It's clear that in the area of Handicapped parking - as in every other area in our lives - there are no absolutes, no black or white, and plenty of opportunities for "cheaters" and "abusers". People being people, with different sets of needs and values, will make their choices accordingly, and will have every reason to believe they're absolutely correct.
My former husband has a permanent handicapped tag on his vehicle. He has a heart condition, so he was eligible for the tag. He drives to the mall, parks in the handicapped space, and then goes inside to walk the perimeter for the exercise his doctors say he needs. I consider that sufficient proof of the permanent character flaws for which I divorced him!! ; ) Clay ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tamara P. Duvall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "chat Arachne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 10:10 PM Subject: [lace-chat] Re: Handicap parking/driving > On Monday, Nov 17, 2003, at 03:58 US/Eastern, Jean Nathan wrote: > > > We only have 'temporary' handicapped badges that each last three years > > - > > then you have to reapply.But in order to get one, you have to have a > > permanent disability. > > Nice to know that *something*, in the area of "social care" is better > in the US than in the UK :) Here, if you have a permanent disability, > you get a permanent tag; the "guy in the wheelchair" symbol is pressed > into your license plates (preceding the numbers). You need to renew the > plates yearly (everyone does), but that's it (as it should be). The > temporary (and up for periodical review) tags are cardboard, bear the > same symbol, and are hung off the front mirror. They're *supposed* to > be used only when the disabled is on board *and* needing to get to the > store, but they're not (I've seen young, brisk mothers of 3 shepherding > the brood to a store having first placed her "excuse" on the mirror). > > The older folk tend to drive right to the door of the store, drop the > disabled person *there*, and park wherever there's a spot, *other* than > the Handicapped one. The procedure is reversed at the other end. It's > the younger set who take advantage of the few yards (I bet they're the > ones who jog for their health daily, too <g>) > > > I don't drive slowly as I'm not in pain when I drive. I'm not a > > disabled > > driver but a disabled walker. > > Yeah, sorry, but, in my (limited, granted) experience, the folk with > the permanent tags tend to drive at 10-15MPH irrespective of the posted > speed limit (25 to 55 MPH in the immediate area; you don't see many of > them on the highways, praise be). And they never turn their blinkers > off, either... *If*, that is, they remember to turn them on in the > first place... I'm a reasonable person most of the time but, when on > the road, I turn into a *witch*, and all the infractions are *counted* > <g> > > ----- > Tamara P Duvall > Lexington, Virginia, USA > Formerly of Warsaw, Poland > http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/ > > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: > unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
