# "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:** 9
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/161 "2011-06-14T03:00:12Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I figured it would be a short little thread bitching about people who like to point out to other people that “you’re not supposed to do that, you know!” like it makes them feel better to tell other people how to behave. Boy, it seems like I’m always hearing that claim from people caught doing something – that it’s someone else’s fault for noticing. And the juvenile addendum of claiming it makes them feel better…heh. It doesn’t make me feel better, or more superior. I don’t have any joy when you park in handicapped spot, or someone smokes in a no smoking zone, or someone leaves their dog in a hot car, or someone blocks an intersection. _I just don’t fucking want them to do it._ ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/162 "2011-06-14T03:04:24Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Yes I do know that, so shut your trap, you mouthbreathing yokel. I’m fucking sick and tired of people telling me that I am lying about the situation, so they can feel more secure in their indignation and certitude that I committed a heinous act. Where did I say that you are lying? I said that you can’t know that you didn’t “inconvenience” any handicapped people because, as you said yourself, you were not right there by the car the whole time. You used the excuse that you had your trunk open and your flashers going, as if that is the universal sign for “handicapped people can wait 10 minutes until I’m done dropping off my stuff”, as if that makes up for the fact that you were using a parking spot others _need_ and you only wanted to use because you felt lazy. > [@](#): > > Why are we arguing about the details of this. I can tell you that I was within earshot of my vehicle the whole time, and within eyesight of it for all but 60 seconds or so tops at a time. Ah, backpedaling! Before you parked closer because you didn’t want to have to haul heavy equipment a long distance, and now you claim to have been looking at your car the whole time except for extremely brief times. Huh. (Not sure what earshot has to do with it, unless you also expect handicapped people to honk at your car, as well as wait for you to get around to getting out of the way.) > [@](#): > > This was not one of them. Perhaps. However, you say you do this frequently. > [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Also, this thread has gone on entirely too long and I am now out of popcorn. :mad: - Passes **MsWhatsit** a warm, buttery, salty bag of popcorn goodness\* ---
**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 14, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/163 "2011-06-14T03:13:05Z")
I don’t care that you broke the law, and a random passerby is kind of a dick if he / she’s playing junior police(wo)man. I believe you when you say you didn’t actually inconvenience any people, disabled or otherwise. I also believe that you have nothing against the disabled. The reason I think you’re a jerk is because it is never necessary for an able-bodied person to park in the disabled spot. To do so is lazy and inconsiderate. So, let’s recap: The woman says, “You know, that’s a handicapped spot.” Miss Manners herself would endorse that: you see someone being a dick in public, and you make a nice, neutral statement to make the person self-aware enough to stop being an asshole. (As a bonus, if you really were disabled, she hasn’t even assumed you are able-bodied.) She wasn’t even confrontational. Scale of 10, her crime merits a 2 if the judges are having a bad day. You parked where you shouldn’t, but didn’t actually harm anyone other than by demonstrating contempt for the rules of polite society. Your crime is probably more like a 3 or a 4 for that. But I still think you’re lazy, and I still think you should have just owned up to the woman—“I know, and I shouldn’t have. I won’t next time.” ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/164 "2011-06-14T03:45:51Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > When a stranger comes along and says, “you shouldn’t do that,” when whatever I’m doing is not affecting/inconveniencing her in the slightest, she is being a jerk to me. . No, she’s right. You’re at least potentially inconveniencing others. I’ve a sad example in mind that I don’t need to tell in detail but that drilled into me, for seeing it repetitively from my place, that one shouldn’t assume that parking in this or that (forbidden) spot is OK because it (apparently) won’t inconvenience anybody. I think of it every time I see someone poorly parked and it makes me irrate at the drivers. I’d cut you some slack if in your situation it was obvious you couldn’t inconvenience anybody : other handicaped parking spot nearby, you’re _actually_ (contrarily to most examples I see) away from your car for a very short time, something really heavy to carry, etc… BUT your OP makes clear that doing so isn’t a one time thing or a rare occurence, but that you’re in the habbit of parking in any kind of forbidden spot at