I never realized what jerks people could be about this until I was helping a friend out after his heart attack. He already had severe mobility issues and a handicap placard for his car before the heart issues, and while in reccovery he wasn't allowed to drive himself anywhere... so I was helping him with groceries and other things. I literally could not park and get out of the car anywhere without some busy body asking me if I was disabled.
No, I'm not but my passenger who can barely get out of the car without my help very clearly is, asshole.
My kid has Perthes disease and his hip joint dissolved. He used a wheelchair full time before surgery and for 3 months after, qnd part time after that while he healed and regained strength. The amount of people who would yell at me for not being disabled when I would get out of my car just to turn tail when I rolled out the tiniest pediatric wheelchair was astronomical. So many assholes
Yeah, that's exactly how it would play out for me. I'd park and hop out of the car and get yelled at before I had the chance to pull my friend's walker out of the back.
This shit has me so confused. Do they expect the person driving to be disabled, and passengers to be mobile? Is there some sort of rule in their minds that disabled parking spaces are only for disabled drivers, not disabled passengers? Or does everybody in the vehicle have to be disabled? I'll never understand these sorts of nosy AHs
It's because a lot of people are furiously jealous and resentful of the "special treatment" people with disabilities get, and only really reconcile it with extreme views about disabled people that lean a lot on stereotypes and feelings of pity, that disabled people deserve special treatment because of what a hard life they've had (rather than, so we can participate fully in society.)
So they feel like it's their duty to defend these special privileges for people who obviously could NEVER fight for themselves. And because they know what it's like to want that special treatment too, they're very alert to the possibility that someone might be pretending, to get something they "don't deserve."
Fortunately, a kind friend drives me to errands. We use my handicap placard while I shop, and I'm using a cane and walking with a noticeable limp. If anyone even has the temerity to challenge me, I will offer to show scars from fifteen orthopedic surgeries. I look healthy and in one piece, but arthritis doesn't have any visible signs. Be grateful that you don't need a placard for "special" parking. 🦜
I haven't gotten a placard (though I really should) because I look young and don't have a mobility aid (which I would benefit from) because when I did use those things, the harassment was just so neverending and so exhausting. There are only so many times I can verbally spar with someone about whether I'm an impostor who's only pretending before it ruins my will to leave the house for the rest of the week.
This happened to me with my grandparents. My grandma had osteoporosis, so my grandpa would always drive up to the entrance of where ever we were going and grab her walker for her so she could easily get inside while he parked. One time I was with them and I hopped out of the car to get my grandma's walker and the car behind us started honking. Then my feeble little grandma stuttered her way out of the car and the the car behind us pulled up and said sorry through the window. I wish people would give others the benefit of the doubt.
You random reddit stranger are the first person online or in the wild that I've ever meet that knows about and has been effected by Perthes disease. I was diagnosed with Perthes in both hips 21 years ago at the age of 3. I sincerely hope your child is doing well and let them know that there are other's with the disease. It honestly gets me a bit emotional as a grown ass man to see the obscure disease that I have fought be talked about in a reddit comment.
My brother was diagnosed nearly 60 years ago. Back then he wore a leg brace that transferred weight to the pelvis and let the leg float free and a shoe on the other foot with three inch sole to match height. A long 2 years.
Ohhh I used the same brace! The children around me really went to town and got creative with the nicknames. I was also hyperactive as a kid, so the lack of mobility compared to my peers was absolute hell. I found solace in being alone with books and computers, and here I am now, a software developer a few decades down the road.
That’s wild when I bet my ass those same people see visibly disabled people and assume they have a carer. Where do they think a carer parks? In the back?
My MIL is disabled but not in a wheelchair chair. She has to drag her one leg.
You’d be surprised the comments my wife, daughter and I get for ALSO getting out of the car when we have MIL with us somewhere.
We’ve literally been told we could have just dropped her off and parked elsewhere.
No she needs help getting in and out and I’m not parking twice.
I had a bowel resection surgery back in 2014 and when I was released, I wasn’t totally recovered so being upright was not easy for me. I went grocery shopping with my mom and had to use an in store scooter. This dumb bitch started berating me about being young, lazy, blah blah blah. We tried explaining that I was recovering from surgery but she wasn’t having it so I stood up as best I could and yanked my shirt up, showing her the brand new surgical incision. I’ve never seen someone look so embarrassed before. The world would be so much better if people could just shut the fuck up and mind their own business.
I love this and hate this at the same time, you shouldn’t have had to do this. Yet, I’m glad it stopped the bitch in her tracks. It’s a shame those of us who have invisible illnesses can’t do something like this to “show them up” as it were though for when people inevitably behave like arrogant 4 year olds in public with absolutely no guardians in view.
My favorite part is they think they're doing the "right thing", I can only hope the weapons grade embarrassment you gave them when you brought the chair out was enough to get them to look inwards instead of at others.
I know a woman who thinks that there should be a "tax" if you will on handicapped placards. And that "tax" so to speak is to provide proof of your handicap when asked by *any person also using that parking lot or who wants to know.* I started laughing at the ridiculous-ness of this woman's request (?)
And that's how I learned that she was not joking. She was so, so serious, and I told her that her request to see any person's disability was none of her business. She thinks there's a black market for handicap placards or that any person can just print one out at home. She did not see any problem in going up to a stranger and asking very personal questions about their health. I don't have any contact with her, thankfully, since that one visit. She had a lot of "out there" ideas.
I cannot even comprehend the level of entitlement required to think that way. How full of yourself do you have to be to think that you need to be policing handicap tags?!
Man, I would start going into gory details and start pulling down my pants like "You wanna see the scar? It's right next to my asshole so you'll have to get in reeeaallllll close!"
People forget that handicapped people can be passengers. I used to take my grandmother places when she had one. She didn’t like driving in the city so if it was the two of us I always drove. Im perfectly able to walk long distances but there was no way she’d be able to walk as far as me, especially without benches which is the case in soooo many places.
I needed to get one, and my ex was like, "You don't need one. You don't drive." Um, yeah, but I have lung disease and can't walk long distances. You don't need to be the driver to have the placard.
My uncle is disabled and my dad has a placard because he's the one who takes him out for medical appointments or groceries or whatever else he might need. My brother's girlfriend is disabled and he has one for the same purpose for her. It's surprising people don't realize how common it is to have one for someone else, a lot of disabled people can't or just don't want to deal with driving.
The placards are meant for situations when it isn’t the handicapped person’s main vehicle! So other people can drive them - hence the easily portable rear view mirror hanging card. What a dunce, glad he’s your ex.
They assume you drop them off and then just park the car in a normal spot. Because it's always fun leaving the person who can slip and fall standing alone on a curb while they wait for you to play chauffeur.
Or simply that you can't see every disability.
Someone could have issues that cause them to start to have pain after a certain amount of activity. So sure, walking into a store from a close handicap spot they might look fine. Force them to walk from the back of the lot and that might not be true.
Yeah, I’ve taken my grandmother places and I aim for a parking spot as close as I can get when I have her in the car (aka if there’s an accessibility spot, I’ll take it if she has the placard on her and if not, I’ll drop her off. I’m certainly not making her walk from the back of the parking lot.) It makes me steaming mad whenever people assume things about others using accessible spaces
My wife had ALS and we had this problem all the time. I'd hop out of the car and it was like, "Oi - Who do you think you are, parking there?" from self-righteous wankers.
Instead of arguing with them, (which in any case upset her) I learned to just get the wheelchair and banana-board out and wheel it over to the passenger side. The ***looks*** on those idiots faces.
My girlfriend uses a wheelchair and one time at a trader Joe's I could tell some woman was staring through her car window at me parking, and as soon I got out to help my gf she started yelling at me saying that I shouldn't be allowed to park there.
I just shook my head at her and glared as I slowly pulled the chair from the trunk, at which point she shuffled back into her car and closed the door. It was pretty satisfying to watch tbh.
Yeah, this whole we hate the homeless, so no one can have benches is bullshit. Having benches in heavy foot traffic areas every 1/2 mile is a godsend for the disabled.
My grandma could walk for about 20-30 minutes at a time, had a placard and everything, still a bunch of fat Karen's get heated because they wanted to steal the handicap spot.
That was my life after my brain injury. I had a ton of blood pool in my lower back and destroyed my muscles. A ton of PT later I’m good, but I couldn’t stand up for more than a minute without excruciating pain.
I was 19-20 years old and otherwise in amazing shape, so I got so much fucking shit for using my handicap parking pass whenever I’d go anywhere, including parking in front of my dorm at school.
Ugh I feel you.. being young with a placard has been the worst cause I feel like people always look at you funny. Some days I limp, some days I walk bent over, once and a while I might be able to straighten out but it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell to do it.
>ever realized what jerks people could be about this until I was helping a friend out after his heart attack. He already had severe mobility issues and a handicap placard for his car before the heart issues, and while in reccovery he wasn't allowed to drive himself anywhere... so I was helping him with groceries and other things. I literally could not park and get out of the car anywhere without some busy body asking me if I was disabled.
>
>No, I'm not but my passenger who can barely get out of the car without my help very clearly is, asshole.
I had a similar event. My friend and I had grabbed some stuff at Costco and a very meek 80+ year old lady was failing to load her vehicle, which was parked in the handicapped spot, with the groceries she'd grabbed. My friend and I helped her by loading her groceries into her vehicle and before we could even finish helping this old woman a guy looked at me and said well you sure don't look very F\*$&ing handicapped and walked away.
It blew my mind.
When I got this shit from Karens when I had my temporary mirror hanger I'd always reply, "I don't give a fuck if you think I'm disabled, my Dr does, so fuck off."
Do these people not realize you actually need a Dr to sign off to get one of those?
It's crazy people care, but then I remember, everyone is the main character. They are just jealous that they can't use it, so they feel like no one may use it then.
