# Nonsensical parking lot experience **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122 "2011-08-18T05:49:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/181 "2011-08-19T15:07:29Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > This is Flint, ma’am. They don’t even respond to most _ **murder** _ calls within 3 or 4 hours, _ **if** _ then. :dubious: So, you’re investigating murders as well?😉 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/182 "2011-08-19T15:14:20Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > I wasn’t doggedly pursuing her, I didn’t go in after her; it was dialogue that transpired as a result of standing next to each other. I think this is where a lot of your problems lie. Dialogues don’t happen as a result of being near someone. They happen because you start talking. If you didn’t start talking a dialogue wouldn’t have started, I think it’s safe to say she wouldn’t have started it. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/183 "2011-08-19T15:48:13Z")
I think regardless of how much emphasis you put on the innocuousness of your actual comments, the bottom line is that you have a history of confronting other drivers over their parking in a handicapped space. In fact, your first thread on the boards was about you bringing it to the attention of the news media and how you’d gotten kicked out of the gym as a result. So I don’t think it’s unfair to take the many instances of you creating these situations and see it as a pattern, and you continuing to act coy about it doesn’t change the fact that you seek out these situations pretty regularly. It’s your pet issue, fine. But don’t be surprised when people get irritated by you playing Junior Security Cop, even if you italicize how _innocent_ and _completely borne out of curiosity and concern for them not getting a ticket_ your questions/statements were, your inquiry was not innocent. Ask yourself, how would your response have been different if the girl told you they didn’t need a placard because she was only going to be in the store for a minute to buy cigarettes? Would you have parked your car behind hers and inflamed the situation again, or were you really just curious and would have moved on about your business after that? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/184 "2011-08-19T15:54:55Z")
Also, if we look at Jaime’s use of emoticons, bolding, italics, quotes and other things to emphasize his posts they don’t convey (to me) that the person typing is calm, cool and collected. Jaime can say what he wants, but I’ve read enough of his threads to get the feeling that he puts people on the defensive as soon as he opens his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/185 "2011-08-19T16:29:52Z")
Jaime I would stab you if you did that to me irl. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/186 "2011-08-19T16:33:16Z")
> [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](#): > > Jaime I would stab you if you did that to me irl. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/187 "2011-08-19T16:54:18Z")
> [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](#): > > Jaime I would stab you if you did that to me irl. Threatening other posters is definitely not allowed. Do not do this again. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/188 "2011-08-19T17:11:51Z")
**what do I type here** done almost caught a case. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/189 "2011-08-19T17:22:36Z")
> [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](#): > > Jaime I would stab you if you did that to me irl. Dude that’s way over the top and I’m sure you don’t mean it. However, to the OP… you could might actually encounter a crazy such as this so be careful with your confrontations. Most are simply not worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/190 "2011-08-19T18:52:00Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > He lives in Davison, far as I know. Pretty white bread, small town America, as you say! Where Michael Moore of _Roger and Me_ fame was born and raised, actually. (Although he sometimes pretends to be from Flint.) > > The Hurley Health & Fitness center that the op used to belong to is in Flint, though. You are correct, I do live in Davison. However, I _was_ in Flint when this incident at Rite Aid occurred. I was on my way home and I was driving through Flint and I stopped at the drug store near my parents house. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/191 "2011-08-19T18:54:22Z")
> [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](#): > > Jaime I would stab you if you did that to me irl. You’d stab me if I asked you if you had a permit on your illegally parked vehicle? Hmm, might be time to try decaf…:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/192 "2011-08-19T18:56:30Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Well, actually, it’s issued so that proper law enforcement personnel know that you’re entitled to use the spot, and not for the benefit of nosy passers-by. Presumably had there been a peace officer or a patrol car visible, the placard would have been visible. I’m not a law enforcement officer, but I’d guess that the law actually doesn’t depend on a LEO being visible. > [@Balthisar](#): > > Based on the speech patterns quoted by the OP, it sounds like this may have occurred where poor people live, and where poor people live there is higher crime. Higher crime? Some people might assert that there’s higher street crime where poor people live, but there are other kinds of crime. I doubt there’s a lot of short-selling and mortgage securitizing going on there. > [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Jarjar! Back to the land speeder! Now! The land speeder is booted for failing to display a placard. 