# "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:** 6
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/101 "2011-06-13T22:16:20Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That’s all dickish, as far as I’m concerned (along with parking in the fire lane and parking where there are no spots in the parking lot because the real spots are full). It says, “The rules don’t apply to me because I’m more special than any of you bastards.” > > I do agree that the police play a role in our current environment of, “whatever you can get away with, goes” because they _don’t_ enforce nearly enough. If assholes knew they were going to get a ticket every time they acted like an asshole, they’d probably stop (eventually). I’ve never seen a delivery truck pay any attention to parking rules whatsoever. Fire lane, fire hydrant, double parking, it doesn’t matter – they park as close as they can get to the place where they’re making the delivery. So I can’t see why everyone’s piling on the OP. He’s just doing what they all do. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/102 "2011-06-13T22:32:20Z")
If you ever watch _Parking Wars_, you’ll see that delievery drivers do not have any special dispensation to park illegally. I’m kind of amazed that the OP really thought he was going to get any sympathy. ---
**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 13, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/103 "2011-06-13T22:33:09Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > “THAT MAN SHOT THE PRESIDENT!” > > “Wait, it’s okay – he has his hazard lights on!” And Hitler always used his turn signals when merging. > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > How do you know that she wasn’t handicapped? A lot of people don’t have plates, but have hang tags. And how do you know that she doesn’t have a handicapped SO, parent, child? > > It is, in fact, the business of everyone to make sure that society’s rules and laws are enforced. > > Should someone who sees vandalism occur just shrug and ignore it, if it’s not their house or business? Should someone who sees someone shoplifting not inform the store that there’s a thief? Well, she wasn’t parked in a handicapped spot, so I can assume for all intents and purposes that she herself does not need the handicapped spots. Yeah, I do agree with you that law enforcement is all of our business, to some degree. However, there are some laws that are more important to a well-ordered society than others. Your examples are crimes, while parking in a handicapped space is not (at least I’m fairly sure. **Bricker** or some other lawerly-type can pop back in and correct me if I’m wrong). You and others have conflated my infraction with other actions that are clearly of a different caliber. Yes, if I felt safe, I would stop someone from shoplifting or tagging a building. No, I would never comment on other people’s speeding, lack of signaling, cutting in line, parking in the wrong spot, or the like. > [@mhendo](#): > > What gets me about the “I’m only staying a few minutes” argument is that, even if someone _does_ only stay a few minutes, a handicapped person driving by the spot during those few minutes sees only an occupied parking space. > > They don’t know that you’ll only be there for a few minutes; they only know that the spot is taken, and they need to find a different spot. Their next step will be to keep driving until they find a vacant space, which might be blocks away. From the point of view of the person looking for a spot, you might as well be there for the rest of the day. > > The “few minutes” argument is bullshit. Which is why when I do so I try to make it visually obvious that I am there for a short period of time. Leaving the trunk or door open (if, like today, I’m in a space where I feel safe doing so), flashers on, etc. And, the strawmen are getting ridiculous in this thread. None of your scenario is true in this circumstance, as I’ve already indicated. There were other empty handicapped parking spots. There were other non-handicapped spots about 15 feet away. There was no “having to keep driving for blocks.” Get a grip. > [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > What bothers me with the OP is the idea that he is knowingly breaking the law, not for moral or ethical reasons, but for convience, and then getting upset that someone points out that he’s doing something illegal. Wait, so if I believe that there shouldn’t be handicapped spots, then it’s ok for me to park in them, but if I think they serve a useful purpose _then_ I’m doing something wrong? I did what I did because I _know_ I wasn’t impacting anyone (well, let’s set that probability at 99.999% or something like that). That is a worse reason for doing it than just having a moral thing against handicapped spots, damned the circumstances? Whatever. > [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > If I get pulled over for doing 58 in a 55, saying that I never got pulled over for it before, or that it’s not so bad since everyone else is doing it, or that I was going to be a little late if I wasn’t speeding… none of those deny the fact that I was intentionally breaking the law. Either way, I don’t understand why you were so pissed and felt the need to write a pit thread. You got called out for doing something you admit you did. I’m with you 100% on the first part of this. I’ll repeat it again (and admittedly I didn’t argue this clearly in my OP), my issue is being called out by a stranger for disobeying a traffic violation that impacted _nobody_, including the lady who called me out. I hate hate hate it when people roll through stop signs, but IMO I’d be a jerk if I yelled out my window, “hey man, you’re not supposed to do that!” particularly if there was no one else at the intersection. > [@elbows](#): > > This reaction tells me that it only made it through your tough ‘entitled ass’ exterior, because, inside, like even a five year old, you know you’re in the wrong. If you truly believe it was ok, it wouldn’t have bothered you enough to compose this post. It bothered me because I felt she was being hostile to me. Not horribly so, but as a grown man I am not used to people explaining the rules of society to me as if I don’t know them. That’s the issue. “Did you know you’re breaking the rules!?!?” Yes, I did. Why did you ask me the question in the first place? Some random person walking by decided to be mildly confrontational with me, and it pissed me off. > [@elbows](#): > > Also I’m tempted to call bullshit. If it’s a bar, there’s a load in dock at the back or side, no way are the beer kegs and empties coming and going through the front door. Of course, that doesn’t really fulfill the average bar performer’s desperate need for attention, like coming in through the front door does. I’m just saying, I ain’t new to bars, is all. Whatever. First, for this specific instance, it was a music building on a college campus. There is a loading dock, but the entrance is up some narrow stairs with no railing, and I don’t feel comfortable walking up the stairs with the heavier pieces. Second, a lot of places around here bring kegs in and out through the basements on lifts. So shut the fuck up like you know what you’re talking about. Third, yes, you’re right. I use the front door not because it’s the only option I have most of the time, but because I need everyone to look at me because I’m a “bar performer” who has a desperate need for attention. > [@Morgenstern](#): > > I’m betting those knickers feel like they are tightening around your neck by now. Yes; definitely much more so than I expected. > [@PlainJain](#): > > I do call bullshit… unless of course the OP lives where there is one police cruiser per citizens car. The ‘cops see me do it all the time’ aspect of the story, like the OP, is full of bullshit intended to justify his dickish behavior. Um, no. Actually, the downtown where I perform the most (and thus engage in my evil, evil practices) is _the_ center of town which has a 4 block pedestrian mall running through it, and the police patrol it regularly. Weekends will see cruisers pulled up along the road and driving through all the time. It’d be fairly unusual for me to walk downtown between the hours of 3PM and 2AM and not see at least one officer/cruiser on those 4 blocks, if not more. So no, it’s not bullshit. Screw you. > [@Raygun99](#): > > The way this thread is turning out is definitely making me rethink my “so what if I rape kittens?” Pit. Well, it seems the threshold for being a bad person is so low, that you can’t receive any worse responses than I have. I say go for it! > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > The OP made quite a show of how he was clearly unloading, with his trunk full of stuff that was open, and the hazard lights, etc. Now he may have been exaggerating this to seem like less of a dick, but if this were the case, I’d say it should be clear to someone driving by that the car in the spot does not intend to park there long, in which case you’d wait for him to come back and tell him to move his car. Exactly. Despite being instantly branded all sorts of things. The fact of the matter is; no, I did not exaggerate the initial scenario. When I park as I did in the OP it stresses me out because I know I’m in someone else’s spot. I try to do things as quickly and efficiently as possible in those situations so I can be out of there as quickly as possible. In this case it involved moving everything from the concert hall to just inside the door of the building before going to get my car and pull it into the handicapped spot. > [@pricciar](#): > > But, taking the OP at face value that he was truly only going to be there for a couple of minutes, and there was no other convenient place to park his car aside from the handicapped spot. (If the handicapped spot saved him 5 feet. He’s pretty terrible. If there was an actual loading zone that was closer than the handicapped spot; he’s worse. And, if he was actually parked on top of a handicapped person. Well. Then he might be as bad as everyone says.) > And, I say this as someone who wants to flip the car over and pee on it when I see it is parked in a mall handicapped spot without the tags, or the placard. > > I still don’t see anything wrong with what the woman said. She has no idea you are only going to be a couple of minutes. She sees a car parked in the handicapped spot. Her first thought is “Damn. I hope no cripples come here and have to drag themselves in because of this fucking hippie.” So, she tells you that you are parked somewhere you probably shouldn’t be. End of story. It’s not like she set your car on fire or insulted your mother. Thank you. It’s nice to be taken at face value in this thread. All of the straw men about how handicapped people have to suffer at the hands of unscrupulous parking-spot snatchers, and how everyone who says they’re just there for “a minute” is lying, is over-the-top, sanctimonious bullshit. You’re right, **pricciar** , she probably meant to be doing good by confronting me. Or, maybe she, like many in this thread, just likes to point out to others that they are bad people compared to her. But, because I don’t know anything truly about her or her motivations, I responded politely and went on my way. Then I came here and let out the trivial negative emotions that the experience gave me, despite the fact that she was indeed only pointing out something that was true. If she set my car on fire I would have called the cops, not the SDMB. 🙂 So, in this thread I’ve been called a jerk, asshole, classless dick, morally handicapped, a bad person, a self-absorbed blowhard, desperate for attention, had my actions compared to stealing, been threatened (jokingly, I understand) with smashed kneecaps, been told that I must hate handicapped people, had people assume that I must be lying about my story because apparently parking in a handicapped spot makes me a liar as well, all because I parked in a handicapped spot for 5 minutes. My actions: no one was inconvenienced. No one was hurt. I was polite to the woman in the OP. Your (name callers) actions: you all sound like a bunch of crazy hyenas with no sense of perspective, nuance, or critical thought. I know who I’d rather be in community with in this scenario, despite his deplorable actions. Me (of course, because I’m a self-absorbed blowhard!). ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/104 "2011-06-13T22:34:49Z")
The entitlement is strong in this one. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/105 "2011-06-13T22:36:28Z")
If there really were 2 other free handicapped spaces and it was clearly a temporary unload, I cant see the problem. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/106 "2011-06-13T22:39:59Z")
> [@Otara](#): > > If there really were 2 other free handicapped spaces and it was clearly a temporary unload, I cant see the problem. > > Otara There weren’t any kids in the crosswalk, so why stop at the stop sign? Am I close here? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/107 "2011-06-13T22:42:46Z")
You said: > [@Eonwe](#): > > There were other empty handicapped parking spots. There were other non-handicapped spots about 15 feet away. Wait. \*\*There were other non-handicapped spots about 15 feet away?\*\*And you really don’t think you maybe should have just parked there instead? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/108 "2011-06-13T22:43:05Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/109 "2011-06-13T22:43:17Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I’ve never seen a delivery truck pay any attention to parking rules whatsoever. Fire lane, fire hydrant, double parking, it doesn’t matter – they park as close as they can get to the place where they’re making the delivery. > > So I can’t see why everyone’s piling on the OP. He’s just doing what they all do. But he’s also bitching about being called on it. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/110 "2011-06-13T22:43:25Z")
Uh, you really cant see the difference between those two scenarios? Otara ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/111 "2011-06-13T22:43:35Z")
> [@Otara](#): > > If there really were 2 other free handicapped spaces and it was clearly a temporary unload, I cant see the problem. And if someone had pulled into the two unoccupied spaces, we just know that Eonwe would have walked back to the car with that heavy load, and left, halfway through unloading. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/112 "2011-06-13T22:43:57Z")
Don’t listen to the haters! Good on ya for striking a blow. I remember when I caught one of “those” people trying to park in one of our spots. I pushed him so hard I bet he still has friction burns on his hands! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/113 "2011-06-13T22:44:21Z")