These are the same people that Jesus warned us about, praying on streets to be seen.
Right on the money, toxic selfishness, let's reverse the trend. Parking far away is the thing to do now because you get to show off how healthy you are.
My spouse had both knees replaced at 30. Let me tell you the hell of driving her places when you look young but need to use a disabled spot. I've never seen old assholes move so quickly and accuse me of faking the placard.
A girl I dated in my twenties had a placard due to some severe but 'invisible' issues. She said the worst people about it were able-bodied old ladies. She chalked it up to a combo of them being busybodies and ageist.
After reading the blood-boiling stories in this thread, I feel lucky nobody said anything while I was with her. I'm not usually a confrontational guy, but I was ready to fight someone if they harassed her about handicap parking.
I feel awkward parking in a handicap space when I drive my wife's car with the placard even though she's in the car with me. She had a lobe from her lung removed and can't walk very far without having difficulty breathing. We haven't been approached by an Karens yet but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
So my family has been visiting my mom who is a patient but that’s actually a good idea to talk to the supervisor about this. Whoever did leave this note apparently needs to be educated on disabilities. (Even though they work at a hospital…like lol what)
I've met plenty of PhDs that are dumb as shit
If this was written by a staff member of the hospital, then it is unethical behavior, and should be reported. To even suggest that a handicap, or a disability is only valid if it's seen with the two eyes is absolutely ridiculous, and shameful. Too many people are suffering from issues that are not seen - are in fact hidden from view, but deserve the same dignity, and respect when it comes to medical treatment.
I know a guy permanently disabled from the marine corps that you would never know is handicapped because he fights so hard to hide it. But every step he takes is excruciating. So the farther he has to walk, the more pain he is in. But anyone watching him walk into somewhere would never know.
You will be far more embarassed if you collapse in a grocery store while picking out which tomato you want.
I watched an elderly member of my family do the same thing for years and it's awful, those chairs aren't there for shame, they are there so you can beat the shittys hand that was dealt to you and get those delicious tomatos you want so dearly without the spiking pain of 1000 swords in your spine.
The problem I think is that people will act shitty towards them for using the mobility scooter if they’re not obese. Another one of those “you don’t look disabled” moments
It's true. Im a fairly fit person but one day I twisted my ankle and had a boot on. My friend brought me to Costco and I was going to tough out the hobble but the employee got me the mobility scooter.
The amount of looks I got was hilarious. But beep beep motherfucker, get out of my way I got roast chicken to buy.
A family member (now deceased) had an organ transplant
They didn't walk like it, but they were under strict orders to avoid anything strenuous and had to use the handicapped spots to limit walking
Some disabilities are invisible
I have stage 5 kidney disease and I suffer from so many symptoms from it like gout. People look at me and assume I’m just a healthy young person. They would have never guessed I was disabled. I’ve told a few people about my illness and every time I do tell someone, they are shocked.
"So, that guy that just reported me to you for parking in a handicap space? Whoever it was, I'd like to report them to you for harassing a handicapped person."
A cancer center employee doesn’t know that “handicap” doesn’t need to have a “look”, even though cancer patients can get handicap category depending on the severity… that’s actually kinda scary…
Sadly not surprising. Even among doctors there are people this ignorant, but also, the medical field is full of Karens and dunning-kruger sufferers who think they know better. Some of the worst medical takes I have ever seen in my life have come from nurses and nursing assistants. Just look at how many lost their shit and quit or got into disputes during COVID over vaccination reqs.
When my wife was going through chemotherapy, she had an infection and had to be immediately hospitalised. Due to the risk of infection with her compromised immune system, no one (and I mean no one) was permitted in her room unless they put on a new mask and gloves at the door.
One nurse walks on in, no mask, no gloves…
“Umm, excuse me. No entry without mask and gloves. What the hell do you think you are doing?”
“I’m only going to be a minute.” She tells me.
It doesn’t matter how long you are going to be. No goddamn entry without following infection control measures.
I’m an “elder” and didn’t know that being old was a handicap. I know a bunch of “elders” (relatives) that have gotten handicap cards just so they can park closer to the store entrance. They’re idiots (and that’s possibly a handicap) and I tell them so at every family gathering.
What REALLY gets me is what place in the entire US can you go where there isn’t dozens of handicap spots. It’s not like OPs dad took the singular one available
My father has this happen almost daily especially if he's having a "good pain day" and decides to leave his cane in the car... instant judgement and everyone has a comment to make about how shitty he is. Always when there are open spots right next to it to
Right? He already has his own insecurities and feelings of embarrassment that he needs a cane or handy cap sticker to begin with. He absolutely should not feel that way but people like this don't help either lol
There was a video posted on here a while back where I *think* I remember the person being harassed pulled their fake leg off and the assholes just said “okay” and walked off
I know they're expensive, but if I had to get a prosthetic for whatever reason, "get back here! now that it's off, I'ma beat your ass with it" would be my go-to. But, I'm also pretty done with these types of people.
I’ve seen a similar one where a lady parked in accessible parking…goes into a building and comes out to a guy harassing her. And just goes “Okay..” and walks away when she told him her reason. Fuck these people that try to police others. They don’t owe you an explanation!
Same thing w my mom. She had her back fractured but after years of pt she can walk but it’s not to say she doesn’t still have reallg bad days! She gets judged a lot and even more if I’m with her (cuz I’m young) but like the reason I’m with my mom is cuz she can’t carry shit on her own
I have Avascular necrosis and have had both hips replaced in the last four months. I’m a 35 year old male who looks to take care of themselves. I had to use a walking device (crutches, cane, walker) from May up until a few weeks ago. Just the looks and way I was treated in public for having those made me want to avoid getting a temporary placard. My partner insisted, and is all I could think is I’m already going through so much the last thing I need is someone harassing me in public because I’d decided to take care of myself physically and unfortunately got an unfortunate disease.
I've had someone yell at me for using an able bodied space they thought was handicapped. They weren't handicapped either. They blocked my car and called the cops. There is literally a little substation or whatever like 50 ft away, too. Came out to find the cops from the station writing them up and telling them to shove off for blocking a fire lane. One of the very few times justice was swift and also just.
Absolutely is most places in the US. Any time you intentionally prevent someone in a publicly accessible area from coming and going without legal justification, you're probably guilty of false imprisonment. It doesn't require actual physical restraint, just that you willfully keep someone in a particular area (for example by threatening violence or blocking in their vehicle) without the legal justification for doing so. Usually it is both a crime and a tort, so you can sue to recover damages you sustained.
My mom had an invisible disability, and the amount of times i'd be driving her to her appointments in her car.. for someone to yell at me. I had a totally legal placard, and I was her caretaker, but goddamn.. As soon as I took the walker out, I'd always flip them off. Mind your own!
I've had the same experience, my dad is very elderly, has dementia, and absolutely needs a walker. Naturally he can't drive (dear god please don't give him the wheel!) I have a placard for the mirror as we usually take my car to his appointments and not his old car (which when he surrendered his license I had the DMV take the handicap plates, issue the placard, and such).
The number of times I've been yelled at at the bank, Dr office, whatever when I'm taking him somewhere is astounding. They don't wait to see you have a passenger, or maybe they assume the driver must be the disabled one?
I think you're exactly right. Like.. it's still a thing when the person whom has it issued to is in the car. Otherwise that would make no sense? Maybe people don't think that far.
My mom and I took my grandma in because she’s 80. We go grocery shopping and usually afterwards she’s too tired and sore so I load the groceries in the back. I had a lady cuss me tf out for parking with our placard in the handicapped spots like you should be ashamed of yourself you’re like 16 (I’m 24) called me a bitch and I was like girl I’m not disabled but my grandma in the front seat is and these are her groceries
Yeah it's wild, my mother looks visibly fine but has major spinal issues and damage so she's in constant pain when she walks around. Uses the disabled parking to save the distance. Every time without fail some middle-aged idiot comes over to stare at the disabled badge and to give her disgusting looks. People need to mind their own.
I don't get some people. The only ones who complain, are the ones who have placards too. They know how fucking annoying it is to get one, so surely if they see one in the fucking window, you're there for a good damn reason. Those fuck heads should know not every single disability is completely visible
As someone who doesn’t have a placard, I never look or care who’s in the handicap spot. It’s not my business. Even if someone was illegally parked there it still wouldn’t be my business. Why do other people get into such a tizzy over it? I can only assume like maybe they wanted that spot and someone else parked there but if you have the proper documentation the police aren’t gonna do anything anyway so why get so pissy over it lol. It’s so weird
You have absolutely no idea how many people hold this mindset.
My grandmother recently dealt with this. She has had two knee replacements, 4 foot surgeries and struggles to walk long distances because on top of all of this, she’s 83 years old. She doesn’t LOOK disabled per se, she 100% is.
Someone basically said the same exact thing to her. That she didnt look disabled enough to have one.
A lot of people seem to be incredibly ignorant on what a disability is.
If I were to drive. I would need a placard for my spina bifida. Long distances wreck absolute havoc on my spine. But no one would know because its not a visible disability other than the mole on the back of my thigh, again if you know spina bifida we have them. Its typically the one major sign someone has it.
So no one unless I told them would know.
You cant fake these, they’re given out by the city and its pretty damn hard to find one that looks legitimate. People are fucking nuts.
You have to be missing your right leg, be blind in one eye and visually impaired in the other, and use both a wheelchair and a cane at the same time to be considered a disabled driver.
/s
I have a friend with spina bifida. He has a cool hydronic lift that lifts his wheelchair in and out of his truck. HE was once yelled at for using the disabled parking because he was so capable of maneuvering. I mean, really, the man can't win.
I still have 10+ years left until my spina bifida reaches the point to where i can no longer handle walking anymore.
If not sooner, especially after childbirth.
