# The handicapped need a space for their Dodge Vipers too, you know? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 3, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853 "2002-09-03T19:27:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Sylkyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sylkyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylkyn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/101 "2002-09-04T04:05:58Z")
Well, ok, then, I guess I misread. Glad to know you weren’t having a bad day. I guess. :shrugs: It’s been a bad day for me, so I suppose I was feeling benevolent and giving you the benefit of the doubt. I get that way sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/102 "2002-09-04T04:06:58Z")
Spending large portions of the past 5 years on crutches and/or with metal rods sticking all the way through my leg bones did the trick for me. I don’t recommend it, though. No fun. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/103 "2002-09-04T04:07:48Z")
ST: Well, I appreciate it anyway. I really do. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/104 "2002-09-04T04:11:53Z")
**Scylla** , you should probably just to trade him/her. Offer to take the car and the disability for yourself. I’d take that trade in a heartbeat. I use a wheelchair and I get a handicapped spot. Do I _need_ a handicapped spot? Not really. At least not for it’s proximity to the entrance. The reason why I do need it is because if I park in any other spot, I run the risk of having someone unknowingly park next to me. I get in on the passenger side of my car and if I can’t get my door open all the way to pull my wheelchair into the car, then I’m stuck for however long the car is next to me. > [@](#): > > Anyway how does one become qualified or unqualified to put themselves in a handicapped persons shoes and imagine it? I suppose they have to do the old walk (or not be able to walk) a mile in their shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/105 "2002-09-04T04:16:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eva Luna \* > \*\*Spending large portions of the past 5 years on crutches and/or with metal rods sticking all the way through my leg bones did the trick for me. I don’t recommend it, though. No fun. \*\* I sympathize with that. What I am thinking though is that my personal experience or lack thereof with a handicap is really moot. A great cartoonist, Jack Callahan wrote a book “Don’t worry he won’t get far on foot,” and he discusses an issue with some of his cartoons in Penthouse. He made some cartoons about paraplegics that were received badly. Penthouse then took the liberty of mentioning that Jack Callahan was a quadriplegic himself and the objection went away. This pissed Jack off. He figured that his personal experience was not germaine to his cartoons. Similarly, my personal experience has nothing to do with my ability or lack thereof to empathize with a handicapped person, or write about issues tangential to it that relate to me. I can still imagine that it must be nice to park in front, and still know that it would suck to be entitled. That doesn’t mean it’s not nice. If I were to reveal that I was severely handicapped (don’t worry I’m not) would that somehow change my OP? ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/106 "2002-09-04T04:19:17Z")
I don’t think I did falsely attribute anything to you. I read your OP and and all I personally get from it is that you think Vipers are cool, handicap parking spots are neato and therefore if you drive a Viper, you shouldn’t need a handicap spot. Now I guess I get to watch you weasel and say that I put words in your mouth, yadda yadda yadda. Fine, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/107 "2002-09-04T04:25:38Z")
You’re right that it’s nice to park in front, but trust me, it’s not worth it. posted by Scylla: > [@](#): > > If I were to reveal that I was severely handicapped (don’t worry I’m not) would that somehow change my OP? I bet it would. I’ve noticed something on here (and in real life; thought about starting a thread on it), you can make fun of a group if you’re part of the group. I don’t really understand it either. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/108 "2002-09-04T04:32:01Z")
Dignan: > [@](#): > > You’re right that it’s nice to park in front, but trust me, it’s not worth it. I know. But the Viper was really nice, and I was weak. Thanks for being nice. I hope I didn’t piss you off, and I’m sorry if I did. Everybody else can still stick it up their asses though. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/109 "2002-09-04T04:33:56Z")
Are you looking for some kind of certificate program you can sign up for? You don’t become qualified. You remain unqualified by the very nature that you aren’t handicaped. You can attempt to put yourself in their shoes if you wish. Indeed, sometimes it’s good that you try. As a writer, how else can you possibly understand your own characters and their motivations if you don’t try to see things through their eyes. But this wasn’t one of your characters. And you’re still unqualified. So when someone calls you on it, someone says “this assumption that you have made is wrong,” your response should be “oops, you are correct sir or madam, my assumption was incorrect. For you see, I am unqualified.” ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/110 "2002-09-04T04:35:16Z")
For the record, I don’t see you as beset by jealousy, Scylla. Of course, that may be because I’m long past 13, the last age at which anybody could possibly think a Viper was the epitome of cool without being all post-mod ironic (i.e., lame) about it. But your posts in this thread do indicate a fairly disturbing refusal to cut a little slack for those people who park, with appropriate signs, in handicapped parking. What, do you really expect the guy in the $50K prosthetic 4.5-inch penis to prove to you that he’s disabled to such an extent that he deserves a wide space up front? And if you don’t, why the hell are you bitching about it? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/111 "2002-09-04T05:00:57Z")