any time for your convenience. So you get no slack. I mean, who doesn’t see on a regular basis one, two, three… cars double parked in a street and slowing down significantly the traffic, so inconveniencing dozens or hundreds of other drivers? At the other extreme, it’s extremely unlikely that firemen will need _this_ fire hydrant right at the moment you’re parked there, from your point of view, but I’m pretty sure that from the point of view of the firemen, this situation happens on a regular basis. Also, have you considered the “what if everybody was doing the same as me” issue? So, I don’t care if in the peculiar situation you described, it wasn’t a big deal, and this woman was a jerk to you, since you’re admiting to being a jerk to everybody else all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/165 "2011-06-14T03:48:16Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe;13912589}] I wonder how anyone here has any friends, if parking in a handicapped spot engenders such hatred. I have friends who have stolen, lied, cheated, and done all sorts of things of questionable morals at one time or another that I would consider in an entirely different category as my transgression, and I would bet money that so does every person who’s posted in this thread, and that none of them leveled the sort of language at those people that they did me. [/QUOTE] Yeah, and if they went around saying - “hey, that bitch saw me taking money from Jerry’s kids and told me it was wrong to steal - well, fuck her. I know all kinds of people of people who steal. It’s not like I stole from her. I know people who do way worse shit than that. What a fucking pompous bitch. Fuck you lady - I pit thee, you righteous cunt - I like really, really want that money - a lot of stuff is expensive - so I need to get my hands on all of the money I can, so I should be able to take it.” People would also note that such a person is a complete asshat. Stealing is bad - but it happens and people can be forgive, But those who think that they should be allowed to do it, and who think that people who point out that it’s a dick move are the \*real \*assholes, are not very popular. I’m a little surpised that it’s surpring. I do think that the fact that there were other handicapped spots available is a mitigating factor concerning the act itself, but your explanations/comments haven’t exactly helped your case. I realize that you’ve indicated that you don’t care what people on here think - but I think your responses indicate a somewhat different actuality. Either way, the converation has moved slightly beyond just you. I don’t think you’re an evil nazi - I do think you did something without fully understanding the implications of it and are now swimming upstream rather than acknowledging that maybe, just maybe it isn’t everyone else who’s crazy 🙂 eta: this is a drunk post, so whatever and grammar and stuff ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/166 "2011-06-14T03:52:29Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > I never thought about this subject too much, although maybe I should have, until I dated a woman who’s brother is wheelchair-bound. She used to get out of the car at restaurants and stores and say the exact same thing to people and I would cringe, thinking ‘this is none of our business’ then she explained how often her brother winds up struggling in the rain, trying to get his wheelchair out on lopsided curbs, next to mud puddles, etc. while able-bodied people filled up the handicap parking with all their various personal rationalizations why it is OK. It isn’t OK. And people who speak up about it to strangers are courageous, not self-righteous bitches. Where are these mythical places where the handicapped can’t find spaces? Everywhere I go, I see dozens of them, all empty. Next to my dry cleaner’s there’s a 7-11 that has two handicapped spaces right in front of it, out of a total of 6 spaces in the strip mall (well, let’s call it a corner pocket of commerce) and no other parking for blocks. At certain times of day there are people blocking the street waiting to get into this parking area but the handicapped spaces are still open, and the businesses there are the kind that it takes people a couple of minutes at most to get into and out of (dry cleaner, dog groomer, 7-11–two drop-off/pickup sites and a quicky mart). Why is it worse to make a handicapped person spend two minutes blocking traffic while waiting for a space than to make everybody else wait? And yes, people do pull into the handicapped spaces there, but usually not, and I never saw cars in both of them at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/167 "2011-06-14T03:56:34Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > It’s probably some variant of Murphy’s law. If you need a handicapped spot, they’re all taken. If you don’t need one, they’re the only spots available. **The perversity of the universe is thus preserved.** [bold added] That’s “Finagle’s Law”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/168 "2011-06-14T04:17:28Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I am the anti-America. > > :rolleyes: > . Nope. You’re the anti-everywhere. I’m not posting from the USA and think the same as the others. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/169 "2011-06-14T04:17:28Z")
