Has anyone else seen this? The farthest away parking spaces at malls are usually labled with a sign that says “Heart Healthy Parking.” I would guess it’s about a fourth of a mile or less from those spaces to the door. How much would that help? I mean, if I didn’t get any other real exercise, and I went to the mall once a week and parked in that space, would it really make me healthier?
I doubt that it would be a great deal of exercise, but still, it’s more than some people get. The most likely reason, I would think, would be to keep people heppier about parking out in BFE.
“Hey honey, it’s going to take us half an hour to get inside, but look. It’s great for our hearts!”
I really don’t think it would work, morale-wise, but the theory is somewhat sound. Just a WAG.
I can’t believe they have to label the parking slots. What bozo doesn’t know the farther away you park, the more you have to walk?? 
And have you noticed the close-in spaces indicating that parking there isn’t good for you? You’ll get so little exercise that your legs will atrophy and you’ll need a wheelchair. :D:D:D
One local ABC store here in Virginia has a parking space out front reserved for pregnant mothers. I don’t know whether to laugh or cringe every time I see the sign.
“Heart Healthy” at the mall? Be sure to label the spaces that are measurably the farthest from the food court.
Hey, what’s so funny about that?? A grocery store near me has up-front spaces labeled for pregger-ladies and moms with small children. I’ve always gratefully pulled into one of those spots.
Ah, but Ellen, what you don’t realize is that in Virginia, ABC stands for Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Biotop was commenting on the fact that a liquor store had a special parking place for its pregnant customers.
Sure, it could just be some lady buying the beers for the big picnic but she herself isn’t going to drink, but still. It’s a jarring image.
Like the handicapped parking spots that used to be outside my old roller-skating rink.
Ah, Manhattan, that certainly clears things up. That is rather pathetic.
Our liquor stores here in Kentucky aren’t run by the government. I’m always sorta surprised when I see this in other states.
Yes, Virginia was quite a strange state to move to. One really has to hunt for a liquor (ABC) store.
Where I grew up in Grand Jct,. CO, there was about 30 liquor stores for a city of 30,000.
> Sure, it could just be some lady buying the beers for the big picnic but she herself isn’t going to drink, but still.
Always a good idea to send the pregnant woman to buy the liquor.
I admit it’s off topic, but I was kinda surprised when I went tp PA the first time and found that liquor and wine were sold in some stores, but beer in another. Also that if you wanted to buy more than 2 cases at one time you have to be a distributor. On top of that, iif you go into a bar to buy beer to take with you (off-sale it’s called here), they charge full price. Imagine the shock when I wanted to buy a 12 pack to go and was charged $96!!! I once went to a local bar here and got a deal on Keystone. Not the greatest beer, but what the hell. After the first few you can’t taste em anyway. Knowing friends I could sell it to, I dropped $350 and walked off (well, drove off) with his last 50 cases.
I thought pregnant mothers had the right to use handicapped parking spaces. Why the need for a separate space?
Now this really takes the cake! I’ve seen those signs for pregnant mothers parking in front of stores, and they make me furious!
I recently had occasion to need a handicapped parking permit, as I recovered from a really MAJOR surgery that left me unable to walk more than half a block without collapsing in a seizure. And I’m supposed to believe that healthy pregnant women deserve these spots that are reserved for people with REAL handicaps like mine? Get real. Pregnancy isn’t a handicap. This whole concept is demeaning to people with legitimate disabilities. If your pregnancy is so problematic that your doctor certifies you can’t walk more than 1/2 block, then you should get the doctor to sign your handicapped parking application form. But you probably shouldn’t be walking around a grocery store anyway.
Just curious, but do they have a special graphic to indicate these pregnate-women parking spaces?
My goodness, the things people get worked up over!
The “Stork Parking” (as it is referred to here) is something the store does (i.e. on the honor system; certainly not enforcable) as a customer relations ploy. These spaces are in addition to the legitimate handicapped spaces, so they do not take anything away from people who need them. My experience has been that the handicapped spaces are rarely filled, so it seems to me that whatever agency determines the number required does a good job of estimating the need. Of course, YMMV. But I don’t think that the store’s marketing tactics have anything to do with denying spaces to people who need them.
As far as pregnancy goes, of course it isn’t a disease, and most women remain healthy and strong throughout. It’s not the walking, though, its the lugging of bags or pushing heavy carts. When I have been pregnant, I found grocery shopping in particular to become more difficult as I approached the end. Pushing a heavy cart becomes awkward when there is a belly in the way. The supermarket I frequent has people take your cart out for you (whether you want them to or not) and I was extremely grateful for that service for the last few weeks. Had that service not been available, I might have appreciated being able to park closer.
