Dear Everyone, If You're Not Disabled, Please Stop Parking in Those Spots

Get the Full StorySince I was young, I've always had someone in my family who used disabled parking. First it was my grandpa in a wheelchair, then it was my aunt with cancer, then it was my grandma who was just ridiculously old and adorable , and now it's my dad with cancer. I've always been around someone who needed that prime parking, so when I say I get fired up at people who park there when they shouldn't, I absolutely truly mean it.

It's common sense: a handicap parking spot is as close to a door as possible to help out a disabled person. They've been dealt a sh tty hand otherwise, so let's cut them a break on this front. Whether they have a wheelchair, a cane, other trouble walking, or maybe even a breathing problem, they need that easier access from their car to a building.

Related:

How Microsoft Is Changing the Face of Disability Employment: "It Has Never Been More Important"

Growing up in a small town, I never really experienced people taking advantage of a handicap parking spot when they had no right to. People in the Midwest are unbelievably nice and courteous, so it just wasn't something that was done. It wasn't until I got a little older that I realized how blas people could be about something as simple as a parking space. How able-bodied people just don't think it's a big deal to park in that spot.

Here's my sometimes dilemma, though: while I'm a proponent of speaking out against someone I don't believe should use a handicap parking spot, admittedly, I don't know a person's life and don't know why they might have a handicap placard. If you look at my dad, you'd think he's completely normal. You can't visibly tell he has cancer, but he tires easily, so he parks in a handicap spot so he doesn't have to walk as far through a parking lot.

What I do have a problem with is those people who don't have a handicap placard at all, are "in a hurry," and park in a handicap spot for "just a sec."

I'm fine with this. If you have the placard, I trust your usage of it.

What I do have a problem with is those people who don't have a handicap placard at all, are "in a hurry," and park in a handicap spot for "just a sec." I put these words in quotes because people have literally told me these exact words before in their defense. Truly, I don't care about your hurry. What I do care about is when I'm driving my 95-year-old grandma to the pharmacy and there's nowhere for us to park because you were "in a hurry" and needed to park there for "just a sec."

I always tell people who don't care about others' needs to pretend it's your mom or your grandma who needs that handicap parking spot. It might make it a little more real to you, and you might care a little more. If that doesn't work and you still want to park in a handicap spot so you can literally run into the store for one thing - literally run - then I just have no time for you.

Share: