# "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:** 7
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/121 "2011-06-13T23:02:16Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Sorry, you all are wrong, wrong, wrong. > > Look, my point is that there is a tacit level of approval for bending these sorts of rules. > > Case #1: I’ve never gotten in trouble for any manner of illegal parking when I’m loading or unloading for a gig. Often this happens in plain sight of police officers. > > Case #2: Almost every morning around 6:30 when I head out to work, there are delivery vehicles parked in handicapped spots on the street near convenience stores. They _ **never** _ get ticketed. They could park a block up and not be in the handicapped spots, and just wheel their pallets of soda and beer down to the store. But they don’t. And the police don’t enforce the handicapped parking rule in those circumstances because it would be just stupid to do so. _Makes note to not drive in VT_ Signed, actual handicapped person who frequently cannot shop or whatever because there is never enough handicapped parking in this day and age of a greying USA. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/122 "2011-06-13T23:03:17Z")
The OP expresses an attitude that exemplifies what is really wrong in America: “It’s all about me. Fuck the lot of you. I will do what I want, when I want, wherever I want.” ---
**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, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/123 "2011-06-13T23:04:55Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > 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. Well we face it every day and society seems to survive. People are not convicted for every infraction they are caught for - police, courts, prosecution all use discretion. Circumstances do matter. In my view the circumstances as outlined do not warrant major concern. Otara ---
**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, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/124 "2011-06-13T23:09:28Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Do you think this argument would impress a judge? I’ve already said in this thread that I 100% understand that it is not an argument against a ticket. **Dio** , half of the time you’re making bullheaded arguments, you do so despite what the letter of the law says, so I find it bizarre that you come into this thread pointing to what is legal or illegal as a basis for making an argument. > [@runner pat](#): > > _whines_ “But my stuff is _heavy_!” _whines_ _shrug_ It is. > [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > 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? Not contradictory at all. I find it much easier to imagine well-meaning intentions behind what she said than I do behind posts that are nothing more than name calling based on spurious assumptions about my character. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/125 "2011-06-13T23:11:57Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > …I’ve loaded in from “taxis only” spots, fire lanes, “handicapped” spots, on street corners, and double parked in traffic if I’m not going to be away from the car for more than 60 seconds… I know how you feel. Once in a while I have to park on top of schoolchildren at a corner because there’s just not room for us all. And little old ladies? I just can’t get that perfume smell off my bumpers. ---
**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, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/126 "2011-06-13T23:15:04Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > The OP expresses an attitude that exemplifies what is really wrong in America: “It’s all about me. Fuck the lot of you. I will do what I want, when I want, wherever I want.” I am the anti-America. :rolleyes: What the fuck is it about the words “handicapped spot” that makes the insane come out in everyone!?!? I’ll say it another time (though likely not the last). I harmed/inconvenienced NOT A SINGLE PERSON with my actions as described in the OP. I put no one at risk. How that translates into what you just said is beyond me. ---
**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, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/127 "2011-06-13T23:16:43Z")
I think its that people see it as a sign of respect not to park there, ie its more that just a pragmatic issue of whether there are ample spaces available. Otara ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/128 "2011-06-13T23:17:01Z")
The OP reminded me of a former family friend who took the girls in her cheerleading group to NC State for some sort of camp. They got it in their heads that it was OK to park in the handicapped spaces for unloading…$800 later, I think they finally got the idea. For some reason, this former friend thought it was NC State’s fault, and would loudly complain to anyone within earshot. (This is one of many reasons why she’s a _former_ friend.) ---
**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 13, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/129 "2011-06-13T23:17:27Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > …_shrug_ It is. I love [this post](http://scratchingpostsforcats.org/wp-content/uploads/scratching-posts-for-cats.jpg)so much. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/130 "2011-06-13T23:20:44Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > .There were other non-handicapped spots about 15 feet away. So park there to unload asshole! I don’t care how “heavy” your shit is, If you cannot carry it another 15 feet then you shouldn’t be doing it at all. There might have been a little bit of sympathy for you before, but when you reveal that you are blocking a handicapped spot to save you _15 feet_, then the only conclusion is that you are indeed an incredibly self centered jerkwad. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/131 "2011-06-13T23:25:42Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I harmed/inconvenienced NOT A SINGLE PERSON with my actions as described in the OP. I put no one at risk. How that translates into what you just said is beyond me. YOU DON’T KNOW THAT. By your own admission, you were not with your car at all times, so you have no idea what was going on in the lot while you were gone. Add that to the fact that you proudly proclaim that you get away with this all the time, and the odds are that you have prevented some handicapped people from shopping where you are, or caused them pain/discomfort/whatever in order to get to where they were going. All the justifications in the world are not going to excuse the fact that you parked where you know you shouldn’t simply to save yourself a whole 45 feet. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/132 "2011-06-13T23:29:14Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I’ve already said in this thread that I 100% understand that it is not an argument against a ticket. See, this is why I think you’re a douchebag. You committed a parking violation. You know it. The lady called you on it. It’s not the crime of the century, and non douchebags would have dropped it right there. But not you. You drove home in righteous indignation about just how much of a bitch this lady was for calling you on it. So much so that you just had to tell a bunch of strangers about the incident , and are then surprised that a thread with an OP saying “This bitch frowned at me for committing a minor crime” isn’t hugs and kisses. That’s fucking ridiculous. You are an entitled douchebag. Hell buddy, it ain’t her fault, so why start a pit thread about it if you are not the entitled asshole I think you are? Does her “tsk tsking” you wound your ego? An no, I couldn’t care less about how fucking heavy your amps are. Buy a goddamn handtruck, I’m sure the setup location isn’t right next to the door anyway. ---
**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, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/133 "2011-06-13T23:30:42Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Not contradictory at all. I find it much easier to imagine well-meaning intentions behind what she said than I do behind posts that are nothing more than name calling based on spurious assumptions about my character. I’m not so sure that solves the problem, there. As you point out, these are still imagined motivations. Even that explanation has problems with it; you’re assuming the assumptions are spurious, and not simply incorrect, which is the same issue. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/134 "2011-06-13T23:31:29Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I don’t get this logic. A car is parked as close to the entrance as possible. The hazards are on. The trunk is open. There are big heavy things in the trunk. And a guy is carrying those heavy things into the building. > > Do you really think he might stay in that spot for 5 hours? To be perfectly honest? Yes. You know how many people I have seen unloading at SCA events, ‘flea’ markets, shopping malls, music venues that do just that? Near as I can figure they think that they will just sort of get the powers that be used to seeing their car there and when they finish offloading they can sneak the trunk shut turn off the lights and leave their cars there. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/135 "2011-06-13T23:36:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Have any of you people stopped to consider how heavy that equipment was? And how far it would have been to carry them in from a regular parking spot? > > The OP could have injured his back carrying them that distance. And then what would he do? > > You have any idea how hard it is for somebody with a back problem or some other disability to get around and do normal stuff the rest of us take for granted? Even something as simple as driving to a store can be difficult. It’s not like you can ever find a handicapped spot open fercrisakes. > > Wait, I think I got lost somewhere… Asshole needs to get a hand truck. Plain and simple. They even have some that convert from hand truck to push cart. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/136 "2011-06-14T00:52:43Z")
[Vigilante justice for the morally impaired](http://www.youparklikeanasshole.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/137 "2011-06-14T00:56:20Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > My problem is that strangers telling me how to act pisses me off. The people who passed the law that some parking sports should be reserved strictly for the handicapped were undoubtedly strangers telling you how to act too. Don’t be so sure that that lady was unaffected. My mother has MS and is mostly housebound. Getting out of the house is a rare treat for her. When she tells me that she went through the effort required to load up into the van and go somewhere only to find that no parking was available, I am saddened. When she tells me about seeing some able-bodied jerk illegally parked in a handicapped space, I am pissed off, and when I see similar able-bodied jerks doing the same, even when she is not around, I am reminded and thus affected. It’s possible that what you did didn’t affect a single handicapped person. But remember this: you’re one of many of people with interest in parking in those spaces that similarly convince themselves that they’re inconveniencing no one. And a lot of them are wrong. Are you? I dunno, but I don’t have much sympathy for you for getting mildly scolded. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/138 "2011-06-14T01:04:13Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I\ > Not contradictory at all. I find it much easier to imagine well-meaning intentions behind what she said than I do behind posts that are nothing more than name calling based on spurious assumptions about my character. I don’t think it’s spurious; I think people are assuming that you’re someone parks illegally in handicapped spots and then make excuses when someone rightly calls you on it. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/139 "2011-06-14T01:37:54Z")
> [@Otara](#): > > The aim of the spots is to ensure that there is parking available. There was still ample parking available. That’s just not true. In addition to being closer to the building’s entrance, the handicapped spots are wider, and offer room to load and unload wheelchairs, often from specially equipped vehicles with extending, hydraulic platforms that require a minimum clearance, or offer space to assist the disabled person in and out of the vehicle. Just making sure that there’s a parking spot isn’t enough. A normal parking spot often is not wide enough to allow for the needs of a handicapped person. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/140 "2011-06-14T01:44:36Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I find it much easier to imagine well-meaning intentions behind what she said than I do behind posts that are nothing more than name calling based on spurious assumptions about my character. I don’t see any difference. Neither appear to be spurious assumptions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328.md?page=8)