“So my poor old mother who died from heart failue, and couldn’t walk more than a hundred feet or so without chest pain, shouldn’t have had a handicap sitcker in the last few months of her life?”
Sorry about your mom, perhaps you should have gotten her a powered chair. I can’t think of too many places other than the post office where you can get something accomplished without walking more than 100 ft. Certainly not the grocery or Walmart.
She didn't want one. She was aware that her condition was deteriorating and didn't think it was worth bothering with.
Grocery stores and Walmarts HAVE motorized carts for shoppers.
Maybe you didn't mean it, but this sounds so callous. Power chairs don't transport very well unless you have heavy-duty equipment to move them with - a lift into a modified van for example.
And a lot of the elderly don't have the reflexes, vision, or ability to learn new skills to use a power chair.
I was extremely grateful for my parents' handicapped plaquards when I took them here or there to doctor's offices and the like. Both of them could walk if I had hold on one arm but weren't safe otherwise. Their endurance was 100-200 feet at a shot, just enough to get to the nearest chair inside the doc's office.