Last post Mon, Jul 21 2008 8:03 PM by bluetigermo47. 18 replies.
Hi All,
Has anyone ever been harassed when parking in a disabled parking spot because they didn’t “look disabled”? This has happened to me twice now and it’s really starting to piss me off. As mentioned in a previous post, I’m a 26 year old guy with a degenerative cornea disease. The disease makes me ultra sensitive to light, to the point of extreme nausea and passing out if I am under it too long (IE: 5 – 10 minutes TOPS). At night, my vision changes completely and I have a whole host of depth, distance, and visual quirks that make it difficult for me to navigate at night (I don’t drive at night.). Because of these numerous factors, my doctor issued me a disability placard.
The first time I was harassed was about a year ago. I got out of my car in the hot summer and was ready to make a dash to the store before I puked my guts out, when some lady in her 50’s walks up to me and says “What’s your disability??? Huh? Why are you parking there?” I am generally a nice person to be around; I consider myself to be polite, courteous, and generally forgiving. But this woman was essentially coming up, a complete stranger, and demanding personal information that she was not entitled to. I told her “That’s none of your god dammed business and I think you are extremely rude for asking this.”. This startled the lady and she started back peddling towards her car, Like I was about to attack her! My fiancé, who, bless her heart, was still adjusting to my lifestyle as a visually impaired individual, blurted out “He has cornea problems and he can’t be under the light”. This, in turn, made me angry at my fiancé. “Don’t tell this bitch anything! She has no right to know anything about me and she’s fu<expletive>ing rude to be asking people what their disabilities are.”. The lady, by this time, made a break for her car and roared out of there, no apology or anything although, in all fairness, I had begun cursing and losing it by that time so I can’t blame her for not wanting to stick around. While I stopped being angry at my fiancé (after telling her to NEVER reveal any information about me unless it’s to the police or law enforcement, the nerve of this lady still bothers me.
The second time I was accosted was by my “own kind”! Some dude who was leaving a handicap parking spot saw me pull into one. The guy leaps out of his car and starts following me…..into my work!
“What’s your disability man?? You don’t look f<expletive>ing disabled man!!!”
I turn on the guy, as I deal with this kind of ignorance on a daily basis, and I ask:
“What does a person with disabilities look like?”.
The guy stopped dead in his tracks. “Uh….well….uh…well…”. That basicaly ended it for him right there….for that issue. He followed me around campus ranting about how terrible a person I was (IE: He felt guilty for being a douche bag, and was grasping at straws to find some way of…I don’t even know. I just kept telling the guy I thought he was clinically insane. Hehehe.) and eventually to the security booth where I led him (lead him to my office? Hell no!). I guess what bugged me was that this guy was himself disabled, and by his own ridicules standards, he didn’t “look disabled”, in the same way I don’t “look disabled”. When people who are disabled start being dicks and hassling others who are parking there because they are young or don’t have crutches, It’s a real downer for folks who legitimately use their placards and who don’t feel a need to give their personal information to every nosey individual who feels they are the police of the handicap parking spots. The Irony? The student was escorted off campus because, in his zeal to be policeman of the handicap parking, when he jumped out of his truck to confront me and eventualy follow me around campus….he had left his truck, motor running, blocking a number of the disabled parking spots. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried!!!
While I too get frustrated when folks abuse or misuse a placard, I either take a photo of the car or mail it to the cops, or I call the cops directly. I don’t think I’d ever consider going up to someone and hassling them for information I am NOT entitled to simply because they didn’t “look” disabled. I think that takes a level of audacity, rudeness, and self entitlement that I am just not capable of displaying. Hell, I don’t even give my information to rent-a-cop parking enforcement. I only show my DMV information to valid law enforcement, such as policement, highway patrol, or sherrifs. Am I alone on this?? Has anyone been hassled because they don’t look old enough, or disabled enough??? What have you said to the people who have hassled you?
-Thepurplem0nkey
Hello, I think all the disable people have been through that alot. I know i get get starded at all the time when i pull ininto the disable parking spot.Because i drive a Chevy Yukon truck and looks are deceiving when your dehind the wheel of your vehicle. People will shake their heads yell at me while i'm getting out but then they fell like a jack ass when they see me get into my chair. All i do is say don't judje a book by it's cover , it's not what it appears to be. But actually i could give a rats ass what they say or think cause their not me .
