[Poser]

To the author:

Quit your damned whining and park in the closest spot to the door. Your real handicap is self-pity and lack of spine.

[CT-Freeper]

"Well, you don't look stupid to me."

Hee hee...

I once said something very similar to someone once who commented on my placard.

I've got pretty bad scoliosis, and as a result once in a while my back bothers me something severely (usually on Monday mornings after I've spent the weekend doing yardwork).

I hardly ever actually use my handicap parking privileges, only when I'm in such bad pain that walking is almost impossible. One time, I used it at the mall a week or so before Christmas. I'll admit, I wasn't hurting all that much at that point, but I knew after two hours or so of walking around the mall I'd need a quick exit to the car after the shopping was done.

As I got out of the car, a lady comes up to me and my wife (she was with me) and said,
"Hey, you can't park there...you don't look disabled."

To which I politely replied,
"Well, you don't really look all that ignorant to me, but I guess looks can be deceiving, eh?"

And then I continued on my way.

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

I feel sorry for the author's ailments, but the original intent of Handicapped Parking Spaces were to provide additional space to maneuver for those confined to a wheelchair. Not so they could get a closer parking space to the store!
Nowadays, it seems as if anybody with any ailment, however slight can get a handicap hang tag.
If the author of this column really wants us to feel pity for those with "invisible" handicaps, then they need to make sure only those with true needs get the hang tags.

[vietvet67]

[Equality 7-2521]

Handicapped spaces—another nanny-state item foisted upon us by liberals. I have no problem with a business owner voluntarily painting a few spaces blue, but to be forced to do it by the federal government is nanny-state socialism at its finest.

[HamiltonJay]

If you have the tag, no problem... if you don’t, expect to be mocked.

[doodad]

Happens to a guy I know all the time. He has been on dialysis for years and just had a kidney transplant. A short walk can wear him out completely, but he looks fit.

Don’t get me started on the “companion” animals that the housewives drag in the stores.

[montag813]

Why would someone with a mental illness need a closer parking space? Isn’t this only for people with problem with their legs or mobility? This should not even be an issue. Mental illness does not warrant such a permit

[Tex Pete]

I just hate when an able-bodied person runs to the store in a car with a handicapped permit and parks in HC spots, or when the HC person stays in the car while the able-bodied person goes into the store, while parked in an HC spot.

My brother has a handicapped permit, and we only park in HC parking if the closest spaces are far away from the entrance to the store(or other place).

[Fresh Wind]

I’m all in favor of letting blind people park in handicapped spots.

[DuncanWaring]

There's a park in Albuquerque that's the origin of a lot of hiking/mountain-biking trails, with a HC parking space at the beginning of one of the trails, positioned far from anything else a handicapped person might legitimately need access to, such as picnic spots or restrooms.

And Yes, I defend my use of the word "legitimately"; if you're healthy enough to use a hiking trail, you're healthy enough to walk a few more feet through the parking lot.

[subterfuge]

This situation is not helped by the thousands of people who scam the system to get handicapped parking when the truly don’t deserve it.

[Fawn]

Only people on crutches should be able to park in handicapped spots.

[wolfinator]

1. I would never have the gall to question someone’s use of a handicapped parking space. A healthy looking 30-something guy I know once got a dirty look from an old timer as he pulled into a handicapped spot at the local K-Mart. But the old guy changed his tune when he saw the young man hobble out of his car with crutches and a cast up to his hip. You just never know what someone might be wrestling with.

2. Read carefully. The author never claimed that 1 in 2 Americans needed a handicapped sticker.

[ikka]

Carry a cane and use it every time.

[martin_fierro]

National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week

[Mind-numbed Robot]

I found it ironic recently that a doctors complex I visited had many empty handicapped spaces but at a golf course I visited the same week they were all filled. No accusations, just an observation.

[Publius6961]

The twelve invisibly handicapped insist that the 22,000,000 handicapped spaces in California be reserved in case they ever need to use one...

That reminds me: "handicapped" ramps at intersections cost roughtly $12,000-$15,000 each. California has been busily ripping up perfectly good sidewalk for 30+ years at the cost of $billions. I can honestly say I do not recall ever seeing a single instance of a wheelchair using such ramps.

On the other hand, I have seen 49,672 skateboarders terrorizing pedestrian and traffic while using them.

Just saying.

[Dov in Houston]

I just realized something. According to the ADA act a person who has been convicted of a felony is considered handicalled because his Felony conviction hinders his employment opportunities.

Does that mean we give all ex convicts a handicapped tag.

[Lurking in Kansas]

Interesting thread, but I don't care. I'm the guy who parks the furthest away in the back of the lot.

I don't like idiots who bang their doors on my 350Z.