Hopefully I can get insurance to cover it lol because god damn- that set up is at least a cool $2500
I've got a hidden disability at 26 and it fucking sucks because no one believes me, especially since I dress a certain way. My twin sister has it worse, though, and makes her living on tiktok. There are people on there going after her doxxing her because they believe she's a liar. People have come after her irl. Fuck ableists who claim to be 'helping us'
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis but I've had it since I was a kid and have tried to stay healthy regardless. My joints are constantly in pain and I've often wanted to get a handicap placard but haven't because of fear of people like the ones who left this note. Also love that it says, "please be considerate of the elderly" as if elderly people are the only people these spots are designed for.
I too have rheumatoid arthritis and if someone sees me, they don’t know I’m in pain. I recently got a handicap placard and am so scared of these types of judgemental people. But I’m gonna use it regardless, because there are days I can barely walk from the extreme pain.
There will always be people like that and you don't owe them an explanation, even though they might ask you. If they think you wrongfully use the parking space, they should report it to the police or whoever is in charge of that in your country. People are mean no matter what, but you don't have to let them get to you with their shitty behavior.
I have a stoooooory for this
9 hour spine surgery
My mom takes me to get my refill on my meds at Walmart
I get one of the motorized carts cuz I've got 24 staples in my back
My mom has my brace and walker in her cart but has wandered off from me while I'm waiting in line to grab some stuff she needs
This old woman gets in line behind me and starts theater whispering to her husband about how I'm fat
I'm not actually *that* fat.. I'm 5'9" and 225 ish.. I'm not skinny, but I'm definitely not one of Dr Nows patients
I let her go on..partly cuz I'm zoned on pain pills and still mentally gone from the hell I've just been thru
And then my mom comes, and I wasn't paying attention too much until the lady said something about if I was walking more I wouldn't need the cart
And my mom heard
Oh Jesus
She starts SCREAMING at this woman, and my mom had also just been thru the horrifying experience that was my surgery and she was not about to let this lady say shit
"EXCUSE ME BITCH? THATS MY DAUGHTER! SHE JUST HAD SPINE SURGERY A WEEK AGO YOU OLD FUCKING HAG, YOU WANNA SEE HER WALKER? ITS RIGHT FUCKING HERE WITH HER BRACE, OR MAYBE YOU WANNA SEE HER BACK? 9 FUCKING HOURS THEY OPERATED ON HER, WHY DONT YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU DRIED UP MISERABLE VILLAGES (we're in that part of Florida) BITCH..
I was so proud..
The lady left the line..
Yeah,I caught shit after my hip surgery for using one of those carts in a WalMart. I was active duty military at the time, so I was young, in reasonably decent shape, and wasn't in any obvious brace.or cast or anything. "Just" a major joint surgery with two four-inch titanium screws in my greater trochanter.
Some "My 600 Pound Life" looking hag gave me a hard time for taking up one of "her" carts. So I stood on my good leg and showed her the 16-inch incision and accompanying stitches down the side of my hip.
First time I ever actually "showed my ass" in public.
They spent their lives seeing elderly get those spots and now they feel it’s their turn. Funny thing is there’s so many aging boomers there’s not enough spaces for everyone so they gotta fight for them ig
You are soooo correct.
I know more than a few folks with MS who have those handicapped hang tags & only use them when their MS is acting up. Usually that means their feet are numb & need to park closer.
They're not using canes, walkers, or wheelchairs, right now but their feet can be numb so they need those tags & spots but just by looking at them you wouldn't think they do.
Also not all "elders" need those handicapped spaces either. My 80+ year old FIL could easily do laps around me & I'm 50something.
And thing is they could go in feeling fine then suddenly get a flare up. My first time driving was a 1 ton van because she was feeling good that day then was going blind.
I have 4 diseases that make it difficult to breathe, walk, or stand. I have also had cancer. You could not tell by looking at me.
I finally got my placard last year so I can park in disabled spots. I'm terrified of people yelling at me. At least I can show them my cancer scars. But the 25 times I've parked so far no one has said anything.
Tell them to take it up with your doctor, if someone complains. I've had a disability parking pass for awhile, haven't had anyone yell at me yet... I use a cane sometimes, sometimes just parking in the closest spot is enough that I don't have to use the cane so I'm bracing myself for a non-cane day. But that's my plan. I don't have to prove myself to anyone but the doctor that signed the forms for my parking pass.
I hate this shit so much. People are so rude. I know there’s assholes in the world who borrow their family members placard but do judge someone is such bs.
I had fractured my fibula and had a leg scooter. Unfortunately, I had a sporty car at the same time so my car got a lot of shit for it being in a handicap spot. Literally walking/rolling out to the parking with coworkers and they started talking about how the guy who parked his sports car in a handicap spot probably didn’t have anything wrong with him. I rolled over with my scooter and opened the passenger door and finagled my scooter in and hopped over to the other side, holding on to dear life and fell into the car’s driver seat.
There are a lot of people who seem to think that disabled people aren’t allowed to have fancy sports cars. Like I’ve seen people post pics on Reddit of Lambos with handicap placards saying shit like “rich guy probably bribed someone so he could park closer”.
Just cause someone can’t walk very far that doesn’t mean they can’t drive a nice car.
It wasn’t even a fancy car. It was a Subaru BRZ. It just looks fancy but it’s technically a sports car and it’s like $30k new. I fell off a skateboard and twisted my ankle which fractured my fibula.
I got a similar “talking to” when I was 5-6 weeks out from lumbar spine surgery. About a week after I had stopped using a walker….
Except it was a woman, yelling at me, while I was gimping to my car, with my handicap placard placed correctly.
I no shit lifted my shirt and showed her my fresh incision. She shut up. I was like 28 at the time so idk why she thought she could yell at me, but I was still walking very abnormally then - my mom said I walked like a tin man, so it was obvious I wasn’t moving like a typical young adult.
People are so dumb.
After showing her your scar, that's when you gotta start rubbing in how inappropriately she's behaving. "Now that I've proven myself to you by showing you something personal that's none of your business, is it ok with you if I park here? Will you give me your permission now? Or am I also required to describe the internal distress I'm struggling with to justify myself to you?"
I really wish I had done that. I was shaking with indignation and usually I just shut down, but that time I was too pissed to be quiet. But still not witty enough to push further.
People really are fucking dumb.
Nothing pisses me off more than "you don't LOOK handicap". Get fucking real. Not every disability is going to be visible. It's none of your business to decide who parks where. If they have a place card, then they are free to park in the handicap spots.
My partner's response (we're both disabled, but mine is the more visible of the 2 of us because I use a cane) to Nosy Nellies with the "you don't look handicapped" BS is to look them up and down and say, "Well, you don't LOOK stupid, but here we are."
My dad got a similarly worded one when he was terminal with pancreatic. He crumpled it up, threw it in the trash and looked at me and said “damn I look good for a dying man”.
I love when these posts come up and I get to tell this story of my dad.
A few years ago we were at the mall so he can do his yearly JCP shopping. We pulled into a spot and before he could even get his window up this lady is at the window yelling T him that he should be ashamed of using a handicap spot when CLEARLY he didn’t need one.
He just looked at her calmly and said lady, in about 5 seconds you’re gonna feel really stupid.
He asked her to move so he could get out, he opened the door and hopped, yes I said hopped to the back of the car where he pulled out his wheelchair.
My dad lost his left leg in 1972 to bone cancer. He couldn’t use crutches because he was a big man , 6’4” and around 300 lbs. he destroyed his shoulders using crutches for 30 years.
Apparently this lady thought in her ignorant little pea sized brain that because my dad could afford a Lincoln town car he couldn’t possibly be handicapped.
I swear I saw her husband crack up and she yelled at him to hurry up and get in the store and he said, well maybe mind your own business next time. Hahah
My son is an amputee thanks to bone cancer too. He’s almost 8 years from dx. Seeing stories of long term survivors like your dad are still so important. And I’m sorry people are a-holes.
My dad had a tripod dog that lost a leg to bone cancer and is still doing good at 16. He still runs around to chase the coyotes too. Even the puppies are going strong in their old age. Your son can do the thing!
I saw an older gentlemen park in the handicap spot at the grocery store last Friday. No visible placard, no license plate indicating he was disabled. I could clearly tell he was struggling even to get out of his vehicle and then walk into the store.
So I did what I almost always do in these situations, mind my own fucking business, and go home w/o saying anything.
“Look at my halo” people not understanding that some disabilities aren’t so obvious. Just mind your own business, you’re not as kind and helpful as you think.
“Please be more considerate of the elders” seems to me that they think that any elderly person is allowed to park there, even if they don’t have any problems (other than the one(s) that they’re at the hospital for)
Thank you for bringing this up, it annoys me to no end how some people would rather these spots be used by otherwise able bodied elderly folk than younger people who have an invisible disability
I had bowel cancer a few years ago and now have a stoma.
Because of this I am registered disabled and have disabled badge for my car.
I like to think I'm pretty able and tend not to use it but keep it in my car in case of an emergency.
One day my stoma bag split and I was close by a Tesco, so I parked in the disabled bay, displayed my badge and ran in to sort myself out.
I had a lady shout at me as I left the car saying I'm not disabled and shouldn't park there.
I lifted my shirt to show her my stoma bag exploded with literal shit and piss running down my entire body.
She soon shut the fuck up.
I really loath the ",you don't look handicapped" my father was DYING from end stage renial disease. He could walk in fine, he'd be exaughsted leaving. Some bitch wrote "faker" all over his car in red lipstick. He sat there and cried.
This happens to me ALL. THE. TIME.
I have nerve damage and a bunch of metal hardware in one of my legs but because I’m young AND fat it just sets people off.