Hi There:
I for one have had the chance on being the first handicapped Police officer in the State of Ga and started 4 diffrent other cites forces.
The only thing we have the right to do, is to write a ticket for parking in a handicapped parking spot. Here in Ga. we have either a ticket to hang on the mirror or the lisence plate said Disabled Person.
I have give out over 2,000 tickets and the Judges and cops usually work with you. The Atlanta Police is where I started , they gave me a badge with my Picture and the Seal Of The Atlanta Police on it.
I have been threathened and cursed at, been in Newsweek magizine and very proud of what I have done. I had to slow down from doing it now, for my disabilty is really slowing me down, But I have kept all my badges and I have told my wife I want to be bruied with them on me.
The are such things as " HIDDEN HANDICAPPED" and if I see some one that has one, I ask them what their problem is and direct them to the Police Dept. to get a sticker so it doesn't cost them anything. I have gone out of my way for this one person, that I was writing a ticket out and he came out of K-Mart and he was in the chair. I told him about the Parking Permit and he said he was too embrassed to go get one. Come to find out, he lived in Sherpards Spinal Center cause his dad shot him in his back just 6 months earlier. I went to the police and got him a permit and when we went to court,I asked the judge to dismiss the ticket and gave the guy the permit. That made me feel so good, but I do feel good when I give tickets out to people that don't need to park there. It's such a t good feeling.
If you are interested in starting a patrol in your city, let me know and I willl try to help you dircet you how to start one.
John A. Patrick
Tarebaby: Hello, I think all the disable people have been through that alot. I know i get get starded at all the time when i pull ininto the disable parking spot.Because i drive a Chevy Yukon truck and looks are deceiving when your dehind the wheel of your vehicle. People will shake their heads yell at me while i'm getting out but then they fell like a jack ass when they see me get into my chair. All i do is say don't judje a book by it's cover , it's not what it appears to be. But actually i could give a rats ass what they say or think cause their not me .
As many of you know, I'm a very active scuba...I've been diving 43 years and Neuropahy is going to stop me. With the crutches I can very easily handle scuba gear on my back with my crutches with very little assistance
Well last summer my son, his friend and I parked at a beach access to dive. Well you gotta catch this. My son (Austin) is 5'11" and his friend (Chris) is like 6'4". They're getting their equipment ready in the parking lot and I'm sitting in the back of the hatchback putting my wetsuit on. Well this older officer...drives up and hollars to Chris..."Who own this van?" Chris turns and point's to me. There I am sitting on my bumper ..crutches along side of me and the officer yells at me ... "you can't park there!!!" I turn around and point to my rearview mirror and say "See that blue hanger?" The the officer comes back..."I'm going to do liscence cross check on that hanger and have this vehicle towed"...I looked him straight in the eyes and said..."Go for it! " He rolled up is window and peeled out of there.
On 2 other occasions...I had great conversation with investigating officers both being very supportive that I can dive with a disabilty...One officer actually should me a place I could park that was even closer to the water and didn't have put $$ into the parking meter because of my disability!
Joe
Purplemonkey, if You read through the posts here You will find that handicapped parking is a constant issue.
It's kind of a two-edged sword. We all want to have free access to the spots, meaning no ablebodies parking in them. And if the AB's do park there, we complain that nobody cares a damn. But everybody with an invisible handicap flips a lid in those cases somebody does care.
Sorry man, people associate wheelchairs and crutches with disability parking, or even with disability in general.
Instead of being rude to people who ask if You are entitled to handicap parking You should appreciate that there are still people who care.
If You read around here You will also find that a pet peeve of handicapped parkers are people who use somebody else's hang tag. So You have to admit that it is kind of hard to get to the bottom of who is allowed and who isn't.
Prepare yourself to be asked that question a lot, and you should better find a way to nicely explain that You indeed are entitled to park.
You sure don't have to put up with rudeness, but You never know where the rudeness comes from. Maybe the old lady has a relative in a chair who keeps having trouble finding a blue spot. It's up to You to smoothe over the situation. Nobody expects You to give away private information. But be sure, I would want to know why You are parking in a blue spot too. Because weird as it is, yes, You probably don't look disabled enough.