> [@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. It’s possible that the cops aren’t doing anything because the spaces aren’t in their jurisdiction. I work as a lot attendant with one of the lots I work at being a bank with most of the spaces in back and one handicapped space on the side where you drive to get into the lot. It’s located between the bank and a convenience store and is popular with “just running in” types. I was told by an officer that since the lot is private property, the police don’t have anything to do with it and payments for violating the space are a civil matter. I got told that because one of the people who got a “You owe $100. Please enclose payment in this envelope and return it to the office” notice threw a conniption fit and announced he was calling the cops on me. For what it’s worth to the OP, you’re considerably less of an ass than he was. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/170 "2011-06-14T04:24:28Z")
I shattered my heel and was on crutches for several months, with a placard. I ran into what must have been the OP’s father once. Mall parking lot, one open handicapped spot but a car parked in the flow of traffic blocking half the space (so the car wasn’t in the space, it was just parked across the end, so I could not pull in.) Anyway there are two guys standing next to the car on this side of the handicapped space talking. I beep my horn, get their attention, point to my placard, point to the space, and point to the car that is blocking my access. One of the two men walks over and very rudely says “Can’t you see we are busy here” I replied “Well no, all I can see is that I can’t get into that space, could you please move your car” “NO” and he storms off. So I go find a regular parking space which was no shit, almost 100 yards away. At the time, this was close to my max distance on sticks, so by now I was pissed. I clumped back to the asshole and the issue became obvious, the guy parked next to the handicapped space had backed out, and hit the side of the assholes car. Anyway I got right up in his face and said the following: “If there is a God in heaven, I hope that someday he puts you on crutches and someone does to you what you did to me today. And when that happens, I hope you remember today and what a complete asshole you are.” I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel, his face was about the color of a fire truck. I turned and clomped away on my sticks. As we neared the door to the mall, my son (15 at the time) says “How do you get into an accident in a parking lot?” This was too good to pass up, so I turned around and yelled in my loudest voice across the intervening 30 feet “HEY ASSHOLE, MY SON IS LEARNING TO DRIVE, AND HE JUST ASKED A QUESTION I CAN’T ANSWER, BUT I THINK YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO. HOW DO YOU GET INTO AN ACCIDENT WHEN YOU ARE PARKED?” That at least made me feel better. Non handicapped people who take up or block blue spaces are the lowest of the low. And I am happy to point that out to them. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/171 "2011-06-14T04:26:02Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Where are these mythical places where the handicapped can’t find spaces? Everywhere I go, I see dozens of them, all empty. The set of “all parking locations” is many orders of magnitude larger than the set of “everywhere you go.” ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/172 "2011-06-14T05:18:42Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I wonder how anyone here has any friends, if parking in a handicapped spot engenders such hatred. I have friends who have stolen, lied, cheated, and done all sorts of things of questionable morals at one time or another that I would consider in an entirely different category as my transgression, and I would bet money that so does every person who’s posted in this thread, and that none of them leveled the sort of language at those people that they did me. That’s right, it’s all everyone else. You’re as clueless about how you “look” with these posts of yours here as why you parking where you did was wrong. You know what the job is, you know what the circumstances are and yet you habitually choose to do the wrong thing because in your omniscience, you “know” no one is being inconvenienced. Over carrying something for 15 feet that any rational person doing the task on a regular basis would have purchased a dolly to handle. You’re not evil or most of the things people are calling you out of outrage. You’re simply thoughtless and pathetic in the example behavior, and it seems unlikely that this doesn’t carry over into other activities. But hey, by all means keep defending the indefensible here. It’s quite entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/173 "2011-06-14T05:39:14Z")
Very well put. Succint and to the point. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/174 "2011-06-14T05:40:11Z")