Zounds. Were you able to drive? I mean, legally?
Sure, I was not only driving, I was going to grad school too. The problem was not driving, but overexertion. Driving for 10 minutes doesn’t take much effort. But I remember one day the handicapped parking space in right front of my classroom was occupied, I had to find one an extra block away, it took me 30 extra minutes to get to class, I had to stop twice to rest, and the class was basically over by the time I got there.
Seriously, the Americans with Disabilities Act is a good thing, as most everyone discovers eventually. Someday when you break a leg or have some other problem that makes it difficult to get around, and YOU suddenly need a handicapped parking permit, you will instantly develop an empathy for the disabled people of the world.
I like the idea of this all being taken to the extreme. Perhaps we could have VIP (Very Important Parker) cards to swipe at the entrance to any parking lot. Computers would then look at all available parking spaces, compare them with our individual profiles, and direct us to the closest parking space available that most meets our specific needs.
Smart Parking! A vision who’s time has definately come.
Yes, I do get worked up over this. Especially after personally finding plenty of evidence to contradict your pollyanna version of “preggo parking.”
At the same store where I now find these pregnant parking spots, I have had trouble finding a free handicapped parking spot. These spots are frequently taken up by people without valid permits. I once walked past one SUV parked illegally (without a permit) in a handicapped spot right next to the front door of a store, there were no spots left, I had to park farther away. As I walked past the SUV into the store, I made sure the woman in the passenger seat saw me look at her license plate, then the handicapped parking sign, and then I wagged my finger at her and continued into the store. She ran into the store and got her husband who waited outside until I left the store, he ambushed me and beat me up. Good thing he didn’t hit me on the side of the head where I had my surgery, or I’d be dead. The bagboys saw what was happening, pulled the guy off of me while the store manager called the police. And you ask me why I get worked up? People think they have a right to park illegally. Pregnant parking spots just feed into this problem, people don’t take ANY of these spots seriously anymore.
The store I am describing has free loading service, you just drive up and they load your groceries into your trunk. Maybe you should have found a store that offers such a service.
Handicapped parking spots are not there to make life easier for people with disabilities, they are there to make life POSSIBLE for the disabled. Some people cannot walk from the far reaches of a parking lot without having a heart attack or seizure. Some people in wheelchairs cannot get out of their specially-equipped vans without an extra-wide parking spot for their ramps.
Preggo parking is an insult to those legitimately disabled people who have difficulty finding free parking in designated spots. It equates pregnancy with a disability. This practice asserts that pregnant mothers deserve special rights, they deserve a close spot more than, say, the 80 year old arthritic guy who doesn’t quite qualify for a handicapped spot. You mothers already get enough subsidies (paid parental leave, tax breaks for dependents, etc) I’m sick of paying your way.
As I hear you defend this practice, I become even more offended. I have decided that the next time I visit that market, I’ll bring a can of spray paint to obliterate their preggo parking sign.
You know, Stork Parking and the like wouldn’t be an issue if everyone behaved as I do. I generally take a parking space further away, simply because I am able-bodied. I choose to leave the spaces closer to the entrance for people who need them more than I do. No, I’m not enough of a “pollyanna” to believe that this will ever be the norm in my lifetime, but that doesn’t mean I won’t continue to do so.
I am also perfectly aware that a good part of the reason that the handicapped spaces in my town are not taken up by people who don’t need them is not because my neighbors are better people, but because the town utilizes volunteers who patrol the parking lots, taking Polaroids of illegally parked cars and turning them over to the local police. Parking in a handicapped spot in this town without proper tags is very likely going to cost you money.
I will admit that it is kind of silly to limit these “let’s leave these spaces free” suggestions to pregnant women. There are plenty of people who could benefit. I’m drawing a blank as to what we might actually call them. Perhaps someone can come up with a suggestion less clunky than “If you are able-bodied, please leave this space available for someone less fortunate.”
Chas.E states, “People think they have a right to park illegally. Pregnant parking spots just feed into this problem, people don’t take ANY of these spots seriously anymore.”
I would suggest that they might actually have the opposite effect. There will always be assholes who think they are sufficiently special and/or important that the rules don’t apply to them. (And they do not confine themselves to misusing handicapped parking.) But don’t you think that your garden variety asshole, given the choice between parking in a handicapped space (and risking a very expensive ticket) and parking in Stork Parking (and just being inconsiderate) would choose the latter?