Try to find a nice way to explain Your situation. In not offending people who care about handicapped parking, You are doing us all a great favor, including Yourself too.
Daisies
First, let me say THANKS for the varied and diverse replies; I was letting off some steam and it’s comforting to know I'm not alone in this.
Itsetc: Wow. When I posted my title, I was only joking about "Disability Police". In your case you are trained law enforcement and I'd have no problem (And in fact, a legal obligation) in showing you my information. However, In my eyes, there’s a vast difference between a responsible citizen who is trained as a police officer and vested power by the law, over some ordinary citizen who demands information they are not entitled to over what they perceive to be a crime.
Joe: Wow, that's terrible! I can’t necessarily blame the cop for assuming the kids were abusing a placard, but as soon as you claimed ownership of the car, he should have cracked a smile, said "Have a nice day sir", and driven off peacefully.
Dasies: We'll have to agree to disagree on this one :-) I don't consider it my job to inform ignorant people about the immense disabled population that does not have an avert disability. To that end, I have a placard so I can quickly get into and out of stores; I have serious problems if I am outside for too long. Taking the time to explain myself to someone who I don't know and, whom if I was breaking the law could not do anything about ANYWAY, would very much defeat the point of my parking there in the first place. I feel that if someone suspects an individual is abusing a placard, it is their civic duty to report that individual; take photos, call the cops, talk to whoever owns the property they are on. It's the height of rudeness and a complete invasion of privacy to come up to someone and demand they demonstrate a disability, as if they are some sort of authority on the subject.
However, to be fair and in reflection of your post, I do try to not be so rude anymore because I simply don’t care what these goofball's think. As I age with my disability. That is, the longer I have it, the less I care and the more comfortable I become in parking in those spots. It just bothers me, from time to time, that people don’t stop and use their brains before opening their mouths. I applaud those who use the system to bust people who abuse or don’t use placards, but I find no value in a vigilante verbally assaulting someone who uses a placard because they deem that person non-disabled.
Again, thanks for the varied responses.
Hi Purple
Thanks for opening the topic. It's unusal in my case to present myself in scuba...must of the time I'm using my crutches or my wheelchair...fits the MO. There are some obvious abuses out there but in Floida to obtain a placard you have met certain established medical standards
I am disabled due to a stroke I suffered in 1998. My wife & I moved from Hawaii to Sugar Land, Texas 02/02/08. Could you please tell me where to get a disabled parking permit? Any info you can provide me will be highly appreciated. Thank you & God Bless!
\
PastorND (Rev. Dr. Nick Dais, Sugar Land, Texas, 77497)
Go online to your TX dept of Motor Vehicles....Exploring around and you should find your states standard disabilty placard applicaton in pdf. Print it out, fill it out and take to your Dr for him or her to sign. Then take it to your Dept of Motor Vehicles..where you get tags for your car. In Florida the placard is free and issued for 4 year period. When the 4 years up you get another registraion form for the placard and they issue another 4 year placard. Still no charge and no Dr's blessing this time.
Hi,
I hope I can help you out. First of all I am in Ga. and in Texas the law might be diffrent, but
the first thing you need to do is go to your doc and get a letter ( on his staionary) stating that you
are disabled and need a Disable Parking Permit. Here in Ga, we have tp get it Notarized and then you need to take it to the DMV and get your permit there.
Here in Ga, we have a 4 year permit that you hang over your mirror or better yet, apply at your tag office that you need a Disabled License Plate. That will last a lot long and no one is going to be able to steal it like the paper permits.
If you need any other help, let me know.
May God Bless
John Patriick
Thepurplem0nkey:I feel that if someone suspects an individual is abusing a placard, it is their civic duty to report that individual; take photos, call the cops, talk to whoever owns the property they are on.
But what about if someone approached you and WASN'T rude....wouldn't you rather they do that first rather than calling the police and taking the other steps you suggested. That's an assumption too. The problem I see with even a simple "Do you have a disability" or "Are you disabled?" being a problem is that if one DOES NOT ask they assume they either do what 99% of the world does anyway and ignore what looks like to them another violator OR they waste their time, yours, and the authorities in reporting someone who has a legal placard that needs it.....If this became a pattern, this advocate would eventually give up (and the police will stop responding) and just join the masses of people that don't do anything.
