court, whizzing back and forth , playing baseball, whatever. All of a sudden, put them on a parking lot and they can barely trudge 10 feet to the entrance of a drugstore. Give me a break. I believe in the motto of the Special Olympics: "People with intellectual disabilities can and will succeed if given the opportunity." That's what I want to do: give them the opportunity to prove that they are as good as we are. Find a parking spot.
ENDNOTES
(1):
Jaded Haven, I’m Not A Nice Person
I came close to ripping out the school librarian’s throat yesterday. She was the final straw of bitter icing on my overflowing plate of unwelcome commitments. This half baked woman had the gall to confront my choice of parking space while I was waiting to collect my child who volunteered for Safety Patrol. Mind, I was sitting in one of the empty eight handicapped spaces fronting the pick up area, it was close to my boy and apparently unneeded by the impaired hordes of disabled citizenry, so I took advantage of the convenient vacancy as I do every day for my five minute wait. I would gladly move if an octet of disabled drivers suddenly appeared in search of protected parking, but that hasn’t been an issue so far.
Ms. Librarian was taking her turn as safety watchdog and spotted my illegal parking, she decided to hot step it over to my monster SUV and indicated that I should roll down my tinted window. She proceeded to speak loudly at the closed window for several seconds before I decided to roll it down and listen to her predictable screed...
