It is becoming more and more obvious waxteeth, that you don’t have to fake a disability. If you feel the need to pack your lame brain around on a handicap scooter, you have my support.
What is this about ? It’s after 2am and I just can’t grasp what you are telling me.
Is this a welcome to the pit thing, a my grammer is better than your kung fu statement or what ?
Grammer wow I … forget it.
Let me add my voice to those who are pointing out that many disabilities are not obvious. My father has had a collapsed lung since the 1950’s, and diminished capacity in the other one. He did not need to carry oxygen with him full time until the 1990’s. For that many years, he did not look obviously handicapped, yet he could not walk across a long parking lot, or climb stairs. NO ONE COULD TELL BY LOOKING! You simply can’t tell who is handicapped and who is not by looking. Period.
It’s a good thing he’s not fat, or he probably would have incurred your wrath somewhere along the line.
Are you sure you are at the right message board? Because this one is about fighting ignorance.
Thanks for the link, now I can repeat my reply to the original gripe here:
The shortest rant on this subject I’ve ever made…
Since I have yammered over and over on this topic, I’ll keep this one brief. If you want more info on why I get pissed off about this attitude do a search on handicapped parking spots and have a read. Anyway, my comment is a hearty
Fuck You!
I hope you get to remain a healthy person who never has to endure the condemming looks of a fellow human being while you’re just trying to live your life. On second thought, just drop dead.
Love,
Zette
I think I do have the wrong board.
I can’t understand people that are in favor of pretending to be handicapped to exploit resources set aside for the disabled.
The stumbling block seems to be that all disabilities are not obvious.
I never said or did anything to the people I was talking about. I would never so much as glance at them in an unfriendly manner. The most I did was quietly suspect them. If that’s your gripe get over it. We are ALL being quietly judged constantly.
If you disagree with me for any other reason rather than tell me to:
yuck foo! Explain to me the virtues of pretending to be handicapped.
Hmmm. I don’t see anyone saying ‘faking a handicap is a good thing’.
what I do see happening is that you’re being called to task for making an assumption about ** any specific** person being legitimatly handicapped, since it should be ubundantly apparent that you can’t tell by looking.
So, taking the time to be judgemental (even in your own mind) seems to be more difficult to defend than oh, say, the taking of a handicapped parking place when you’re not.
I see more of folks who could be and should be using carts etc, not doing it 'cause they fear the furrowed brows of strangers making judgementst than folks misusing them.
Currently, my SO is using crutches, has been mostly on the couch for a week due to an inflammed knee, won’t go to his doctor for even a temp handicap permit, let alone use one of those carts.
Last year, my son, (6’1", 170 pounds) was in the hospital for 4 days (3 in intensive care), and wanted to go with me into the grocery store to pick out juice. he took a cart the first time, got stared at , thank you (even though I was with him), and refused to take one the next time, despite being so weak he had to sit and rest for 20 minutes after walking to the back of the store.
waxteeth, no one is saying pretending to be handicapped is virtuous. What we are trying to say is that you are stereotyping, and yes, even though we all do it, it doesn’t make it any less stupid or dangerous.
I understand how it could be annoying. However, to waste as much emotion as you seem to is beyond me. So you have to wait a few extra minutes in line. Have you never heard of patience? That just so happens to be a virtue.
Another thing I don’t quite understand. You’re not handicapped. These people aren’t taking the spaces allotted to you; yet your wrath is not that they’re depriving true handicapped people of what rightfully is theirs. You, instead, are pissy because they’re taking up your precious time.
That doesn’t quite add up.
[hijak]
In the spirit of fighting ignorance since (blahblahblahblahblah) I must add something here…
waxteeth In reference to your sig… If its referring to a Beck song (“Loser”) then you are, in fact, not hearing it correctly. The mumbled and distorted catch phrase to the song is “Soy un perdedor” (Spanish speaking dopers feel free to correct my spelling - FPK?). Beck may not know spanish, but soy usually equates out to “I” or “me” and perder = lost (before declention or conjugation, whichever word i’m looking for)
Like I said spelling is more than likely off, and Beck probably doesn’t know grammar - but that’s the line
[/hijak]
Wring & Nocturne,
Thanks for the intelligent posts.
In retrospect I could have phrased my first post differently and avoided this entire debate.
Never having been disabled I didn’t give enough thought to a few things.
#1 What it would be like to endure nasty looks from people wondering exactly why I “deserved” to be in the lark at all.