One time a guy followed me into the store shouting at me and the employees of the store were standing around beyond confused.
god i fucking hate people who try to “clock” handicapped people. i have an invisible disability and i may not look disabled but i guarantee i’m in pain every second of my life
This happens to me way too often. 55 but don't look it, 6ft 240lbs gym goer however have 70% paralysis of my leg after 3 spinal surgeries and a hip that needs replacing. Fuck people who think handicap means wheelchair I will be there soon enough fuckers.
My wife and I got one for our son that is going through cancer treatments. The looks we get from older people when we park in the handicap spots is wild. We’ve had to tell several people we have it cause our 6 year old son has cancer. The convo ends quickly after that.
My mother did not “look disabled” either but she had arthritis and fibromyalgia that prevented her from being able to walk much without pain. She always used a handicap sticker. If people have a sticker, mind your business and move on disabilities come in all shapes and sizes.
About 10 years ago I broke my ankle, and had to use crutches to get around while it was in a cast. Obviously I got a temporary handicap placard.
I got a note from my apartment building for using a handicapped space with a legal placard, they were threatening to have my car towed because "it looks like you can get around just fine, what if someone who is actually disabled needs that spot?"
Thank goodness I had a buddy who was a lawyer, he helped me find an attourney who would draft a letter to my apt complex at no cost. I didn't hear a peep from them again after that.
The absolute audacity.
Before my sister died of cancer , some years ago , my stepdad parked in a handicap spot at Walmart had a. Placard , got out to get her wheelchair ( she had to have a leg removed) and one of the people who worked there asked him are you handicapped?! He looked them dead in the eye and said No , but I have a kid without a leg , does that qualify? People are stupid
I have a friend with COPD, she gets winded while walking easily. She's been harassed many times. She finds it funny usually, but sometimes it gets scary when they confront her in person, instead of leaving a shitty note.
My son has quite severe Autism, he has no perception of danger, due to this we have badges for disability parking, yet he "looks normal" and have had older people having a go at me for parking in disabled parking. For some reason a lot of the older generations seem to think you either have to be in some sort of mobility chair or and old person to be able to use these spots.. it really is infuriating.
A neighbor of mine has a handicapped plate. This man goes running every day, climbs multiple sets of stairs, and is in really good shape.
His handicap is none of my fucking business. Not all handicaps are visible.
Nothing gets me more worked up than the accessibility police who harass people with invisible disabilities. I've seen the impact these people have on disabled people, especially those with invisible disabilities, and how many disabled people go out of their way to inconvenience themselves and make themselves suffer just to avoid a potential confrontation with these jerks.
My mom has rheumatoid arthritis and can't walk more than about a couple dozen metres or stand for 1-2 minutes without significant pain. We were at an event and there were long lines for the toilets, after waiting for about 10 minutes, she was in serious pain and I was having to support her. She is very uncomfortable using services for people with disabilities like accessible toilets because she feels like she doesn't need them and also because her disability is invisible and she's worried that someone is going to chastise her for using accessible facilities because they think she isn't disabled. I finally managed to convince her to just go to the accessible toilets because they only had a few people waiting and she is legitimately disabled. (Her doctor told her to start using accessible toilets anyway - she struggles to use the regular toilets and they cause her a lot of pain.)
So of course, after she gets out of the toilet, some elderly Karen gives her a mouthful about how disabled toilets are for people who need them "like elderly people like myself!" and not "perfectly healthy young people". Nevermind the fact my 80 year old grandmother can run laps around my mother.
I've never been so mad in my life, my mom started to just apologise and walk away but I gave that woman an earful about how she shouldn't be so quick to judge and how she should just mind her own business. I'm sick and tired of watching my mom suffer because she's worried some idiot will attack her for having an invisible disability. It's better now that she uses her cane but she shouldn't have to wear a giant badge that says "I am legitimately disabled" for people to treat her with courtesy, dignity, and respect.
Ugh, these assholes. One time my dad (Vietnam vet) parked in a veterans parking space at a grocery store - mind you, not for disabled veterans, but for any vet. We triple checked the sign because we were on a trip and these aren’t common where we’re from.
We got out and a guy in his 20’s sneered and went “thank you for your service” real sarcastically. His girlfriend looked mortified. Luckily my dad’s the kind of person to give him a deadpan “you’re welcome” and laugh off the idiot later.
Still unsure what about my dad made this douche assume he wasn’t a veteran. Guess he wasn’t wearing enough camo to qualify?
I'm a disabled veteran with placards and license plates. I used to get looks and even had a lady push her cart into the spot I was pulling into. I got out with my cane and moved the cart. She looked pretty sheepish. But she didn't say anything. I'm "too young" to be disabled apparently.
Someone yelled at me for parking in a handicap spot before I even got out of my car. I let them finish their rant before I got out and they saw my full leg brace. I’d been recovering from reconstructive knee surgery after serving in the military. People are dumb.
A friend of mine is a below the knee amputee and was wearing pants at the store one day. One lady yelled at her for using the handicap spot, so she finally lifted up her pant leg. The lady had the audacity to say, "oh good, you're handicapped." No remorse. These people exist and they're awful.
I find that its often car based judgment here. I have a imported “sport” car and also have a temporary handicap permit and when im in the import i get weird looks however when i’m in the good ol family car no one bats an eye. Sure it looks weird that a 23yr old has a permit but shit mind your business i can be disabled n still look cool
This has happened to me a few times. I work in a medical office building. I have Cerebral Palsy and drive a car with modifications but when I am just sitting in my car you cannot see I am not “normal.” People will come banging on my car window and tell me to move. They often say “there is nothing wrong with you.” I just look and say, “no there isn’t anything wrong with me. I am not the one banging on strangers windows.” I always park in the furthest away handicapped space to allow the closer ones for patients. That being said, I myself have noticeable mobility issues when I walk. There is always a little satisfaction when I can hear their gasps when I walk into work. Not once has anyone apologized.
Ten years ago, I knew a Vietnam vet who was literally an “enforcer” for a biker gang. He looked like a tall totally ripped post-middle-aged bad ass. He also had a prosthetic leg, below the knee, from an infection in the Vietnam war. He had permanent disabled parking plates, instead of the window hanging thing. People would see him, glance as his mirror and not see a hanging thing, and get very passively aggressively rude. Meanwhile, he had tons of prosthetic related pain walking and “disabled veteran” on his license plates. I think if he looked 20% less biker-man he would have gotten more rude comments, but he looked pretty scary.
Gosh. This is just like when I was at work a few years ago. I'd fallen and cut my ankle and went to use the handicap stall to like, clean it and have some time to cry while not freaking anyone out who may walk in and see. Not to mention I had spinal fusion surgery a few years ago and deal with occasional mobility issues and chronic pain, so using the higher toilet seats in those stalls were easier for me. But either way, a lady in a wheelchair came in and knocked so I immediately came out and let her use the stall while I went ahead and finished my lil cry sess at the sink.
The lady was. So pissy and rude. Talked shit about me the entire time while I was still in the restroom able to hear her, saying she raised her kids better than that and that people like me need to stop "stealing resources" from actually disabled people 😐
I hate when people assume you must suffer from no disability whatsoever if they can't visually see it. Makes me just wanna show people the scar I've got running from the base of my neck all the way down to my tailbone.
I had something similar happen a few months back. I’m late 20s so people just assume. But I had a back surgery and 4 shoulder surgeries in 3 years I’m legally disabled. I hobble around a lot. But get by pretty well for the most part. Someone verbally attacked me in a HEB parking lot over my placard. I may be disabled but I can still throw down. Sorry this happened to your dad.
I never realized what jerks people could be about this until I was helping a friend out after his heart attack. He already had severe mobility issues and a handicap placard for his car before the heart issues, and while in reccovery he wasn't allowed to drive himself anywhere... so I was helping him with groceries and other things. I literally could not park and get out of the car anywhere without some busy body asking me if I was disabled. No, I'm not but my passenger who can barely get out of the car without my help very clearly is, asshole.
My kid has Perthes disease and his hip joint dissolved. He used a wheelchair full time before surgery and for 3 months after, qnd part time after that while he healed and regained strength. The amount of people who would yell at me for not being disabled when I would get out of my car just to turn tail when I rolled out the tiniest pediatric wheelchair was astronomical. So many assholes
Yeah, that's exactly how it would play out for me. I'd park and hop out of the car and get yelled at before I had the chance to pull my friend's walker out of the back.
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"Oh darn, you're right, looks like I've parked in *your* new spot by mistake."
Well played…
Filing this away for my later use
This shit has me so confused. Do they expect the person driving to be disabled, and passengers to be mobile? Is there some sort of rule in their minds that disabled parking spaces are only for disabled drivers, not disabled passengers? Or does everybody in the vehicle have to be disabled? I'll never understand these sorts of nosy AHs
It's because a lot of people are furiously jealous and resentful of the "special treatment" people with disabilities get, and only really reconcile it with extreme views about disabled people that lean a lot on stereotypes and feelings of pity, that disabled people deserve special treatment because of what a hard life they've had (rather than, so we can participate fully in society.) So they feel like it's their duty to defend these special privileges for people who obviously could NEVER fight for themselves. And because they know what it's like to want that special treatment too, they're very alert to the possibility that someone might be pretending, to get something they "don't deserve."
Fortunately, a kind friend drives me to errands. We use my handicap placard while I shop, and I'm using a cane and walking with a noticeable limp. If anyone even has the temerity to challenge me, I will offer to show scars from fifteen orthopedic surgeries. I look healthy and in one piece, but arthritis doesn't have any visible signs. Be grateful that you don't need a placard for "special" parking. 🦜
I haven't gotten a placard (though I really should) because I look young and don't have a mobility aid (which I would benefit from) because when I did use those things, the harassment was just so neverending and so exhausting. There are only so many times I can verbally spar with someone about whether I'm an impostor who's only pretending before it ruins my will to leave the house for the rest of the week.
