Funny thing at the grocery store

[Buckimion]

Clerk oblivious to my parking in a handicapped spot and seeing my scooter in the back while getting carts: You keep that with you in case you get a flat or run out of gas?

Me: Nope. That's a paperweight to keep the SUV from blowing away. Here's your sign.

 

[Piper]

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Oy..

I mean I know stores around here will put people with some issues or who are quite up to par in other areas in simpler jobs. Maybe you ran into one who just might not have been able to put together what it was really for?

 

[Buckimion]

Oy.. I mean I know stores around here will put people with some issues or who are quite up to par in other areas in simpler jobs. Maybe you ran into one who just might not have been able to put together what it was really for?

Looking back, I think the clerk was trying to be glib and got one-upped.

 

[SueM in MN]

Pretty funny!

I've got a similar story to tell.
We have a wheelchair accessible van with ramp that folds out from the side back to get the wheelchair in. The middle seat of the van is removed to make room for securing a wheelchair. Besides loading a wheelchair, those features come in handy for hauling things when my DD is not with.

One day I was at Home Depot and had picked up a decorative fountain that was quite large. I had parked kind of way out in the parking lot where I knew no one would park next to me. Since DD was not with, I could not use the handicapped spots and to open and extend the ramp requires an empty parking spot next to the van on that side. I opening the ramp up and pushed the flatbed type cart right up to the end of the ramp.
Then, I pushed the fountain box up the ramp into the van.
Someone was watching the whole process and asking questions about how it operated, which I'm kind of used to because many people have never seen a ramp van in operation and are pretty curious.
Her last question was, "It's a nice feature. Is it expensive?"
And before i could answer, she added, "Is this ramp a special feature just for gardening, or is it just for moving things in general?"

 

[peemagg]

Sue

That is when you send them around back of your van to look at your license plate. Then ask them whether or not it would be a general feature.

Both of those stories are quite funny.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sue

That is when you send them around back of your van to look at your license plate. Then ask them whether or not it would be a general feature.

Both of those stories are quite funny.

That would work, but mine doesn't have handicapped plates.

In Minnesota, you can get handicapped plates if the vehicle is owned/registered to you or if it is owned/registered to the parent of a minor child who qualifies for a handicapped permit. Since my DD is no longer a minor and is not the owner of the van, she has a hangtg that we can use when she is with us.

That brings up a kind of odd story - not funny like these were.
On Saturday, DD and I went to Target. It was not that busy and there were vacant handicapped and regular spots closer to the building than I parked. We were in pretty much the farthest away handicapped spot, because all the van accessible ones were filled.
The van accessible ones have a larger cross hatched spot next to them than the regular handicapped spots - some of the regular ones don't have enough space to let down the ramp and pull the wheelchair out - I wanted to make sure no one parked next to us and blocked the ramp.

When we finished shopping, I put down the ramp, took a few minutes to fasten DD's wheelchair in, then we talked for a few minutes before I put the ramp back up and walked around to the driver's seat. I noticed a police car in the aisle in front of me - didn't think much of it because DD's handicapped parking permit was in clear view hanging on the mirror.
Just as I was starting the car, he pulled into my aisle, parked behind me and asked to see my parking permit. He asked it was mine - I said it belonged to my DD, who was sitting behind me in her wheelchair and rolled down the back window so he could see her better ( the back windows are tinted).
He asked if it was her permit, which I agreed it was, and then he asked to see my license. After he looked at the license, he asked whether the van was registered to me, which it is.
That was kind of an odd question - since DD has a permit hangtag, we can use it to legally park in a handicapped parking spot whatever vehicle DD is in.
DH said I should have asked the officer some questions abouth why he was asking, but I just wanted to satisfy him ASAP so he would leave.

 

[ToddyLu]

I noticed a police car in the aisle in front of me - didn't think much of it because DD's handicapped parking permit was in clear view hanging on the mirror.
Just as I was starting the car, he pulled into my aisle, parked behind me and asked to see my parking permit. He asked it was mine - I said it belonged to my DD, who was sitting behind me in her wheelchair and rolled down the back window so he could see her better ( the back windows are tinted).
He asked if it was her permit, which I agreed it was, and then he asked to see my license. After he looked at the license, he asked whether the van was registered to me, which it is.

That is one of the oddest encounters I have ever heard....I wonder what his intent was. You have a placard, a wheelchair, a ramp...and he still needed to ask. That is just fruit loopy.

 

[mdvlprof]

We've had a couple encounters with police officers who questioned us parking in HC spots. Even tho we display the hangtag clearly. DH sometimes uses cane - bad knees. I use one for distance or uneven pavement - stroke. DS is wheelchair-bound.

And then there are AB folks who park in HC spots - unquestioned by police officers. Go figure....

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Maybe they were checking that no one was using a tag in a nefarious way?

 

[peemagg]

I found that there is an app for reporting suspected illegal parking in the handicapped places. It is actually called parking mobility.