I just see it as a fine line in demanding privacy but then demanding equal accomodations that those of us use that can't conceal our disabilities. No, I don't get asked if I have a disability because it's obvious. To be honest, I really wish more people that hop out of their cars and dash in WOULD get asked whether or not they have a disability. That doesn't mean I think they should be asked what's their condition or WHY they need it. The "real" police are never going to sit by our parking across the country so if we don't do some advocacy among ourselves-no one will!
If someone asked me anything disability-related in a rude way I have total right to refuse to even answer....but what about viewing people that simply ask if you have a disability or not as on our team. If you need that space as much as me then you know how irritating it is when peole violate the spots.....I see a big problem with having such a hangup on even identifying as a person with a disability if the need is great enough to need a placard. I think if asking-even politely-is so wrong, what's the alternative? Rampant abuse that we just have to tolerate and the feeling that I can't even ask members of my own community if they are like me-disabled?
The thought of someone actually taking down my license plate number, taking a picture of my car, and maybe even a picture of me walking into the store. Then sending it to the police for "faking" my disability. That really PISSES ME OFF.
I have Multiple Sclerosis, I don't look sick. I'm not in a wheelchair and I don't use a cain. I've been using my placard for 5 years and no one has said a thing. No wait a minute. The first time I used it. An accuaintance walks up to me and starts feeling my legs and arms, he did it very hard, so yes, it did hurt. I asked him what the hell he was doing. He said he saw my placard and didn't know why I had it. I looked at him and said, "I have MS". He felt like a fool.
Too date that's the only negative experience I've had. People looking at me? All the time. No one has said anything, yet. And when they do, I certainly hope that God is with me at that time and the words that come out of my mouth are being guided by Him.
I have yelled at people for parking in our spaces when they are perfectly healthy. And then I call the police. When I see someone who looks like me, and they have a placard I say nothing.
It took a lot for me to ask my doctor for a permit, but he said no problem.. I don't look disabled but have herniated discs and as anyone who has pain of any kind knows walking is the worse. I use my parking permit as a badge of honor that I can still drive and function at some level.
What P-off me is the women who did not have a permit and parks in one, I very kindly told her she forgot to put her permit up (I wanted to assume she had one and remind her). She rudely told me she did not have one, I said you cannot park there she just kept walking.
In Oregon there is a hefty fine if you do not have a permit and there are retired individuals who go through all the parking lots and scan the cars for permits. It seems that violators are few but they are out there.
Jennifer
PastorND: I am disabled due to a stroke I suffered in 1998. My wife & I moved from Hawaii to Sugar Land, Texas 02/02/08. Could you please tell me where to get a disabled parking permit? Any info you can provide me will be highly appreciated. Thank you & God Bless! \ PastorND (Rev. Dr. Nick Dais, Sugar Land, Texas, 77497)
Hi, PastorND, and welcome to Texas! It's been a few months since you made your post so you probably already have your placard, but when I broke my foot I just asked the orthopedist how I should go about getting a temporary placard. He had the Texas DPS forms right there in his office, signed one and gave it to me. I took it to a DPS office and they issued the placard right then and there. Easy peazy!
Helen
right forequarter amputee in Houston
itsetc: I for one have had the chance on being the first handicapped Police officer in the State of Ga and started 4 diffrent other cites forces. The only thing we have the right to do, is to write a ticket for parking in a handicapped parking spot. John A. Patrick
The only thing we have the right to do, is to write a ticket for parking in a handicapped parking spot. John A. Patrick
Hi, John. In Houston we have a similar program; however, we are not actual police officers--we're volunteers with the City of Houston Parking Management Division. Anyone can be a volunteer (you don't have to be handicapped), and I do have an official City of Houston badge. As in your case, our only authority is to write tickets for handicapped parking violations. In training the question came up about what we can do if we witness someone park in a handicapped spot who has a placard but no apparent disability. The answer is--nothing! Only actual police officers are allowed to challenge whether the person using the placard is the one to whom it was issued. We are always to be polite, and (if there's someone in the vehicle with no placard or plates) ask them to move the vehicle first, before issuing a citation. In Houston tickets are $205, doubling to $410 if not paid within 90 days.
right forequarter amputee
BTW--I do not personally have a handicapped placard.
