we were to meet the jackal and his bud, cal, at our favorite pizza place, danny-boy's, for dinner tonight. had to stop, had to, duh, at starbucks on the way. there's a car in the first handicapped spot, with, GUESS WHAT? no parking placard. a perfectly marked spot, btw, the sign, AND painted parking spot. you cannot mistake this spot for a regular space. so we head in. even though it's not our REGULAR starbucks location, the two barristas working are ones we know.
bill says, "there's a car parked in a handicapped spot with no placard." barrista dude says, "i'd love to call." bill says "i'll do it." all the while, there's a guy standing MAYBE 18 inches from bill. he's listening intently. bill calls the police while barrista dude and i start to trash idiots who park in handicapped spaces. b-d's 15-year old cousin has m.s. you KNOW the car belongs to latte man. he's not sayin' a word, just looking around nervously. he gets his coffee, RUNS out to the car, bill goes to the door, YELLS, "GET SOME BALLS, DUMBASS!" i mean EVERYBODY within a mile of this place heard him. b-d and i are laughing our asses off, while everybody else is shuffling their feet, looking at the floor.
head off to danny-boy's with our caffeine. there's a car in the second handicapped space, ok it's not PERFECTLY marked, there's only one sign for the two handicapped spaces, but both spaces have the painted emblem. the woman comes prancing, i mean prancing, out of the grocery store, makes me wait to get out of the car until she gets in her car. bill says, "need some help, dear?" as if. i say to the woman, "nice handicapped placard." she says, "i had no idea it was a handicapped spot." me: "yeah, i know, you don't have to have an iq of at least 100 to get a driver's license." her: nothing. i shoulda said 60.
so bill and i are now going to start carrying the digital camera around and taking pictures of these imbeciles' cars and post them here or on another site. what do you think?
Posted by Stacey at August 12, 2004 08:37 PMSend them to the police department and the newspaper!
Posted by: lucy at August 12, 2004 10:34 PMOooooh... I like that newspaper idea! :) Embarrass the hell outta them!
Posted by: Keri at August 13, 2004 04:07 AMAnd while you're at it, take it in the bathroom with you and catch them walking out of the handicap stalls, too... heh... okay, maybe not, but I really like that idea, too! :)
Made the cheesecake again last weekend for the extended family and got really great reviews. Thanks again for that simple recipe, Stace. Yummmm.
Posted by: Keri at August 13, 2004 04:08 AMI like Lucy's idea!!
Posted by: KathyHowe at August 13, 2004 01:08 PMStart a bulletin board in the Starbucks or your favorite hang outs.. "Have You Seen These Assholes?" Stick the pics with the plates on it.
They can see themselves every morning!
Posted by: Charlene at August 13, 2004 01:16 PMI've confronted people who park in disabled spaces, too. I saw one adolescent pulling up next to an atm, for example. "What's your handicap?" I asked him. "Damage to the part of your brain which govern compassion?"
Posted by: Joel at August 13, 2004 03:59 PMmy husband wants to keep the digital camera in the car just to catch the non-handicapped people in handicapped spots. i have mastered the stare of death to such people and when im ballsy, a comment.
Posted by: jenB at August 14, 2004 02:24 AMI think you should shame them. Last weekend we saw a young man, early 20's, expensive convertable sports, gaily leave his car in the only handicapped space by the shops in the village. Mentally handicapped I presumed.
Posted by: Anji at August 14, 2004 04:23 AMI am disabled and have the handicap placard. But, I don't look handicapped...so sometimes I get stupid stares and stupid comments until I tell them I had both hips replaced. Do I need to justify my parking in a handicap parking zone?
Posted by: sally at August 14, 2004 12:39 PMLet the games begin..... way to go Stace!! Can you not post the photo's on the door at Starbucks as well?
Posted by: Michelle at August 14, 2004 02:08 PMsally: not to me, you don't. you've got the placard. you have to assume people have a reason, but you must know that there are so many people using mom's or gramma's extra placard for no reason. they make it bad for ALL of us. i'm not that bad, handicapped wise, either, balance and one-sided weakness. but i once had a young woman yell at me that her husband "is more handicapped" than i am.
maybe i'm reading too much into your comment, but what's bugging you about what i wrote?
Posted by: Stacey at August 14, 2004 02:55 PMStacey, I have been looked at and given comments for using the handicapped parking spots...I understand the frustration of seeing people misuse the placard, but it bothers me when total strangers make the assumption that I am abusing the priviledge of using handicapped parking.
Posted by: sally at August 15, 2004 07:39 PMI have a little cousin that's handicapped, and I get miffed too, when people that have NO handicapped markings on their car (either tag or placard) take up the handicapped spaces. And Sally, you don't need to justify anything to me, either. People that do THAT are more than a little ignorant. Stacey, that was a TERRIFIC story! Heh.
Posted by: BusyMe at August 16, 2004 08:27 PMOoohh, the dagger eyes and cutting remarks, how well I remember them. See, I was driving Dad around during his last 3 months of life and he, of course, had the placard.
So I'd walk Dad in to say the burger joint so he didn't fall over and damage himself further. Then I'd often zip back out to the car in my totally non handicapped gait to get the handbag with the meds and what not.
BOY would people be taking my inventory--cutting remarks, killer looks, you name it. I'd just shrug. It was a good lesson for me about not jumping to conclusions.
Posted by: Liz at August 17, 2004 05:34 AMI had the "bathroom" conversation with my daughter yesterday. She went into the "bigger" stale because there was more room. So we talked about why it was there.
It helps that her grandma has needed the handicapped stale and but it into prespective.
I would think, however, that some education would go a lot further than shaming someone into sneaking away. Isn't there a way to explain to the driver how hard it is for you to get inside if he takes up the spot?
- Dana
Posted by: -d at August 19, 2004 02:13 PM