You couldn't be any less considerate...(this guy, not you)...bit lame

The BBQ Pit
1

This is a little lame, but stupid and obnoxious people really really wind me up!

I work at a large store part-time, and like most large stores, it has disabled parking bays directly infront of the doors.

I was walking through the store trying to look busy, when I noticed a car parked really wonky in one of the disabled spaces. I thought there might be someone with a wheelchair that’d need help in the store so I kept an eye out.

I went to check the car (quite new, very shiny Mercedes C-class) wasn’t parked on the road or in the way. It was then I realised it was actually parked diagonally across two bays (both disabled bays) and obstructed access to another (regular bay). What’s more…yep, you guessed, there was no disabled sticker in the car.

I wanted to put a call out in the store “Could the customer of car reg “…” please come to the customer service desk. We’ve got the consideration and common sense that you’ve lost”. But I thought that was a little too rude and more hassle than it’d be worth.

So when the driver returned to his car I ran after him;

"Did you realise where you were parked, sir?"
“Er…in Staples, right? laughs”
"sigh…Brilliant sir, but if you look carefully you’ll see you’re standing on a BRIGHT YELLOW disabled space and, correct me if I’m wrong, you’re walking back to your car which is actually parked on TWO disabled spaces and blocking another"
“Ok…didn’t see it” (No apology, not even any recognition of what i’d just said.)
"Well maybe if you couldn’t see it, you shoudn’t b…er…you should look a little harder next time. Think about someone else next time sir, even if it’s really hard. Just perhaps have a little compassion for the person whose mobility you could have impinged on today."
Then he got in his car and drove off without a word.

I guess I was a little rude, and should be thankful he didn’t complain. But I was no-where near as rude as he was just thoughtless.

It worries me that the fact that it was a nice car bothered me more.

What do you think? Was I overeacting? I just hate it when people dont get called out for what bastards they can be sometimes.

2

Good job.

3

Now, if we can just clone you and put one of you in every parking lot in the world…

Yeah, it pisses me off a little bit more when people acting like assholes drive expensive vehicles, too. It’s like, “Here are the keys to your Mercedes. You’ll find your Entitlement Certificate in the glove box.”

4

I think I’ve got to stop getting so wound up at the little things that people do. It worried me that I got physically angry at this guy because he was so arrogant, if I didn’t care about my job I would have spun him some “If you want, I’m sure we can make it so you can use these spaces…” line.

Wouldn’t have been very classy though, and detracts somewhat from the morality of my standpoint.

5

You did brilliant! My parents are elderly and both disabled, thus have the disabled parking sticker. I can’t tell you how many times (when I have been in their car too and other times) that they have been unable to park in the disabled parking or one of the disabled parking areas has a non-stickered car in it.
And yeah, whilst old dung heaps parked in the disabled parking draw my scorn, somehow it makes it worse when it is a fancy car. Why do so many people think they are better/more important than others just because they are rich and/or famous?!

6

Oh and even though you may think he didn’t listen to your words, I betcha he is going to think twice about doing it again. He was only doing the “righteous indignation” of the guilty.

7

Whenever the opportunity presents itself I just stand there and, very obviously, stare at the person, whether they’re getting into, or out of, their vehicle. I don’t say a word, just stare. I’ve yet to be challenged.
I really wonder at people who bitch about handicapped parking. Is walking a few dozen feet really that big an effort?

8

I have an artificial leg, and people like the asshole described in the OP irritate the shit outta me. Having seen this a lot ( I watch for this crap), I can almost guarantee he knew exactly where he was parked.

I could easily get a handicap placard, but I never will. Hell, I can walk, and there are a lot of people more fucked up than I am.

If it had been me, I probably would have threatened to take my leg off and use it to smack the shit out of the arrogant fuck. (I can still hop like a mofo! :smiley: )

(Actually I don’t really threaten these inconsiderate shitheads with violence, but I will ask them WTF they are doing.)

9

Are there security officers assigned to patrol your store and parking area? If so, alert them, and they’ll be quite happy to deal with the entitled assholes.

My mother’s in a wheelchair, and once when I took her to the mall I saw a jerk park in a handicapped spot who had no placard and clearly didn’t need it. I was able to flag down a mall security officer as I wheeled my mom into the mall, and when I told him what the problem was his eyes lit up and he headed for the spot.

The car was gone when we came back out.