You take 3 pictures of the vehicle in the spot and it is sent to the local law enforcement agency. Some cities even give a part of the fines to a charity of your choice as a thank you for helping them.

 

[utterrandomness]

I found that there is an app for reporting suspected illegal parking in the handicapped places. It is actually called parking mobility.

You take 3 pictures of the vehicle in the spot and it is sent to the local law enforcement agency. Some cities even give a part of the fines to a charity of your choice as a thank you for helping them.

I just wanted to point out that this kind of vigilantism is really harmful towards people with invisible disabilities such as chronic pain, chronic fatigue, or lupus. Think about the fact that not all disabilities are visible before you judge people for using disabled parking spots, the tag they're using may well be theirs. How would you feel if you were constantly accosted, verbally abused and glared at for using accommodations that you need? I mean, yes, if the pass is yours, you can prove it pretty easily, but it's having to deal with the constant distrust and attitude about fakers.

That being said, if it is a car with no placard and no designated plates parked there, I am all for people being called out for it. It's just when you assume that someone is faking or using a placard that doesn't belong to them that the problem comes in.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I'm sure there's ways to investigate those claims though. And even if you have a disability, visible or not, you would be violating the law by using a space without a placard or having plates if I understand it correctly.

 

[utterrandomness]

I'm sure there's ways to investigate those claims though. And even if you have a disability, visible or not, you would be violating the law by using a space without a placard or having plates if I understand it correctly.

Yes, but the discourse about "fakers" targets people WITH placards or plates. How would you like to constantly deal with people yelling at you, glaring at you or calling the police on you because you don't look disabled?

ETA: Also, in many circumstances, in order to contest a ticket, you have to show up in court. I certainly don't have the time or resources to appear in court on a regular basis, and I don't know very many people who do.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

How does this app work then? It SHOULDN'T be anything other than taking a picture of a car without plates or placard in a clearly marked handicap space...although there's still something about that that seems sketchy and unlawful. Whether or not the person using it is or isn't disabled can't be officially verified by a casual observer so what point does this app really serve?

 

[utterrandomness]

How does this app work then? It SHOULDN'T be anything other than taking a picture of a car without plates or placard in a clearly marked handicap space...although there's still something about that that seems sketchy and unlawful. Whether or not the person using it is or isn't disabled can't be officially verified by a casual observer so what point does this app really serve?

The purpose of the app is "reporting suspected illegal parking in the handicapped places", in other words, it includes reporting people you think are using passes that aren't theirs. It is vigilantism, rather than leaving it to the people who are supposed to uphold the law.

 

[SueM in MN]

Yes, but the discourse about "fakers" targets people WITH placards or plates. How would you like to constantly deal with people yelling at you, glaring at you or calling the police on you because you don't look disabled?

ETA: Also, in many circumstances, in order to contest a ticket, you have to show up in court. I certainly don't have the time or resources to appear in court on a regular basis, and I don't know very many people who do.

Yes.
There is website for reporting people who observers think a 'faking'. There are even pictures posted of the car, license plate and person.

I was accosted ( nice word for it) by one of those vigilantes once when I was picking up DD from school and parked in a handicapped spot. When I got out of our van, she said, "you're not disabled." I said I was not, but was there to pick up my DD who is disabled.
She said she was going to call the police because I could not park there because I was not disabled. I told her to go right ahead and when I came out with DD in her wheelchair, the police could explain the law to her because it is legal to park in a handicapped spot to pick up the person the permit belongs to.
I really had no other options because I needed the handicapped spot to have room to open the ramp and load DD.

If that lady had one of those apps, she would have reported me, and I would have been required to defend myself when I was doing nothing wrong.

 

[canopynut66]

People make the world go round. Some just make some days funnier

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Thats why I dont get how this app has any sort of credabilty. Its not up to someone to decide. What it should be is photo of the plates, the spot and the place where a tag hangs. ThatsALL it should be allowed to report on. People using the spaces with no docs, not "well They have a tag but seem to be walking ok..."

 

[peemagg]

Thats why I dont get how this app has any sort of credabilty. Its not up to someone to decide. What it should be is photo of the plates, the spot and the place where a tag hangs. ThatsALL it should be allowed to report on. People using the spaces with no docs, not "well They have a tag but seem to be walking ok..."

That is bolding is my doing. That is all you do with this app. You take a picture of the space, the license plate, and the front window. Nothing more. No places for comments or anything else. It is only there to target those who park there without the proper identification. Just the information on that picture is submitted. This app has nothing to do with those who you might think is faking. Please look up the app and see for yourself. It is not like people are assuming it is. Here is the website. http://www.parkingmobility.com/how-it-works/

There are some who should be reported for illegal parking even with the proper tags. At our local Walmart, I can't tell you the amount of people who park in the blue hash lines and make their own space, which blocks those on either side if they have a ramp or need the space to unload a wheelchair from the drivers side. Yes, they have the proper tags, but they are still illegal. They need to be educated on what those lines mean. If it takes a ticket from the police to educate them, then so be it.