🙂 > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Calling the police, on their emergency line or otherwise, over an improperly displayed handicapped placard is still --without hyperbole-- the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I have a hard time believing that – you’re on the Internet, after all. > [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I had a student with an artificial leg from the knee down. He would park in the handicapped spot then rollerblade to class. Someday I hope the OP will get to meet him, as I’m sure hilarity will be the outcome. There’s a story of Confederates marching through Fredericksburg, and a young lady and a pale young man watching from a window as the column passes. The soldiers noticed the young man and began teasing him that they had plenty of spare rifles if he wanted to join them. At that point, the pale young man silently hoisted the stump of his leg into view and rested it on the window frame. By way of apology, the officer in charge drew the column up and presented arms in salute. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/193 "2011-08-19T18:59:53Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > You’d stab me if I asked you if you had a permit on your illegally parked vehicle? Hmm, might be time to try decaf…:eek: Hey, just as you :eek: in response to his stabbing statement, I :eek: that you approach a stranger and question their compliance with the law. You’re a good guy. Try to stay alive.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/194 "2011-08-19T19:11:28Z")
I just wanted to drop by and mention that I thought of this thread about twenty minutes ago as I pulled into a handicapped spot to jump a friends car. FTR, the other side would have (literally) blocked the door and the pushing his car out would have blocked the entire parking lot (it’s one row, but very long). ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/195 "2011-08-19T19:18:44Z")
> [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](#): > > Jaime I would stab you if you did that to me irl. > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > **what do I type here** done almost caught a case. I have to stop reading the SDMB at work. People here, I’m sure, have long suspected I’m a bit off but now they must be certain, as I am damn near dying at my desk, and the harder I try to stop laughing, the worst it gets. He would _stab_ him. Damn! ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/196 "2011-08-19T19:25:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Hey, just as you :eek: in response to his stabbing statement, I :eek: that you approach a stranger and question their compliance with the law. > > You’re a good guy. Try to stay alive.🙂 … ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/197 "2011-08-19T19:28:35Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I just wanted to drop by and mention that I thought of this thread about twenty minutes ago as I pulled into a handicapped spot to jump a friends car. FTR, the other side would have (literally) blocked the door and the pushing his car out would have blocked the entire parking lot (it’s one row, but very long). Those are extenuating circumstances that, I believe, justify you pulling into the spot. What you did in no way compares to “abuse”. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/198 "2011-08-19T19:31:02Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I have to stop reading the SDMB at work. People here, I’m sure, have long suspected I’m a bit off but now they must be certain, as I am damn near dying at my desk, and the harder I try to stop laughing, the worst it gets. He would _stab_ him. Damn! If the two of you are both single…Hey, it could be _ **magic** _!! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/199 "2011-08-19T19:40:31Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > What you did in no way compares to “abuse”. Do you consider not properly displaying a legal placard as “abuse”? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/200 "2011-08-19T19:43:20Z")
Another thing I want to mention is, over the years I have asked many, many people parking in handicapped-accessible parking if they did in fact have a permit to park there. On a few occassions I have been shown a valid placard, which was poorly displayed or not yet put up (or just put away) by the driver. When this happens, I always am very apologetic and explain _why_ I asked them about their permit in the first place (the glut of abuse, the need that those who truly are disabled have for those spaces, etc). What I have come to notice, by and large, is that those who are legitimately parked in the handicapped spots are _ **very** _ understanding and empathetic to my questioning about their lack of a visible permit. They understand because _ **they** _ often deal with the same hardships that I (and other handicapped individuals) must endure associated with people abusing those spots. It is typically the ones who _ **shouldn’t** _ be there in the first place who are the ones who get belligerently defensive and atrociously nasty at the first innocent mention of their lack of permit. They blow up and do everything they can to “sidetrack” the situation away from their wrongdoing. That is exactly what was happening with this situation at RiteAid. There is not a doubt in my mind that this lady had _ **no business** _ parking in handicap parking. And she knew it too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122.md?page=11)