When I broke my ankle last year and was on crutches for 3 months, I never parked in handicapped spaces because I figured I was in good shape and could make it okay, and I didn’t want to occupy one in case someone else needed it. Stop being such a lazy little bitch. > [@Eonwe](#): > > I wonder how anyone here has any friends, if parking in a handicapped spot engenders such hatred. I have friends who have stolen, lied, cheated, and done all sorts of things of questionable morals at one time or another that I would consider in an entirely different category as my transgression, and I would bet money that so does every person who’s posted in this thread, and that none of them leveled the sort of language at those people that they did me. Your friends are a bunch of fucking losers. Mine aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/175 "2011-06-14T05:42:13Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > There’s only two kinds of people who park in handicapped zones. > > The disabled and assholes. Ahhhahaha!!! BINGO!!! ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/176 "2011-06-14T05:48:14Z")
> [@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. No, I’m sorry sir but YOU are the one who is WRONG WRONG WRONG. I am a paralplegic and I DEPEND on those spots being available to get in and out of my car and often to even enter the buildings (many times the parking spots will be positioned right next to the cut curb). A lack of enforcement does NOT justify a lack of adherence to a law. That is completely at the heart of the truly epidemic problem that is abuse of handicap parking that plagues those of us who truly NEED those spots. Just because 99/100 you have done your illegal activity without any negative repurcussions is IRRELEVANT!!! Those spots are there EXCLUSIVELY for those with mobility/accessibility impairment and your smug apathy is an example of the lack of empathy that our country suffers from. ---
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/177 "2011-06-14T05:57:06Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Very minor, but it put a knot in my knickers for the whole 15 minutes it took me to get home to post this. > > Yes, you self-righteous bitch. I realized that the bright blue paint job on the spot, along with the bright blue sign with a picture of a wheel chair and the words “towing enforced” meant that it was a handicapped parking spot. > > However, did you notice that I was lugging heavy equipment into my car? And as I was leaving the vehicle, the trunk remained open, and my hazard lights were on? It was quite apparent that I was there temporarily to load things into the car. There is no ‘loading zone’ for the building, so this was the best I could do. > > The thing that pisses me off about this the most is that, look, for 10 mins or less, if I’m loading in or out, I’m going to pull up as close to _any_ building as I can. Almost any time it’s ‘illegal’. 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. Never have I had someone tell me, “you know, you’re not supposed to park there.” Everyone realizes that sometimes you need to pull up to unload heavy stuff. Police have driven by me on all these occasions and never once stopped to reprimand me. > > I’m sure that if I had not pulled into the handicapped spot, and merely, say, parked behind it in the middle of the lot, rendering it inaccessible, she wouldn’t have said anything. > > So, yes, I did know it was a handicapped parking spot. But for this moment I had needs that surpassed strict adherence to parking regulations. Thank you for your concern about my literacy. You, sir or madame, might just be a complete fucking asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/178 "2011-06-14T06:02:35Z")
Since when did charter members start becoming the worst kinds of trolls? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/179 "2011-06-14T06:03:28Z")
Jamie McGarry I think a good way to phrase what handicap-accessible stalls are there for is as follows: handicap-accessible stalls are stalls designed exclusively for necessity for those who cannot (for whatever reason) use the non-accessible stalls. This would include those with accessibility disabilities (both visible and non-visible) and those for whom no regular stalls are available. But NECESSITY is the key, not CONVENIENCE or CHOICE. For those who choose to use the accessible stalls when the non-accessible stalls are a useable option; please understand that you ARE in fact committing a wrong. I hope this is clear to people. It about the basic right to the same access to public facilities as our able-bodied counterparts. When one chooses convenience and selects that stall, that right is taken away. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328/180 "2011-06-14T06:06:02Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Your friends are a bunch of fucking losers. Mine aren’t. I was wondering if I was the exception, because my friends have no problem managing to not lie, cheat and steal. I think the OP needs a better class of friends. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-thats-handicapped-parking-spot/585328.md?page=10)