> [@Otara](#): > > If there really were 2 other free handicapped spaces and it was clearly a temporary unload, I cant see the problem. Do you think this argument would impress a judge? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/114 "2011-06-13T22:46:19Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > You said: Wait. > > \*\*There were other non-handicapped spots about 15 feet away?\*\*And you really don’t think you maybe should have just parked there instead? _whines_ “But my stuff is _heavy_!” _whines_ ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/115 "2011-06-13T22:49:32Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Do you think this argument would impress a judge? I can think of any number of things that don’t satisfy the letter of the law that I dont see as morally problematic. The aim of the spots is to ensure that there is parking available. There was still ample parking available. I dont see this as the problem some seem to. Otara ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/116 "2011-06-13T22:50:09Z")
This OP and some of the responses are really confusing to me. I mean, I’ve left my car somewhere it doesn’t belong with the hazards on lots of times but never in a _handicap parking stall!!_ That just seems so… douchy. We’ve all seen Backdraft so we know what happens if you park in front of a fire hydrant, but a handicap person doesn’t have the ability to remidy the situation - all the can do is wait or leave. Nobody likes a busybody like the lady in the OP but I think generally they dislike self important douche bags more. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/117 "2011-06-13T22:51:22Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Or, maybe she, like many in this thread, just likes to point out to others that they are bad people compared to her. But, because I don’t know anything truly about her or her motivations, I responded politely and went on my way. Seems somewhat contradictory to congratulate yourself for not castigating the woman in question because you didn’t know anything truly about her or her motivations… but it’s perfectly fine to accuse people in the thread of acting out of a desire to compare themselves favourably with you. Perhaps it’s your belief that you truly know all those posters you include in that “many” there? ---
**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 13, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/118 "2011-06-13T22:53:07Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > You said: Wait. > > \*\*There were other non-handicapped spots about 15 feet away?\*\*And you really don’t think you maybe should have just parked there instead? Nope. Because again, no one was inconvenienced, despite any hypothetical you’d like to throw at me, and I saved myself 45 feet of heavy lifting over three trips to the car (or something like that, probably a little bit more; five spots over from where I parked). The other convenient thing about the handicapped spot is that since nothing was parked nearby, I could navigate the piano keyboard into the back seat of my car, which really needs some good clearance on the driver’s side of the vehicle. > [@Cyros](#): > > Don’t listen to the haters! Good on ya for striking a blow. I remember when I caught one of “those” people trying to park in one of our spots. I pushed him so hard I bet he still has friction burns on his hands! > 🆒 This isn’t a blow against anything. I have no issue with handicapped spots, and think they are officially a Good Thing. I also have no issue with handicapped people using able-bodied-only spots, as long as they genuflect appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/119 "2011-06-13T22:56:42Z")
> [@Otara](#): > > I can think of any number of things that don’t satisfy the letter of the law that I dont see as morally problematic. > > The aim of the spots is to ensure that there is parking available. There was still ample parking available. > > I dont see this as the problem some seem to. > > Otara Not so. The law provides that there are parking spots for the exclusive use of handicapped motorists. It’s fairly black and white and dissecting the intent of the law is pointless. I can’t imagine the problems that society would face it it allowed it’s members to pick and choose which infractions they are obligated to obey and which they are free to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/120 "2011-06-13T23:01:02Z")
I’m taking the OP at his word. If nobody could have been harmed or inconvenienced in this situation, then no I don’t believe the OP did anything wrong and the woman who Tsk-tsk’d him was probably overstepping. She has every right to say something (and I might have said something too, my wife uses a handicapped placard) and yes, the OP is quite thin-skinned to let this bother him for this amount of time after the incident but can the people who are so offended really say they have never gone over the speed limit for their own selfish reasons (late to a movie/work, etc)? Speeding can hurt someone, this incident, not so much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328.md?page=7)