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.