www.incontinentsupport.org

After several months of having trouble walking I got a permanent placard so i can use the handicap spots. I do like to walk because I know it is good for me. On bad days I can hardly do my weekly grocery shopping. My doctor gave me the paperwork and didn't think twice about it. I now have my placard and the plates are on the way.

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When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

Congratulations Doug. I know that will make things easier for you. I agree it is nice to walk and get the exercise, but if you can't manage, having the blue card placard will help you out.

1983. I have MS so I never know what's going to happen each day. Now I'm deputized to write parking citations for illegal handicapped parking. Best one was a woman who admitted that the plackard wasn't hers. It had belonged to a friend that had since died!! The fine should have been $425 but the judge can add or subtract as he wants. Hope he added to that!

I wish I could write tickets for it. I have seen many people that can get around very well. They certainly don't appear to need a placard. If it is theirs then more power to them. I suspect that many of those people may very well just be abusing someone's placard that wasn't there.

Yesterday I noticed a guy parking his Dodge Challenger in the handicap spots so his car wouldn't get door dings. I parked next to his car and I he walked back and moved it over one more handicap spot. He did have a placard, but he certainly didn't walk like he needed any help even on a bad day.

I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover. It would be nice if everyone that had a placard got one because they really need the help.

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When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

I wonder if it was our old VP. He drives a black Challenger and would park between the handicap spots at my work (i.e. in the white diagonal lines that are supposed to be for unloading to a chair). So he effectively took up 2 handicap spots. He had a placard, but didn't appear to walk with any difficulty.

-Darin

Well Darin, Maybe the placard belongs to someone else and he's abusing it. I guess ill just report him next time I see it and met the police figure it out.

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When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

Just a word of caution . . . A friend of mine has spine damage from an on duty injury while he was a police officer. His right leg is basically useless, but he walks really well using something that fits over the back of his leg and helps him lift it. When he's using it people can barely tell he's disabled, but walking does take a toll, so he got a disabled permit and uses it. He is constantly harassed by both the public and the parking folks when he parks, and it's embarrassing for him to have his injury constantly pointed out. I always remember him when I see someone parking in a disabled spot that doesn't look disabled.

seattletown,

I wouldn't point fingers at somebody who parked in a disabled spot and could walk. I have friends with back injuries that can walk for short periods. My point was this guy took up two handicap spots so his car wouldn't get dings.

-Darin

I'm not going to point fingers at people who park so that their cars don't get dings. A new car costs 30, 40, 50 thousand these days... it's ridiculous. I go to Wal-Mart where there are like 50 handicap spaces... and 40 of them are empty. I guess they just planned ahead for when all the baby boomers start to age out over the next decade.

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~~PuddleGuy

I had a big long reply but I erased it because this is thread has become nothing more that an argument.

I'm just glad my doctor decided I was allowed the privilege to use the parking that is easier to get back to after a very painful walk around in a store and so I can limit the damage in my back.

Doug

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When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.