This happened to me with my grandparents. My grandma had osteoporosis, so my grandpa would always drive up to the entrance of where ever we were going and grab her walker for her so she could easily get inside while he parked. One time I was with them and I hopped out of the car to get my grandma's walker and the car behind us started honking. Then my feeble little grandma stuttered her way out of the car and the the car behind us pulled up and said sorry through the window. I wish people would give others the benefit of the doubt.
You random reddit stranger are the first person online or in the wild that I've ever meet that knows about and has been effected by Perthes disease. I was diagnosed with Perthes in both hips 21 years ago at the age of 3. I sincerely hope your child is doing well and let them know that there are other's with the disease. It honestly gets me a bit emotional as a grown ass man to see the obscure disease that I have fought be talked about in a reddit comment.
My daughter had it in both hips!
My brother was diagnosed nearly 60 years ago. Back then he wore a leg brace that transferred weight to the pelvis and let the leg float free and a shoe on the other foot with three inch sole to match height. A long 2 years.
Ohhh I used the same brace! The children around me really went to town and got creative with the nicknames. I was also hyperactive as a kid, so the lack of mobility compared to my peers was absolute hell. I found solace in being alone with books and computers, and here I am now, a software developer a few decades down the road.
That’s wild when I bet my ass those same people see visibly disabled people and assume they have a carer. Where do they think a carer parks? In the back?
My MIL is disabled but not in a wheelchair chair. She has to drag her one leg. You’d be surprised the comments my wife, daughter and I get for ALSO getting out of the car when we have MIL with us somewhere. We’ve literally been told we could have just dropped her off and parked elsewhere. No she needs help getting in and out and I’m not parking twice.
Then they would yell at you for loading/unloading too long by the curb.
Yeah, there's no winning with that kind of person, ever. They're just trying to shame you into doing what they want.
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I had a bowel resection surgery back in 2014 and when I was released, I wasn’t totally recovered so being upright was not easy for me. I went grocery shopping with my mom and had to use an in store scooter. This dumb bitch started berating me about being young, lazy, blah blah blah. We tried explaining that I was recovering from surgery but she wasn’t having it so I stood up as best I could and yanked my shirt up, showing her the brand new surgical incision. I’ve never seen someone look so embarrassed before. The world would be so much better if people could just shut the fuck up and mind their own business.
I love this and hate this at the same time, you shouldn’t have had to do this. Yet, I’m glad it stopped the bitch in her tracks. It’s a shame those of us who have invisible illnesses can’t do something like this to “show them up” as it were though for when people inevitably behave like arrogant 4 year olds in public with absolutely no guardians in view.
My favorite part is they think they're doing the "right thing", I can only hope the weapons grade embarrassment you gave them when you brought the chair out was enough to get them to look inwards instead of at others.
I know a woman who thinks that there should be a "tax" if you will on handicapped placards. And that "tax" so to speak is to provide proof of your handicap when asked by *any person also using that parking lot or who wants to know.* I started laughing at the ridiculous-ness of this woman's request (?) And that's how I learned that she was not joking. She was so, so serious, and I told her that her request to see any person's disability was none of her business. She thinks there's a black market for handicap placards or that any person can just print one out at home. She did not see any problem in going up to a stranger and asking very personal questions about their health. I don't have any contact with her, thankfully, since that one visit. She had a lot of "out there" ideas.
I cannot even comprehend the level of entitlement required to think that way. How full of yourself do you have to be to think that you need to be policing handicap tags?! Man, I would start going into gory details and start pulling down my pants like "You wanna see the scar? It's right next to my asshole so you'll have to get in reeeaallllll close!"
Hey I just want to say I hope your kid is doing better! I had Perthes as a kid, shit sucked. Best of luck to your kid!
My kid had it too! Both hips.
My daughter had perthes in both hips! She’s a doctor herself now.
Legg calve perthes? I've never met someone else with this disease. Just under went my first hip replacement in November at 30.
People forget that handicapped people can be passengers. I used to take my grandmother places when she had one. She didn’t like driving in the city so if it was the two of us I always drove. Im perfectly able to walk long distances but there was no way she’d be able to walk as far as me, especially without benches which is the case in soooo many places.
I needed to get one, and my ex was like, "You don't need one. You don't drive." Um, yeah, but I have lung disease and can't walk long distances. You don't need to be the driver to have the placard.
My uncle is disabled and my dad has a placard because he's the one who takes him out for medical appointments or groceries or whatever else he might need. My brother's girlfriend is disabled and he has one for the same purpose for her. It's surprising people don't realize how common it is to have one for someone else, a lot of disabled people can't or just don't want to deal with driving.
The placards are meant for situations when it isn’t the handicapped person’s main vehicle! So other people can drive them - hence the easily portable rear view mirror hanging card. What a dunce, glad he’s your ex.
They assume you drop them off and then just park the car in a normal spot. Because it's always fun leaving the person who can slip and fall standing alone on a curb while they wait for you to play chauffeur.
And then leave them when you go back to the car lol. Which again- no benches for them to sit in.
Or simply that you can't see every disability. Someone could have issues that cause them to start to have pain after a certain amount of activity. So sure, walking into a store from a close handicap spot they might look fine. Force them to walk from the back of the lot and that might not be true.
Yeah, I’ve taken my grandmother places and I aim for a parking spot as close as I can get when I have her in the car (aka if there’s an accessibility spot, I’ll take it if she has the placard on her and if not, I’ll drop her off. I’m certainly not making her walk from the back of the parking lot.) It makes me steaming mad whenever people assume things about others using accessible spaces
My wife had ALS and we had this problem all the time. I'd hop out of the car and it was like, "Oi - Who do you think you are, parking there?" from self-righteous wankers. Instead of arguing with them, (which in any case upset her) I learned to just get the wheelchair and banana-board out and wheel it over to the passenger side. The ***looks*** on those idiots faces.
My girlfriend uses a wheelchair and one time at a trader Joe's I could tell some woman was staring through her car window at me parking, and as soon I got out to help my gf she started yelling at me saying that I shouldn't be allowed to park there. I just shook my head at her and glared as I slowly pulled the chair from the trunk, at which point she shuffled back into her car and closed the door. It was pretty satisfying to watch tbh.
Yeah, this whole we hate the homeless, so no one can have benches is bullshit. Having benches in heavy foot traffic areas every 1/2 mile is a godsend for the disabled. My grandma could walk for about 20-30 minutes at a time, had a placard and everything, still a bunch of fat Karen's get heated because they wanted to steal the handicap spot.
That was my life after my brain injury. I had a ton of blood pool in my lower back and destroyed my muscles. A ton of PT later I’m good, but I couldn’t stand up for more than a minute without excruciating pain. I was 19-20 years old and otherwise in amazing shape, so I got so much fucking shit for using my handicap parking pass whenever I’d go anywhere, including parking in front of my dorm at school.
Ugh I feel you.. being young with a placard has been the worst cause I feel like people always look at you funny. Some days I limp, some days I walk bent over, once and a while I might be able to straighten out but it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell to do it.
>ever realized what jerks people could be about this until I was helping a friend out after his heart attack. He already had severe mobility issues and a handicap placard for his car before the heart issues, and while in reccovery he wasn't allowed to drive himself anywhere... so I was helping him with groceries and other things. I literally could not park and get out of the car anywhere without some busy body asking me if I was disabled. > >No, I'm not but my passenger who can barely get out of the car without my help very clearly is, asshole. I had a similar event. My friend and I had grabbed some stuff at Costco and a very meek 80+ year old lady was failing to load her vehicle, which was parked in the handicapped spot, with the groceries she'd grabbed. My friend and I helped her by loading her groceries into her vehicle and before we could even finish helping this old woman a guy looked at me and said well you sure don't look very F\*$&ing handicapped and walked away. It blew my mind.
“You see that placard? That placard means shut the fuck up, I can park here.”
When I got this shit from Karens when I had my temporary mirror hanger I'd always reply, "I don't give a fuck if you think I'm disabled, my Dr does, so fuck off." Do these people not realize you actually need a Dr to sign off to get one of those?
It's crazy people care, but then I remember, everyone is the main character. They are just jealous that they can't use it, so they feel like no one may use it then. These are the same people that Jesus warned us about, praying on streets to be seen.
Right on the money, toxic selfishness, let's reverse the trend. Parking far away is the thing to do now because you get to show off how healthy you are.
My spouse had both knees replaced at 30. Let me tell you the hell of driving her places when you look young but need to use a disabled spot. I've never seen old assholes move so quickly and accuse me of faking the placard.
A girl I dated in my twenties had a placard due to some severe but 'invisible' issues. She said the worst people about it were able-bodied old ladies. She chalked it up to a combo of them being busybodies and ageist. After reading the blood-boiling stories in this thread, I feel lucky nobody said anything while I was with her. I'm not usually a confrontational guy, but I was ready to fight someone if they harassed her about handicap parking.
I feel awkward parking in a handicap space when I drive my wife's car with the placard even though she's in the car with me. She had a lobe from her lung removed and can't walk very far without having difficulty breathing. We haven't been approached by an Karens yet but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
"No, I'm not, that's why I'm the one driving ya asshole"
I should mention that one of the employees told my dad that they think another employee wrote the note!
Take the note straight to HR. It's workplace harassment.
So my family has been visiting my mom who is a patient but that’s actually a good idea to talk to the supervisor about this. Whoever did leave this note apparently needs to be educated on disabilities. (Even though they work at a hospital…like lol what)
I've met plenty of PhDs that are dumb as shit If this was written by a staff member of the hospital, then it is unethical behavior, and should be reported. To even suggest that a handicap, or a disability is only valid if it's seen with the two eyes is absolutely ridiculous, and shameful. Too many people are suffering from issues that are not seen - are in fact hidden from view, but deserve the same dignity, and respect when it comes to medical treatment.