10

That reminds me of an incident at work (university in inner city where there is no student parking and staff have to pay a tidy sum). A colleague has an office that overlooks a parking area which includes some staff parking and about 5 disabled parks. Every week for a semester she watched this girl in a very nice red sporty car, park in one of the disabled parks. She didn’t appear to have a disability, but was given the benefit of the doubt for a whole semester. I think said colleague had enough when she saw her get out of the car and pick up a very large stack of books with ease. She called security and they checked it out - apparently the car was registered to an old lady - probably her gran or someone.

11

I have been known to park behind the offending vehicle blocking them in, lock my truck, call the local police dept. and tell them there is a big ticket item in the (store) parking lot. Then I’ve gone in to do my shopping.
If the PD or asswipe aren’t there by the time I return, I’ll wait.

12

What people don’t realize is; because of asswipes like this; store owners/ companies are forced to make MORE handicaped parking spaces than are necessary to compensate for these chumps.
I mean really, you go to my local grocrey store and the whole front half of the parking lot is handicaped. My frustration isn’t aimed at the handicaped at all but rather the assholes describe in the OP.

13

I would have simply put a large loading pallet of unopened stock behind the car and blocked him in. Then gone to lunch… then called the security people when I got back… then called the local newspaper… and maybe the local TV station and started filming the guy with a digital cam-corder…

He got off WAYYYYYYYYYY too easy in my opinion…

14

I once had the satisfaction of getting two “entitled” people being forced to move their car.

It was at the movie theater. I saw a bright red sporty looking car pull up to the handicapped spot and two healthy young people bounce out of it and head into the theater not to far ahead of me. As I paid for my own ticket I grumbled to the ticket taker, and the theater manager overheard. He asked if they were still in sight so I looked up and spotted them standing in the popcorn line. Manager said he’d take care of it, and I went on to take my seat. Turns out they were seeing the same movie I was, because just before the credits started rolling I saw them come in, bitching loudly to each other about the inconvenience of having had to move their car. I wrote the theater a thank you letter later on.

15

I’d have been tempted to call the police and say that you suspected that person was driving drunk or on drugs. That’s one possible explanation for not noticing that he was parked in a handicapped space, and doing such a shitty job of parking :wink:

16

I love that you thought you were rude; you were the very model of diplomacy. If you are any indication, I should definitely move to Glasgow.

Except I probably couldn’t find a parking space if I needed one…

17

All you really have to do is call the police and tell them someone is parked illegally in the handicapped spot. They’re the ones that will enforce the laws your city puts in place. I’ll bet they’d have been thrilled to write that ticket.

18

I don’t like the vigilante stuff (as much as I sometimes wish to engage in it), because there are emergency situations when tear-assing in and covering several handicapped spaces is, if not appropriate, at least forgiveable. Also, sometimes people are stupid. I once accidentally parked in a handicapped space (there was new construction there and it was not well marked), and I’m awfully glad nobody keyed my car in retaliation.

–Cliffy

19

Thank you! It must be my upbringing; if my dad heard what I’d done he’d be prowd but I’d get a telling off for possibly getting myself into a nasty situation with a stranger (it’s nice, but slightly annoying when he treats me like his little boy, despite being bigger than him now!).

Generally on a one to one level, the people up here are lovely. Especially when you ask someone for directions or for something in a shop. I do find that strangers are rude and dismissive though, compared to home (Somerset). I think they’re probably no worse, but I knew far more people down there!

(bolding mine)

This fella wasn’t forgivable. Before I knew whose car it was, I’d seen him casually walk around the store for a while before carefully choosing to buy a budget folder. Somehow I dont think he was a Doctor on call, resuscitating someone or parked there while he bought a biro for an emergency tracheotomy!

20

You gotta be careful, though, calling people out on parking in the spot when “they can walk.” Look for the placard or special license plate instead.

There are plenty of people in the world who can walk just fine but DO have a sticker. My aunt has a heart condition which prevents her from walking long distances, so she has been issued a sticker.

Sure, you might see her laughing and bubbly when exiting/entering her vehicle and not “looking disabled” but if you followed her through the store you’d probably see her sit and rest a few times.

I agree that the dude in the OP was a major asshole and applaud witty for taking action - just make sure you look before you leap into situations like this (just as he/she did) and don’t accuse those who can walk as not being disabled.