# "You know, that's handicapped parking spot!" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 13, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328 "2011-06-13T17:13:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**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:** [June 15, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/321 "2011-06-15T17:34:20Z")
> [@Khampelf](#): > > Hitler never drove, he never had a driver’s license. Shame, really. He would have been a great designated driver since he couldn’t drink. Well, he could, but it made him mean. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/322 "2011-06-15T17:40:02Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Shame, really. He would have been a great designated driver since he couldn’t drink. Well, he could, but it made him mean. Yeah, I preferred the the kindler, gentler, sober Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/323 "2011-06-15T18:15:21Z")
[This is where I work.](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cryptic+Studios,+University+Avenue,+Los+Gatos,+CA&aq=1&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=47.617464,58.710937&ie=UTF8&hq=Cryptic+Studios,&hnear=University+Ave,+Los+Gatos,+California&ll=37.25128,-121.966053&spn=0.00052,0.000599&t=h&z=21) In fact, you can see my car, it’s the furthest south car in the single row of cars over to the left. You’ll notice that the only unoccupied spots in that lot are the four handicapped spots (for those collecting random data points about how often handicapped spots are full). If I take a late lunch, sometimes when I return to work, the lot is 100% full (aside from the handicapped spots). So I park out on the street. If, however, I was getting back from lunch and had a heavy object to unload or something, particularly if it was raining, I might park in one of the handicapped spots (assuming the other three remained unoccupied), carry the stuff into the building, drop it right inside the door (protected by a security badge), return to my car, park the car out on the street, return to the building, and then carry the object up to my office (or whatever). Would doing so be illegal? I presume so. If someone verbally scolded me for doing so, would I pit that person on the SDMB? Certainly not. Would it make me an entitled lazy asshole? Would it have a remotely non-trivial chance of actually negatively impacting the life of a disabled person? Would it, in summation, be “wrong”? I would argue that the answers are no, no, and at-most-slightly. Does anyone disagree? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/324 "2011-06-15T18:19:49Z")
You work at Cryptic? You poor bastard. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/325 "2011-06-15T18:24:25Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > [This is where I work.](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cryptic+Studios,+University+Avenue,+Los+Gatos,+CA&aq=1&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=47.617464,58.710937&ie=UTF8&hq=Cryptic+Studios,&hnear=University+Ave,+Los+Gatos,+California&ll=37.25128,-121.966053&spn=0.00052,0.000599&t=h&z=21)… Wait. Zoom. Enhance. Yes. I can see it there. It’s an “I’m an Asshole” sticker on Max’s car. ---
**Author:** ![cards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cards)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/326 "2011-06-15T18:32:34Z")
> [@Khampelf](#): > > Hitler never drove, he never had a driver’s license. > > Consequently, Hitler could have never parked in a handicapped space. > > Therefore, you are worse than Hitler. OK, this made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/327 "2011-06-15T18:34:37Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > You work at Cryptic? You poor bastard. I worked at 3DO for 8 years. Cryptic seems like heaven in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/328 "2011-06-15T18:55:13Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Would doing so be illegal? I presume so. > If someone verbally scolded me for doing so, would I pit that person on the SDMB? **Certainly not.** > > Would it make me an entitled lazy asshole? Would it have a remotely non-trivial chance of actually negatively impacting the life of a disabled person? Would it, in summation, be “wrong”? I would argue that the answers are no, no, and at-most-slightly. Does anyone disagree? (Bolding mine) That’s the difference. What irked me is not that **eonwe** parked in the space to begin with. It’s not a high crime and I said as much in my first post. What irked me is him pitting the lady. The “entitled” part comes from him being offended that someone should call him on his behavior. If someone does something wrong, he should grow a pair and own up to it immediately. **Eonwe’s** OP was nothing but excuses and insults directed to the lady who pointed out his infraction. As I said earlier, normal people would have given a quick apology to the lady and moved on with their lives. Entitled assholes are so offended that someone would even dare question their behavior that they spend several days arguing about a minor incident where someone dared question them. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/329 "2011-06-15T19:06:15Z")
Am I the only one who noticed a major part of his story has changed since his OP? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/330 "2011-06-15T19:20:49Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > [This is where I work.](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cryptic+Studios,+University+Avenue,+Los+Gatos,+CA&aq=1&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=47.617464,58.710937&ie=UTF8&hq=Cryptic+Studios,&hnear=University+Ave,+Los+Gatos,+California&ll=37.25128,-121.966053&spn=0.00052,0.000599&t=h&z=21) In fact, you can see my car, it’s the furthest south car in the single row of cars over to the left. As soon as I figure out a way to profit from this bit of information, you’d better believe that I will. ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/331 "2011-06-15T19:22:58Z")
Which part? ---