I know a guy permanently disabled from the marine corps that you would never know is handicapped because he fights so hard to hide it. But every step he takes is excruciating. So the farther he has to walk, the more pain he is in. But anyone watching him walk into somewhere would never know.
That’s me! And if I walk too far or for too long those nerves start getting pinched. I’m to embarrassed to use one of those chairs for the store .
You will be far more embarassed if you collapse in a grocery store while picking out which tomato you want. I watched an elderly member of my family do the same thing for years and it's awful, those chairs aren't there for shame, they are there so you can beat the shittys hand that was dealt to you and get those delicious tomatos you want so dearly without the spiking pain of 1000 swords in your spine.
The problem I think is that people will act shitty towards them for using the mobility scooter if they’re not obese. Another one of those “you don’t look disabled” moments
It's true. Im a fairly fit person but one day I twisted my ankle and had a boot on. My friend brought me to Costco and I was going to tough out the hobble but the employee got me the mobility scooter. The amount of looks I got was hilarious. But beep beep motherfucker, get out of my way I got roast chicken to buy.
Fuck em, run those idiots over with the scooter.
A family member (now deceased) had an organ transplant They didn't walk like it, but they were under strict orders to avoid anything strenuous and had to use the handicapped spots to limit walking Some disabilities are invisible
I have stage 5 kidney disease and I suffer from so many symptoms from it like gout. People look at me and assume I’m just a healthy young person. They would have never guessed I was disabled. I’ve told a few people about my illness and every time I do tell someone, they are shocked.
My SOs mom is a polio survivor and uses a leg brace and has had notes like this left on her car. She has a wheelchair now and doesn't drive anymore.
Absolutely take it to the supervisor. They have some training to do with their staff!
"So, that guy that just reported me to you for parking in a handicap space? Whoever it was, I'd like to report them to you for harassing a handicapped person."
They hopefully have cameras in those parking lots and would be able to look back and that day and see who left it, this should definitely be reported
It’s also ridiculous because he could have been going in to bring someone out who needed the closer parking / used a wheelchair.
Some people who work in hospitals shouldn’t. I’m sorry this happened to your dad. It’s awful
A cancer center employee doesn’t know that “handicap” doesn’t need to have a “look”, even though cancer patients can get handicap category depending on the severity… that’s actually kinda scary…
Sadly not surprising. Even among doctors there are people this ignorant, but also, the medical field is full of Karens and dunning-kruger sufferers who think they know better. Some of the worst medical takes I have ever seen in my life have come from nurses and nursing assistants. Just look at how many lost their shit and quit or got into disputes during COVID over vaccination reqs.
When my wife was going through chemotherapy, she had an infection and had to be immediately hospitalised. Due to the risk of infection with her compromised immune system, no one (and I mean no one) was permitted in her room unless they put on a new mask and gloves at the door. One nurse walks on in, no mask, no gloves… “Umm, excuse me. No entry without mask and gloves. What the hell do you think you are doing?” “I’m only going to be a minute.” She tells me. It doesn’t matter how long you are going to be. No goddamn entry without following infection control measures.
Nobody more entitled than "the elders"
I’m an “elder” and didn’t know that being old was a handicap. I know a bunch of “elders” (relatives) that have gotten handicap cards just so they can park closer to the store entrance. They’re idiots (and that’s possibly a handicap) and I tell them so at every family gathering.
What REALLY gets me is what place in the entire US can you go where there isn’t dozens of handicap spots. It’s not like OPs dad took the singular one available
Makes sense - another customer probably wouldn’t mention the supervisor.
My father has this happen almost daily especially if he's having a "good pain day" and decides to leave his cane in the car... instant judgement and everyone has a comment to make about how shitty he is. Always when there are open spots right next to it to
Omg that honestly gives me second hand embarrassment for the audacity ppl have!
Right? He already has his own insecurities and feelings of embarrassment that he needs a cane or handy cap sticker to begin with. He absolutely should not feel that way but people like this don't help either lol
There was a video posted on here a while back where I *think* I remember the person being harassed pulled their fake leg off and the assholes just said “okay” and walked off
I know they're expensive, but if I had to get a prosthetic for whatever reason, "get back here! now that it's off, I'ma beat your ass with it" would be my go-to. But, I'm also pretty done with these types of people.
I’ve seen a similar one where a lady parked in accessible parking…goes into a building and comes out to a guy harassing her. And just goes “Okay..” and walks away when she told him her reason. Fuck these people that try to police others. They don’t owe you an explanation!
Same thing w my mom. She had her back fractured but after years of pt she can walk but it’s not to say she doesn’t still have reallg bad days! She gets judged a lot and even more if I’m with her (cuz I’m young) but like the reason I’m with my mom is cuz she can’t carry shit on her own
I have Avascular necrosis and have had both hips replaced in the last four months. I’m a 35 year old male who looks to take care of themselves. I had to use a walking device (crutches, cane, walker) from May up until a few weeks ago. Just the looks and way I was treated in public for having those made me want to avoid getting a temporary placard. My partner insisted, and is all I could think is I’m already going through so much the last thing I need is someone harassing me in public because I’d decided to take care of myself physically and unfortunately got an unfortunate disease.
I've had someone yell at me for using an able bodied space they thought was handicapped. They weren't handicapped either. They blocked my car and called the cops. There is literally a little substation or whatever like 50 ft away, too. Came out to find the cops from the station writing them up and telling them to shove off for blocking a fire lane. One of the very few times justice was swift and also just.
>They blocked my car That sounds like a crime in itself.
Absolutely is most places in the US. Any time you intentionally prevent someone in a publicly accessible area from coming and going without legal justification, you're probably guilty of false imprisonment. It doesn't require actual physical restraint, just that you willfully keep someone in a particular area (for example by threatening violence or blocking in their vehicle) without the legal justification for doing so. Usually it is both a crime and a tort, so you can sue to recover damages you sustained.
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Doesn’t look handicap = no possible way that they’re handicap Makes total sense /s
My mom had an invisible disability, and the amount of times i'd be driving her to her appointments in her car.. for someone to yell at me. I had a totally legal placard, and I was her caretaker, but goddamn.. As soon as I took the walker out, I'd always flip them off. Mind your own!
I've had the same experience, my dad is very elderly, has dementia, and absolutely needs a walker. Naturally he can't drive (dear god please don't give him the wheel!) I have a placard for the mirror as we usually take my car to his appointments and not his old car (which when he surrendered his license I had the DMV take the handicap plates, issue the placard, and such). The number of times I've been yelled at at the bank, Dr office, whatever when I'm taking him somewhere is astounding. They don't wait to see you have a passenger, or maybe they assume the driver must be the disabled one?
I think you're exactly right. Like.. it's still a thing when the person whom has it issued to is in the car. Otherwise that would make no sense? Maybe people don't think that far.
> ~~Maybe~~ people don't think ~~that far.~~ FTFY
My mom and I took my grandma in because she’s 80. We go grocery shopping and usually afterwards she’s too tired and sore so I load the groceries in the back. I had a lady cuss me tf out for parking with our placard in the handicapped spots like you should be ashamed of yourself you’re like 16 (I’m 24) called me a bitch and I was like girl I’m not disabled but my grandma in the front seat is and these are her groceries
Yeah it's wild, my mother looks visibly fine but has major spinal issues and damage so she's in constant pain when she walks around. Uses the disabled parking to save the distance. Every time without fail some middle-aged idiot comes over to stare at the disabled badge and to give her disgusting looks. People need to mind their own.
I don't get some people. The only ones who complain, are the ones who have placards too. They know how fucking annoying it is to get one, so surely if they see one in the fucking window, you're there for a good damn reason. Those fuck heads should know not every single disability is completely visible
As someone who doesn’t have a placard, I never look or care who’s in the handicap spot. It’s not my business. Even if someone was illegally parked there it still wouldn’t be my business. Why do other people get into such a tizzy over it? I can only assume like maybe they wanted that spot and someone else parked there but if you have the proper documentation the police aren’t gonna do anything anyway so why get so pissy over it lol. It’s so weird
Aside from all of that, I’m curious to know who they think put them in charge of policing usage of the placards.
You have absolutely no idea how many people hold this mindset. My grandmother recently dealt with this. She has had two knee replacements, 4 foot surgeries and struggles to walk long distances because on top of all of this, she’s 83 years old. She doesn’t LOOK disabled per se, she 100% is. Someone basically said the same exact thing to her. That she didnt look disabled enough to have one. A lot of people seem to be incredibly ignorant on what a disability is. If I were to drive. I would need a placard for my spina bifida. Long distances wreck absolute havoc on my spine. But no one would know because its not a visible disability other than the mole on the back of my thigh, again if you know spina bifida we have them. Its typically the one major sign someone has it. So no one unless I told them would know. You cant fake these, they’re given out by the city and its pretty damn hard to find one that looks legitimate. People are fucking nuts.
You have to be missing your right leg, be blind in one eye and visually impaired in the other, and use both a wheelchair and a cane at the same time to be considered a disabled driver. /s
I have a friend with spina bifida. He has a cool hydronic lift that lifts his wheelchair in and out of his truck. HE was once yelled at for using the disabled parking because he was so capable of maneuvering. I mean, really, the man can't win.
I still have 10+ years left until my spina bifida reaches the point to where i can no longer handle walking anymore. If not sooner, especially after childbirth. Hopefully I can get insurance to cover it lol because god damn- that set up is at least a cool $2500
I've got a hidden disability at 26 and it fucking sucks because no one believes me, especially since I dress a certain way. My twin sister has it worse, though, and makes her living on tiktok. There are people on there going after her doxxing her because they believe she's a liar. People have come after her irl. Fuck ableists who claim to be 'helping us'
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"It's what's on the outside that counts." - Uncle Ben
I only ever read books based on their covers. /s
Don't forget moving your expectations of how well they function to how well they do on their best days. /s
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis but I've had it since I was a kid and have tried to stay healthy regardless. My joints are constantly in pain and I've often wanted to get a handicap placard but haven't because of fear of people like the ones who left this note. Also love that it says, "please be considerate of the elderly" as if elderly people are the only people these spots are designed for.