#2 some people that should be using the services are not because they fear the above.
#3 walking around judging people in wheelchairs makes me an asshole.
In the future I plan on assuming all persons using handicapped services need them. If in fact they are fit and healthy individuals abusing the system, it would be nice if they contraced a 3 day stomach virus every time they pull into that reserved parking spot.
I gotta go change my signature.
and thanks back atchya for not mentioning my typo on “abundant”
Soy means “I am”.
My mother has multiple sclerosis. She has a handicapped tag and she uses it, because she can’t walk long distances. (from a handicapped space to the building is about it. She MUST use one of those scooters, because the MS has taken her upper body strength and she can’t wheel herself.
She’s gotten those evil looks from people who’ve watched her walk into the store. (FTR, she’s not obese; if anything, she’s a little too thin.) She’s also had to wait for parking spaces and carts (and wheelchairs, when my dad’s with her) because of people who misuse them. This isn’t a matter of being too lazy to walk a few extra feet; she literally can’t walk them.
Robin
I’ve noticed a really disturbing trend in the Pit lately. Posters are learning, re-thinking, and sometimes even apologizing. This has happened in quite a few threads. And I don’t like it one bit.
What happened to the wild flame wars where the newbie tries to defend his lame little argument while the regs pound it into a bloody pulp? What happened to people swearing eternal disdain for one another? What happened to the name-calling? What happened to my lovely, nasty, Pit??
p.s. Welcome to the boards, waxteeth.
p.p.s. What’s a “lark” anyway?
Wow- may I sincerely apologize for saying “fuck you” (my standard response to people who assume the health status of others). As a person with an “invisible disability”, I have personally suffered those glares, and I am impressed that you have had a change of heart. I can honestly say you’ve made my whole day. Thank you for being tolerant, and thanks for being a big enough person to come here and say so. Oh, and I agree about the 3 day stomach virus thing 
Zette
I assume by “lark” you mean the motorized doohickeys… I’ve never heard the term “lark” before.
FREE loaners? FREE? No. When I went to Disney World (Epcot) in January, I paid $40 ($10 was refundable) to use that thing! (and it costs even to rent a wheelchair there). Am I handicapped? Officially, no. However I have very bad knees and sometimes just walking around long enough to do the grocery shopping is enough to put me in agony. Walking around Epoct all day would have not only been torturous, it would have meant that I’d be essentially bedridden for a few days afterward. Not only that, I had a bone bruise on the bottom of my foot from running through Union Station to catch a train the day before.
It’s already been said, but I’ll say it again. Yes, there are jerks who use handicapped spaces. However you don’t know if someone needs a handicapped service just by looking.
Forgive me if this has been brought up before, but I just wanted to add a little tidbit.
Several years ago, no less than 19 UCLA football players were disciplined for abuse of handicapped parking spaces. All of them had handicapped placards, gotton from filing phony applications with forged doctor’s signatures with the DMV.
At least 5 of the 19 were suspended from the team, IIRC. People started to gripe about healthy looking people getting out of cars in handicapped spaces on campus. They were all caught in the ensuing investigation by campus security.
Heres the link.
Just thought I’d share.
The “lark” is only a brand of this device but I saw it on an infomercial.
larkofamerica.com (I don’t know how to make links)
you would be surprised by how fast they go.
If you get hit by one the first day of your Disney vacation it looks like you can rent one for the rest of your trip.
I must have been high thinking anything at Disney was free.
Because I’m a goddamn cranky misanthrope. The list of perfectly logic, reasonable things that I have a problem with goes on damn well nigh close to forever.
That’s the short answer, anyway.
I’ve had to sit on the floor in a store to pick out a birthday card. I’ve had to send my mother in for groceries, at times. Last fall I thought, what ever is wrong had finished. The doctors are now about to send me to a hospital to too test me for rare deseases. Some days I can walk normal, and other days I can barely stand and feel like I will fall at any time. I don’t look different from a healthy person, but I won’t use an electric chair to go shopping. I send my mother in for those bad times. Standing in the check out for five minutes can be beyond my limits.
I think that waxteeth sincerely regretes the way he stated his position in the original post. He has seen that how he posted is offensive to the handicaped, and appoligized. I think that everybody here should accept the appoligy for what it is, and the explanation of what he really meant. People faking handicaps suck, and you can’t tell them from true handicaped people.