Has anyone been mean to you because of age or handicaps ?

Question

My friend had knee replacement surgery. Her handicap sticker entitled her to park in the handicap section of a parking lot. She got out of her car and slowly walked into the store. Some lady ranted at her that because she could walk she should leave that space for people in wheelchairs ! !

Something like this ever happen to you ? ? ?

Answer 1

I've never had anything like this happen to me, but I've seen this happen to people who had handicap passes based on breathing or heart problems-- not outwardly evident, but very real and very debilitating.  Some people don't seem to have enough imagination to realize that a person can be disabled without a cast on their leg or a wheelchair or walker.  

If your friend had been walking quickly, hopping, skipping, jumping, or turning somersaults, then the person might have been justified.  But a slow-walking senior citizen leaving her car in a handicap space should be a no-brainer.

Answer 2

Yes, I parked in one to take my friend into the mall in her wheel chair because it was the closest to the entrance.  We had her handicapped card in the car window.  I came back out to move my car(which i did not have to do)to move it and some nut in a wheel chair started yelling at me.  I told him to shut up or I would call security, his companion thought it was a crack up.

Answer 3

hi theresa . i am deaf and thats an invisible disability . at times people will actually push me out of the way , thinking i ignored there " excuse me " . i really have come up against a few really nasty people and i just say " i am DEAF and did not hear you !!  usually they turn red and i think " good for you " lol

take care .d.

Answer 4

Once upon a time i was parked in the handicap which legaly i am entitle too..i was leaving and sitting  marking my to do list..a van pulls up a woman rolls down the passenger window and says would you leave i need that spot! Now i knew  the goofy wench so being the button pusher i am i  said your right by the door get out..she says don't tell me what to do! and i said what to do or where to go your choice. her daughter saw i was having a good time and went back around the block so then i thought about going back in the store but i had ice so better judgement got the best of me.  Heh heh

Answer 5

Not me, as I am careful to not park in handicapped spaces.  I don't need to.

My son was suffering from a lung problem when he was sick, and we had a handicapped symbol to hang from the rear view mirror. He was walking without crutches.  People could have been mean.  Most of the time, my husband drove us around, dropped my son and me off at the entrance of places, and then went to find a parking place.

My brother also had a handicap license plate, for a lung problem. He was pretty sharp at speaking up to others who were rude enough to rant at him.

Just because you don't have a wheelchair does not mean that it is easy for some folks to walk long distances.

Answer 6

Yes and I'm very tired of it.  Some people only think their disability is bad and no one elses. Due to the cancer meds I'm on, certain high blood pressure meds, and scarcoidosis I find it VERY hard to walk over a few steps( at some times----but not every time  )      if I have  a cart to lean on.  I use the handicap and I will continue.If my doctors feel I need one and I'm a canidate for one-----then I use one.  If some ill tempered old bitty complains I just tell them that I'.ll take their condition and they can have mine ANYTIME. Usually it shuts them up.

Answer 7

I am happy and thankful to say I have never witnessed or had anything like this occur in my life.

I am quick to greet/assist the elderly and I pay particular concern toward the handicapped.

There's Karma for you.

Thanks for the question, Theresa.

edit

Now I remember one time. When I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Some poor kid w/ a palsy type disability was briefly enrolled in my class. Other kids made so much fun of him he was removed. Kids can be so brutal. I felt so sorry for him ... it brings a tear to my eyes right now.

Did I answer the question? ... lol

Answer 8

No-- I am all for people with handicaps and elderly using the handicapped parking.  I am also proud of the stores that have spots for parents with small children.  However--I get really ticked when I see a very obese person using that as a handicap, when it would be healthier if the very obese had to park farthest from the store.  I'd say that 90% of the people who use the handicapped spots are simply fat and lazy.

Sorry if anyone takes offense to this.  Wait a minute, no I'm not.

Walking is the best exercise.

Answer 9

Yes!  i was so shocked,  i am not handicapped but my 81 year old mother is.  i am her driver as she cannot feel her feet and legs anymore, consequently cannot drive.  yes i have a handicapped sticker.  we went to a well known store and parked in the handicapped area and i went to get her a cart, a store manager came out and yelled (yes he yelled) about me parking in the handicap spot - my sticker was in place and my mother who is obviously handicapped was making her way into the store.  the little man knew this was my mom but had gone too far with his accusations and was not about to back down.  i pride myself in having a very gentle manner so just told mom we were being asked to leave.  i will not shop at this "very well known and very cheap store" anymore.  

Answer 10

Yes, I have Parkinsons and Arthritis in my back so I have a hard time getting out of the car.  And also, I have a hard time walking very far.  I have a handicapped sticker on my rear view mirror.  Very visable for anyone to see.  We had just parked at Circuit City and were still sitting in the  car looking at their ad paper.  I saw this older  gentleman standing about ten cars away and I noticed he was just glaring at me.  I didn't think much about it because my Dr. and the motor vehicle dept thought I deserved the sticker when they gave it to me.  But then the man came right to my side of the car and just stared inside my car, I looked at him and thought gosh this man is acting very strangely.  I don't like to get into confrontations with people so I just ignored him.  He went into the store and when I walked into the store he was standing against the counter just staring at me.  He never said anything, he was just giving me dirty looks.  I understand that people don't like people using handicapped parking when they they don't need it.  For instance, I always see these nice new cars and I always think they are Dr's wives.  when I first got my sticker I actually felt guilty using it, so I would never park there if I could find another parking place but then I noticed a lot of young women would get out of their cars laughing and joking like they were pulling a fast one. So now I park there when I find one available.  But people  need to realize that many people have disabilities that are not always that bad, just a matter of not being to walk very far.  I wish I would have said something to that man who was glaring at me like that, because it bothered me for him to think I was doing something wrong.  I have always prided myself on always following the law,  I'm 68 and have never even had a  traffic ticket.

Answer 11

I broke my leg a few years ago and had to get around on crutches for a couple of months.  I was in my 50's (not old yet?) but I think the bad or inconsiderate treatment was because of my temporary handicap.  Found out that some folks will about knock you down.  They are trying so hard NOT to accommodate a slow-moving woman on crutches.  Shoppers in stores and the people in restaurants were the worst places.  People would push by and glare at me.  On the other hand some people were very nice.  I never knew who was going to help me by holding a door open.  It might be the man in a business suit who would graciously walk ahead of me and hold the door.  The next time it would be a little kid with her rude mom yelling at her to hurry up.  I always told them thank you.

Answer 12

never been insulted -- you can cut the number down if you carry a base ball bat!!!

Answer 13

When me and the hubby had our car (hubby's disability is too severe now for him to drive)....we oftentimes had people knocking on our car window when we'd parked in a disabled bay to inform us we had parked in the wrong bay!  I am 51 and my hubby is 44 and more often than not it would be an elderly person who was trying to get our parking bay!!

There were many occasions when we had to show our Blue Badges to prove we were entitled to park in a disabled bay or on other occasions when I had to use my wheelchair people would rush off rather embarrassed when they saw hubby take it out of the boot lol.

We walk with the aid of elbow crutches now but we have had many a giggle about being told we were too young to be parking in a disabled bay!!!

There have been some people who thought they automatically qualified to park in disabled bays because they were elderly even when they didn't have a Blue Badge!

<Chuckle, chuckle>

Answer 14

No