Jesus, will you people lighten up on Scylla already? Have any of you ever read Hunter S. Thompson? P.J. O’Rourke? Scylla was just riffing, for pete’s sake. As he said, playing around with roles and ideas. So what if he missed the mark? That gives you license to try and verbally destroy him? What happened to the tolerance that used to be around here? And in the freaking pit of all places. This, plus the constant attacks December takes… this place is becoming nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/112 "2002-09-04T05:56:46Z")
_scratches head_ I’m the bad guy? Because I have a raw, sore, aching nerve that jerks when it is hit? > [@](#): > > I can still imagine that it must be nice to park in front, and still know that it would suck to be entitled. > > That doesn’t mean it’s not nice. I’m still struggling to figure out what the message of this thread is, because evidently I keep interpretting it wrong. But when I read a statement like the above, all I think is: I can remember when I didn’t have to park in front. I can remember when it wasn’t that big of a deal to walk from several rows back. And I can remember how it progressively got harder and harder to walk that distance, until I broke down and got the placard. But I still walked as much as a could for as long as a could. Until _last week_ when I fell down walking from the parking spot to my office. Now I’m confined to my wheelchair. **Confined**. For the rest of my life. I’m only 29. Can’t you please see for just a second what kind of agony some of us are in and how your petty resentments just rub salt into our open gaping wounds? I can’t make it any clearer than that. You have the right to feel how you feel, but if you post it on a message board for our consideration, I reserve the right to feel hurt and think you’re an inconsiderate boob. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/113 "2002-09-04T10:42:39Z")
For the record, I immediately understood that Scylla was being facetous. Or, at least I _hoped_ and _assumed_ that he was. The OP didn’t make much sense otherwise—not that I totally understood what the big deal about the Dodge Viper is. I don’t know what a Dodge Viper looks like, or why it is so fabulous, but if I owned one, I daresay I could cram my handicapped sister (with her fake leg) into it. She can’t drive (she’s legally blind) so she gets rides with other people, in whatever car they happen to have. Minivan, sedan, sports car, whatever. She brings her handicapped signs with her, and they are displayed in whatever car she is riding in. We’ve gotten the glares from the parking lot police too, because she doesn’t _look_ that handicapped, (her pants conceal her fake leg). She does have a cane, but not everyone sees that right away (or waits to see it). She swears that one of these days she’ll pull off her leg (the fake one) and throw it at anyone who gives her a hard time about parking in the handicapped spot. So, for those of you who are apt to judge those who park in handicapped spaces, watch out—you might get a fake leg thrown at you. ---
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/114 "2002-09-04T11:25:32Z")
The message seems to be that mildly uncharitable expressions (which is what the OP is at worst) will attract a torrent of bilious hateful indignation that is way way way out of all proportion. Wouldn’t a simple “Eh sod you Scylla, you shouldn’t feel like that, because maybe you haven’t considered (insert calm logical statements here)” have been adequate? If (and only if) you perceive a Dodge Viper as saying “Fuck you I’m loaded”, then something will seem faintly incongruous when someone taking (through necessity) advantage of society’s provision of disabled parking spots makes that unpleasant statement back to the same society. It’s the _wrong_ way for someone to feel, because the feeling comes solely from jealousy of Viper ownership, but it is perfectly easy to understand. Easier to understand than, say, a torrent of outraged vitriol. More goodwill required from both sides, methinks. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/115 "2002-09-04T12:14:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enderw24 \* > \*\*You don’t become qualified. You remain unqualified by the very nature that you aren’t handicaped. > > \*\* A couple of years back, 8 UCLA students were suspended for illegally having handicapped plates. They were caught because people became suspicious when the cars were parked near the UCLA football practice field. All 8 students were on the football team. IIRC, all had the forms filled out by the same doctor. Not that this has anything to do with anything. For the record, the OP didn’t piss me off at all. I agree, it’s point was somewhat unreasonable. But I have had some unreasonable thoughts in my day. The way we feel is always rational. That’s why we have rationalizations. 😃 Or, did I miss the point again? ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/116 "2002-09-04T12:14:33Z")
**Scylla** , I know it doesn’t count for much (it being me and all) but hell - **I** got your point in the OP. OK if I email you later? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/117 "2002-09-04T12:16:01Z")
I meant _ISN’T_ always rational, dammit. I suck. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/118 "2002-09-04T12:23:16Z")
Sure. Feel free to email me. Anybody else as well. (I will please ask that you don’t send me hate mail.) I won’t be able to reply 'till tonight though ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/119 "2002-09-04T12:26:32Z")
> [@](#): > > More goodwill required from both sides, methinks. You know what? I used up my goodwill a long time ago on people like this. Now I’m just pissed off and tired of the idiocy. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853/120 "2002-09-04T12:30:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zette \* > \*\* > > You know what? I used up my goodwill a long time ago on people like this. Now I’m just pissed off and tired of the idiocy. \*\* So you’re screwing yourself for life **deliberately?** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-handicapped-need-a-space-for-their-dodge-vipers-too-you-know/126853.md?page=7)