Was the OP taking up the ONLY handicaped space (or the only one still open)? Or just A handicapped space, with others still available.
And were they loading/unloading something REALLY big/heavy/bulky where the car would literally not be unattended with somebody right there the whole time? Or was it a park, leave the vehicle unattended for a “few moments” (that often turns in minutes).
That makes the difference between a handicapped person not being able to get any decent spot and just not getting the one they want. And/or it makes a difference between the handicapped person having to wait a few moments because its obvious whats going on and the spot will be cleared shortly versus the handicapped person sitting there wondering WTF is going on and when the hell will somebody be back?
And then, was it something like I’d rather not carry two bags of groceries a hundred feet or was it I’d rather not haul a 200 lb box of IKEA crap to the far side of the parking lot.
Or in other words, IMO its possible for this to at least be borderline okay rather than thats what Hitler would do too. But, if I had to bet, statistically speaking, it was likey a selfish dick move.
I think that the posters giving you a hard time because you were in a handicapped spot are missing the big picture.
You are so full of your own importance that you will violate any parking restrictions to make yourself happy. You simply treat handicapped people equally with the rest of the world, spitting on everyone.
I got used to the concept of handicapped spaces when we used to chaffeur my mother around. More than once, I’d park and hang the sign on the mirror. By the time, I got out and around to help her out of the car, I’d be yelled at by some sanctimonious asshole who saw only (apparently) healthy me parking in a blue zone.
I loved how they would speed off when I opened up the walker for her.
Having said that…dude, you are out of line. If I found your car like that, you’d probably wind up with an unpleasant surprise in that open trunk.
One of the greatest pleasures of my life was calling the police on the Fed Ex truck that thought it could do this with impunity on 12th Street around the old Post Office in DC. Added a good 10 minutes onto everyones commute when there were spots half a block away that wouldn’t impede traffic. And he did it every day.
My point in that post is that when I pull up in front of the bar I’m going to play at for the evening to unload, and I’m not in an official parking spot, I have been ‘caught’ and given approval. No one involved in enforcing the laws care; they see I’m by the car, they see me carrying equipment into an establishment, and they allow it.
He or she could have pulled into either of the other two empty handicapped parking spots available.
Yeah, and then I punched a guy in the face, and fucked his wife, and he had the gall to ask me to pull out. What was up with that!? IOW, what the fuck point are you trying to make? Analogy fail.
Yes, because like I said in the OP, I hate handicapped people, and I hate that they have handicapped parking spots. I think handicapped parking spots are stupid! Oh wait, I didn’t say that at all.
Well, I didn’t become self-righteous and defensive or whine to her. I said with a smile, “I’m just loading some things into my car,” and went on my merry way.
I think what got my goat about it the most, which maybe didn’t come off clearly in the OP, is that the woman was neither handicapped nor parking enforcement, and decided to make my business her business. If, when I had gone into the building to grab my piano, I had been ticketed (by a blindingly fast policeman), I wouldn’t be pissed at him. I was in the spot, I brought the ticket on myself. No biggie.
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. It is, in fact, not her business. I don’t roll down my window at stop lights and yell to the guy stopped next to me, “the speed limit was 35, you know?” That would make me a jerk, even if he had been going over 35. The handicapped spot is a red herring. I’m totally willing to accept the consequences of my choice to use it as a loading zone. My problem is that strangers telling me how to act pisses me off.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Look, it’s no skin off my back if you choose to call me names. You sound like a total idiot, though, declaring me a) lazy (if you want to carry 70lb+, awkwardly shaped and somewhat fragile boxes in and out of buildings, up and down stairs, and not take advantage of every foot of reprieve you can, be my guest, but watch your back or you’ll end up needing a handicapped space), and b) a bad person. Oooooh! That guy did something I don’t like, he must be a BAD PERSON!!! You’re right, there are some things you just shouldn’t do. It’s nice to know that now I can just be bad, because I am a BAD PERSON, so people should stop expecting me to be nice from now on. Fuckers.
I think you should just drive right up onto the sidewalk and park next to the door of the building. That’ll gain you a good 5-10 feet right there, at least.
So, it’s not skin off your back if someone calls you names, but you had a knot in your knickers for the whole 15 minutes it took you to drive home and post this pit thread because someone said “you shouldn’t do that”?
See above. I know for sure that that would not be a legitimate defense. I got off track by trying to justify the “rightness” of what I did. It’s not really the point I’m trying to make here.
Oh, did I mention the gig was a benefit for a teenager who has lukemia, so there ya go.
Wait, no, that was the last time I had to load and unload at this site, my bad. Still, way to put a value judgment on the “worth” of my work.
I’ve done that (it’s a sidewalk made for little campus service vehicles to get around on, so it is wide enough for my car), as have the faculty/administrators who staff the building when they’re moving large or delicate instruments (like a glockenspiel or timpani), but I don’t like to do that, because then I truly am impeding access to the building via the sidewalk through the side door. In the handicapped spot at the end of the sidewalk I am less of an inconvenience for everybody, handicapped and non-handicapped alike, than if I blocked the sidewalk.
I’m pretty sure you’re being sarcastic, but driving on the sidewalk in this case is exactly how some things get loaded into and out of this building.
disappears in a puff of smoke, imploding due to the genius-level analysis of my own seemingly contradictory responses to situations of similar but not identical circumstances
If I started a thread every time I thought someone was rude to me on the internet, I’d have a full time job.
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.
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?