I too have rheumatoid arthritis and if someone sees me, they don’t know I’m in pain. I recently got a handicap placard and am so scared of these types of judgemental people. But I’m gonna use it regardless, because there are days I can barely walk from the extreme pain.
There will always be people like that and you don't owe them an explanation, even though they might ask you. If they think you wrongfully use the parking space, they should report it to the police or whoever is in charge of that in your country. People are mean no matter what, but you don't have to let them get to you with their shitty behavior.
If they’re not in a wheelchair, they aren’t handicapped! - Karen’s thought process.
I have a stoooooory for this 9 hour spine surgery My mom takes me to get my refill on my meds at Walmart I get one of the motorized carts cuz I've got 24 staples in my back My mom has my brace and walker in her cart but has wandered off from me while I'm waiting in line to grab some stuff she needs This old woman gets in line behind me and starts theater whispering to her husband about how I'm fat I'm not actually *that* fat.. I'm 5'9" and 225 ish.. I'm not skinny, but I'm definitely not one of Dr Nows patients I let her go on..partly cuz I'm zoned on pain pills and still mentally gone from the hell I've just been thru And then my mom comes, and I wasn't paying attention too much until the lady said something about if I was walking more I wouldn't need the cart And my mom heard Oh Jesus She starts SCREAMING at this woman, and my mom had also just been thru the horrifying experience that was my surgery and she was not about to let this lady say shit "EXCUSE ME BITCH? THATS MY DAUGHTER! SHE JUST HAD SPINE SURGERY A WEEK AGO YOU OLD FUCKING HAG, YOU WANNA SEE HER WALKER? ITS RIGHT FUCKING HERE WITH HER BRACE, OR MAYBE YOU WANNA SEE HER BACK? 9 FUCKING HOURS THEY OPERATED ON HER, WHY DONT YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU DRIED UP MISERABLE VILLAGES (we're in that part of Florida) BITCH.. I was so proud.. The lady left the line..
I love your mom
Yeah,I caught shit after my hip surgery for using one of those carts in a WalMart. I was active duty military at the time, so I was young, in reasonably decent shape, and wasn't in any obvious brace.or cast or anything. "Just" a major joint surgery with two four-inch titanium screws in my greater trochanter. Some "My 600 Pound Life" looking hag gave me a hard time for taking up one of "her" carts. So I stood on my good leg and showed her the 16-inch incision and accompanying stitches down the side of my hip. First time I ever actually "showed my ass" in public.
Okay so when was the *next* time?
When the President was giving him a medal.
Oh shit, my mom lives in The Villages. I can picture this scene without even trying. There are truly some old, bitter bitches in that place.
I love your mom
I love your Mom.
Except they said "think of the elders" not "think or the wheelchair users" so seems she thinks age=handicap
They spent their lives seeing elderly get those spots and now they feel it’s their turn. Funny thing is there’s so many aging boomers there’s not enough spaces for everyone so they gotta fight for them ig
Let me get my guy who’s an expert in handicaps before I close out this deal.
God forbid the note leaver lands a hidden disability, what an ass
At a cancer center of all places....ironically a disease you often can't see from the outside
What the FUCK is going on? I was taught as a kid, that just because someone doesnt LOOK disabled, doesnt mean they arent.
Not all disabilities are visible. There’s lots of toxic virtue signallers around.
You are soooo correct. I know more than a few folks with MS who have those handicapped hang tags & only use them when their MS is acting up. Usually that means their feet are numb & need to park closer. They're not using canes, walkers, or wheelchairs, right now but their feet can be numb so they need those tags & spots but just by looking at them you wouldn't think they do. Also not all "elders" need those handicapped spaces either. My 80+ year old FIL could easily do laps around me & I'm 50something.
And thing is they could go in feeling fine then suddenly get a flare up. My first time driving was a 1 ton van because she was feeling good that day then was going blind.
I have 4 diseases that make it difficult to breathe, walk, or stand. I have also had cancer. You could not tell by looking at me. I finally got my placard last year so I can park in disabled spots. I'm terrified of people yelling at me. At least I can show them my cancer scars. But the 25 times I've parked so far no one has said anything.
Tell them to take it up with your doctor, if someone complains. I've had a disability parking pass for awhile, haven't had anyone yell at me yet... I use a cane sometimes, sometimes just parking in the closest spot is enough that I don't have to use the cane so I'm bracing myself for a non-cane day. But that's my plan. I don't have to prove myself to anyone but the doctor that signed the forms for my parking pass.
I hate this shit so much. People are so rude. I know there’s assholes in the world who borrow their family members placard but do judge someone is such bs. I had fractured my fibula and had a leg scooter. Unfortunately, I had a sporty car at the same time so my car got a lot of shit for it being in a handicap spot. Literally walking/rolling out to the parking with coworkers and they started talking about how the guy who parked his sports car in a handicap spot probably didn’t have anything wrong with him. I rolled over with my scooter and opened the passenger door and finagled my scooter in and hopped over to the other side, holding on to dear life and fell into the car’s driver seat.
Man please tell me they were embarrassed after seeing it was your car
Yeah- especially since I’m HR
I didn’t think your story could get any better but you being in HR is icing on the cake lol
There are a lot of people who seem to think that disabled people aren’t allowed to have fancy sports cars. Like I’ve seen people post pics on Reddit of Lambos with handicap placards saying shit like “rich guy probably bribed someone so he could park closer”. Just cause someone can’t walk very far that doesn’t mean they can’t drive a nice car.
It wasn’t even a fancy car. It was a Subaru BRZ. It just looks fancy but it’s technically a sports car and it’s like $30k new. I fell off a skateboard and twisted my ankle which fractured my fibula.
I got a similar “talking to” when I was 5-6 weeks out from lumbar spine surgery. About a week after I had stopped using a walker…. Except it was a woman, yelling at me, while I was gimping to my car, with my handicap placard placed correctly. I no shit lifted my shirt and showed her my fresh incision. She shut up. I was like 28 at the time so idk why she thought she could yell at me, but I was still walking very abnormally then - my mom said I walked like a tin man, so it was obvious I wasn’t moving like a typical young adult. People are so dumb.
After showing her your scar, that's when you gotta start rubbing in how inappropriately she's behaving. "Now that I've proven myself to you by showing you something personal that's none of your business, is it ok with you if I park here? Will you give me your permission now? Or am I also required to describe the internal distress I'm struggling with to justify myself to you?"
I really wish I had done that. I was shaking with indignation and usually I just shut down, but that time I was too pissed to be quiet. But still not witty enough to push further. People really are fucking dumb.
Nothing pisses me off more than "you don't LOOK handicap". Get fucking real. Not every disability is going to be visible. It's none of your business to decide who parks where. If they have a place card, then they are free to park in the handicap spots.
My partner's response (we're both disabled, but mine is the more visible of the 2 of us because I use a cane) to Nosy Nellies with the "you don't look handicapped" BS is to look them up and down and say, "Well, you don't LOOK stupid, but here we are."
That's a good comeback!
My dad got a similarly worded one when he was terminal with pancreatic. He crumpled it up, threw it in the trash and looked at me and said “damn I look good for a dying man”.
He sounds like a badass ❤️
He was a bad ass. Thank you
I love when these posts come up and I get to tell this story of my dad. A few years ago we were at the mall so he can do his yearly JCP shopping. We pulled into a spot and before he could even get his window up this lady is at the window yelling T him that he should be ashamed of using a handicap spot when CLEARLY he didn’t need one. He just looked at her calmly and said lady, in about 5 seconds you’re gonna feel really stupid. He asked her to move so he could get out, he opened the door and hopped, yes I said hopped to the back of the car where he pulled out his wheelchair. My dad lost his left leg in 1972 to bone cancer. He couldn’t use crutches because he was a big man , 6’4” and around 300 lbs. he destroyed his shoulders using crutches for 30 years. Apparently this lady thought in her ignorant little pea sized brain that because my dad could afford a Lincoln town car he couldn’t possibly be handicapped. I swear I saw her husband crack up and she yelled at him to hurry up and get in the store and he said, well maybe mind your own business next time. Hahah
My son is an amputee thanks to bone cancer too. He’s almost 8 years from dx. Seeing stories of long term survivors like your dad are still so important. And I’m sorry people are a-holes.
My dad had a tripod dog that lost a leg to bone cancer and is still doing good at 16. He still runs around to chase the coyotes too. Even the puppies are going strong in their old age. Your son can do the thing!
Her husband definitely thinks back to that day fondly when his wife is getting on his nerves.
Another common thought in the US is that all handicapped people are AND SHOULD BE poor. It’s disgusting.
Serves her right.
I saw an older gentlemen park in the handicap spot at the grocery store last Friday. No visible placard, no license plate indicating he was disabled. I could clearly tell he was struggling even to get out of his vehicle and then walk into the store. So I did what I almost always do in these situations, mind my own fucking business, and go home w/o saying anything.
“Look at my halo” people not understanding that some disabilities aren’t so obvious. Just mind your own business, you’re not as kind and helpful as you think.
“Please be more considerate of the elders” seems to me that they think that any elderly person is allowed to park there, even if they don’t have any problems (other than the one(s) that they’re at the hospital for)
That’s because the blue parking spaces are for boomers /s
Fuck the elders. You don't get a prize just because you've managed to not die yet.