**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:** [June 15, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/332 "2011-06-15T19:27:29Z")
> [@randomface](#): > > Which part? The other two handicap spaces that magically appeared when it was mentioned that he shouldn’t have blocked the only handicap access. This doesn’t seem like a minor detail to be left out of the initial telling. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/333 "2011-06-15T20:11:36Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The other two handicap spaces that magically appeared when it was mentioned that he shouldn’t have blocked the only handicap access. This doesn’t seem like a minor detail to be left out of the initial telling. **trudging back in to address this as yet un-leveled accusation** It wasn’t in the initial telling (nor was the fact that it was on a quiet college campus and not a city street or a Publix parking lot), because the initial OP was not about justifying my actions as much as it was about expressing my annoyance at a stranger telling me what to do. Adding relevant details to the telling of the story to address specific concerns raised by other posters hardly qualifies as a “major” part of my story changing. Get a grip. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/334 "2011-06-15T20:18:06Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > If someone **does something wrong** , he should grow a pair and own up to it immediately. I guess that’s the rub. Did he actually do something _wrong_? He certainly did something _against the rules_ (either illegal or violating school regulations, not sure who the actual authority is). He certainly did something _apparently_ wrong. And he certainly did something which differs only in degrees from things which are quite patently wrong. But I don’t think it’s prima facie clear that he in fact did do something **Wrong** , in a kind of holistic “God is judging your soul, does this act nudge you more towards heaven or hell” kind of sense. And I note that often the times we are most defensive about our actions is when our actions are nearing the borderline of right vs wrong. Which doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do them… but it does explain (although not defend or justify) his response. Sure, it’s easy to mock the idea of convenience, of doing something just because it makes our lives easier, but that’s a perfectly valid data point to put on the should-I-or-shouldn’t-I scales. Should I jaywalk across this street? Well, there’s a crosswalk 2 feet away, so I should just cross there. What if there’s a crosswalk 50 yards away in either direction. It’s still just an issue of convenience for me, right? On the other hand, of course, jaywalking is a crime whose actual negative consequences are, in many situations, close to nil. Compare that to something like theft, where no matter how convenient it is for you to steal something, how much easier it makes your life, you’re still depriving someone of something, so there’s always a victim. So don’t think I’m endorsing some kind of egocentric “it makes my life easier, so I’ll do it” morality. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/335 "2011-06-15T20:27:40Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > [This is where I work.](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cryptic+Studios,+University+Avenue,+Los+Gatos,+CA&aq=1&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=47.617464,58.710937&ie=UTF8&hq=Cryptic+Studios,&hnear=University+Ave,+Los+Gatos,+California&ll=37.25128,-121.966053&spn=0.00052,0.000599&t=h&z=21) In fact, you can see my car, it’s the furthest south car in the single row of cars over to the left. > > You’ll notice that the only unoccupied spots in that lot are the four handicapped spots (for those collecting random data points about how often handicapped spots are full). > If I take a late lunch, sometimes when I return to work, the lot is 100% full (aside from the handicapped spots). So I park out on the street. > > If, however, I was getting back from lunch and had a heavy object to unload or something, particularly if it was raining, I might park in one of the handicapped spots (assuming the other three remained unoccupied), carry the stuff into the building, drop it right inside the door (protected by a security badge), return to my car, park the car out on the street, return to the building, and then carry the object up to my office (or whatever). > > Would doing so be illegal? I presume so. > If someone verbally scolded me for doing so, would I pit that person on the SDMB? Certainly not. > > Would it make me an entitled lazy asshole? Would it have a remotely non-trivial chance of actually negatively impacting the life of a disabled person? Would it, in summation, be “wrong”? I would argue that the answers are no, no, and at-most-slightly. Does anyone disagree? How do you sleep at night? ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/336 "2011-06-15T21:27:18Z")
> [@blueskiesfrompain](#): > > Do handicapped people ever drive the speed limit? I’m thinking replace the handicapped logo on their license plates with the orange slow moving vehicle triangle. I speed all the time, but then I live in California…😃 > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Am I the only one who noticed a major part of his story has changed since his OP? I noticed that he added that he could have legally parked only 15 feet away, and that as time went on how long it took him to haul his stuff in got much shorter. He called me a tool - _sob_ ---
**Author:** ![blueskiesfrompain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@blueskiesfrompain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueskiesfrompain)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/337 "2011-06-15T22:02:31Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > I speed all the time, but then I live in California…😃 Touche. I have business in California from time to time. When I drive the speed limit, I’m left in a cloud of dust. Maybe I need the orange triangle on my rental! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/338 "2011-06-15T23:14:21Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > There’s only two kinds of people who park in handicapped zones. > > The disabled and assholes. If I didn’t already have the best sig… ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/339 "2011-06-15T23:19:13Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > And, here’s the thing. As I’ve said countless times in this thread; YOU ARE RIGHT! WHAT I DID WAS NOT A GOOD THING! But you’re all too busy jerking yourselves off over telling me how horrible I am that you can’t let that sink in. You refuse to view it in any shade of gray, refuse to put it in perspective with other selfish or bad acts that could be done. I mean, really? How can you all live in a world where such a small act is so bad that it inspires you to say to people what you’ve said to me? You’re all jerks, and you don’t even realize it. You think that because you’re standing up for a “good cause” that somehow it doesn’t count? …so far in the thread you STILL haven’t admitted that what the lady said to you at the start was entirely justified and you had no reason to feel any anger towards her at all. She was, of course, the object of your pitting, and as many people continue to point out, is the reason so many people continue to berate you. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/340 "2011-06-15T23:29:02Z")
> [@blueskiesfrompain](#): > > Touche. I have business in California from time to time. When I drive the speed limit, I’m left in a cloud of dust. Maybe I need the orange triangle on my rental! If you stay out of the number one and two lanes, you should be safe. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328.md?page=18)