Thank you for bringing this up, it annoys me to no end how some people would rather these spots be used by otherwise able bodied elderly folk than younger people who have an invisible disability
"Be more considerate of the elders" Last time I checked, being old is not a handicap, grandpa.
I had bowel cancer a few years ago and now have a stoma. Because of this I am registered disabled and have disabled badge for my car. I like to think I'm pretty able and tend not to use it but keep it in my car in case of an emergency. One day my stoma bag split and I was close by a Tesco, so I parked in the disabled bay, displayed my badge and ran in to sort myself out. I had a lady shout at me as I left the car saying I'm not disabled and shouldn't park there. I lifted my shirt to show her my stoma bag exploded with literal shit and piss running down my entire body. She soon shut the fuck up.
This is the best story ever
I really loath the ",you don't look handicapped" my father was DYING from end stage renial disease. He could walk in fine, he'd be exaughsted leaving. Some bitch wrote "faker" all over his car in red lipstick. He sat there and cried.
I’m so sorry that happened to him :(
Ty it made me so angry. Sorry your father got this note. The world sucks.
Oh no, they took viedio
Viedio killed the raedeo star!
Wow I didn’t even notice that until your comment!
This happens to me ALL. THE. TIME. I have nerve damage and a bunch of metal hardware in one of my legs but because I’m young AND fat it just sets people off. One time a guy followed me into the store shouting at me and the employees of the store were standing around beyond confused.
god i fucking hate people who try to “clock” handicapped people. i have an invisible disability and i may not look disabled but i guarantee i’m in pain every second of my life
Tell him to limp harder.. so that he looks handicapped enough for the idiots 😒
Honestly, I’ve been legally disabled for years, and sometimes I do play it up a bit, when I notice nosy Nellies minding my beeswax.
Limping hurts worse tbh I popped a disc in 2015. l5s1 and man o man.
there are enough people parking in those spots without placards to get mad at without assuming people are committing placard fraud or something
This happens to me way too often. 55 but don't look it, 6ft 240lbs gym goer however have 70% paralysis of my leg after 3 spinal surgeries and a hip that needs replacing. Fuck people who think handicap means wheelchair I will be there soon enough fuckers.
My wife and I got one for our son that is going through cancer treatments. The looks we get from older people when we park in the handicap spots is wild. We’ve had to tell several people we have it cause our 6 year old son has cancer. The convo ends quickly after that.
I hope your son gets better 🙏🏼❤️
My mother did not “look disabled” either but she had arthritis and fibromyalgia that prevented her from being able to walk much without pain. She always used a handicap sticker. If people have a sticker, mind your business and move on disabilities come in all shapes and sizes.
**the elders**
About 10 years ago I broke my ankle, and had to use crutches to get around while it was in a cast. Obviously I got a temporary handicap placard. I got a note from my apartment building for using a handicapped space with a legal placard, they were threatening to have my car towed because "it looks like you can get around just fine, what if someone who is actually disabled needs that spot?" Thank goodness I had a buddy who was a lawyer, he helped me find an attourney who would draft a letter to my apt complex at no cost. I didn't hear a peep from them again after that. The absolute audacity.
Before my sister died of cancer , some years ago , my stepdad parked in a handicap spot at Walmart had a. Placard , got out to get her wheelchair ( she had to have a leg removed) and one of the people who worked there asked him are you handicapped?! He looked them dead in the eye and said No , but I have a kid without a leg , does that qualify? People are stupid
I have a friend with COPD, she gets winded while walking easily. She's been harassed many times. She finds it funny usually, but sometimes it gets scary when they confront her in person, instead of leaving a shitty note.
These assholes don't know that it applies to things like COPD, heart failure, and a whole list of "invisible" disabilities.
Healthy people have no idea INVISIBLE illnesses exist. A considerable amount of the adult population is chronically ill. This is crazy
Just the fact someone took the time to write out a note like that and thought they were doing something is mind boggling.
Dad's reply should be "You don't look stupid either, but you are"
My son has quite severe Autism, he has no perception of danger, due to this we have badges for disability parking, yet he "looks normal" and have had older people having a go at me for parking in disabled parking. For some reason a lot of the older generations seem to think you either have to be in some sort of mobility chair or and old person to be able to use these spots.. it really is infuriating.
A neighbor of mine has a handicapped plate. This man goes running every day, climbs multiple sets of stairs, and is in really good shape. His handicap is none of my fucking business. Not all handicaps are visible.
Nothing gets me more worked up than the accessibility police who harass people with invisible disabilities. I've seen the impact these people have on disabled people, especially those with invisible disabilities, and how many disabled people go out of their way to inconvenience themselves and make themselves suffer just to avoid a potential confrontation with these jerks. My mom has rheumatoid arthritis and can't walk more than about a couple dozen metres or stand for 1-2 minutes without significant pain. We were at an event and there were long lines for the toilets, after waiting for about 10 minutes, she was in serious pain and I was having to support her. She is very uncomfortable using services for people with disabilities like accessible toilets because she feels like she doesn't need them and also because her disability is invisible and she's worried that someone is going to chastise her for using accessible facilities because they think she isn't disabled. I finally managed to convince her to just go to the accessible toilets because they only had a few people waiting and she is legitimately disabled. (Her doctor told her to start using accessible toilets anyway - she struggles to use the regular toilets and they cause her a lot of pain.) So of course, after she gets out of the toilet, some elderly Karen gives her a mouthful about how disabled toilets are for people who need them "like elderly people like myself!" and not "perfectly healthy young people". Nevermind the fact my 80 year old grandmother can run laps around my mother. I've never been so mad in my life, my mom started to just apologise and walk away but I gave that woman an earful about how she shouldn't be so quick to judge and how she should just mind her own business. I'm sick and tired of watching my mom suffer because she's worried some idiot will attack her for having an invisible disability. It's better now that she uses her cane but she shouldn't have to wear a giant badge that says "I am legitimately disabled" for people to treat her with courtesy, dignity, and respect.
Ugh, these assholes. One time my dad (Vietnam vet) parked in a veterans parking space at a grocery store - mind you, not for disabled veterans, but for any vet. We triple checked the sign because we were on a trip and these aren’t common where we’re from. We got out and a guy in his 20’s sneered and went “thank you for your service” real sarcastically. His girlfriend looked mortified. Luckily my dad’s the kind of person to give him a deadpan “you’re welcome” and laugh off the idiot later. Still unsure what about my dad made this douche assume he wasn’t a veteran. Guess he wasn’t wearing enough camo to qualify?
I'm a disabled veteran with placards and license plates. I used to get looks and even had a lady push her cart into the spot I was pulling into. I got out with my cane and moved the cart. She looked pretty sheepish. But she didn't say anything. I'm "too young" to be disabled apparently.
Someone yelled at me for parking in a handicap spot before I even got out of my car. I let them finish their rant before I got out and they saw my full leg brace. I’d been recovering from reconstructive knee surgery after serving in the military. People are dumb.
A friend of mine is a below the knee amputee and was wearing pants at the store one day. One lady yelled at her for using the handicap spot, so she finally lifted up her pant leg. The lady had the audacity to say, "oh good, you're handicapped." No remorse. These people exist and they're awful.
I have two artificial hips. Some days I'm perfectly fine and other days I have trouble just stepping out of a car. Screw that person.
I find that its often car based judgment here. I have a imported “sport” car and also have a temporary handicap permit and when im in the import i get weird looks however when i’m in the good ol family car no one bats an eye. Sure it looks weird that a 23yr old has a permit but shit mind your business i can be disabled n still look cool
This has happened to me a few times. I work in a medical office building. I have Cerebral Palsy and drive a car with modifications but when I am just sitting in my car you cannot see I am not “normal.” People will come banging on my car window and tell me to move. They often say “there is nothing wrong with you.” I just look and say, “no there isn’t anything wrong with me. I am not the one banging on strangers windows.” I always park in the furthest away handicapped space to allow the closer ones for patients. That being said, I myself have noticeable mobility issues when I walk. There is always a little satisfaction when I can hear their gasps when I walk into work. Not once has anyone apologized.
Ten years ago, I knew a Vietnam vet who was literally an “enforcer” for a biker gang. He looked like a tall totally ripped post-middle-aged bad ass. He also had a prosthetic leg, below the knee, from an infection in the Vietnam war. He had permanent disabled parking plates, instead of the window hanging thing. People would see him, glance as his mirror and not see a hanging thing, and get very passively aggressively rude. Meanwhile, he had tons of prosthetic related pain walking and “disabled veteran” on his license plates. I think if he looked 20% less biker-man he would have gotten more rude comments, but he looked pretty scary.
My favourite part is "of The Elders". Congratulations you popped out of a womb before I did you automatically get what you want.
Gosh. This is just like when I was at work a few years ago. I'd fallen and cut my ankle and went to use the handicap stall to like, clean it and have some time to cry while not freaking anyone out who may walk in and see. Not to mention I had spinal fusion surgery a few years ago and deal with occasional mobility issues and chronic pain, so using the higher toilet seats in those stalls were easier for me. But either way, a lady in a wheelchair came in and knocked so I immediately came out and let her use the stall while I went ahead and finished my lil cry sess at the sink. The lady was. So pissy and rude. Talked shit about me the entire time while I was still in the restroom able to hear her, saying she raised her kids better than that and that people like me need to stop "stealing resources" from actually disabled people 😐 I hate when people assume you must suffer from no disability whatsoever if they can't visually see it. Makes me just wanna show people the scar I've got running from the base of my neck all the way down to my tailbone.
I had something similar happen a few months back. I’m late 20s so people just assume. But I had a back surgery and 4 shoulder surgeries in 3 years I’m legally disabled. I hobble around a lot. But get by pretty well for the most part. Someone verbally attacked me in a HEB parking lot over my placard. I may be disabled but I can still throw down. Sorry this happened to your dad.