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Posted 7/11/2009 12:50 AM (GMT 0)

Does anyone have a dissabled parking sticker or card that you put on your dash? Well I do and use it only when I have to,BUT I am SO tired of the dirty looks I get and people confronting me in parking lots.As soon as I get out of the car someone will stop,stare,wright  down my  licence plate or they phone someone. Recently an old woman followed me to the store and started yelling  "OH YAH BIG DISSABILLITY"  shaking her head and clukking her tounge. Just becouse I am not in a wheelchair YET, it douesn't mean I don't have dissabillity!!! smhair She and all the others like her should see me now, I have been bedrriden for one week, I can't stand up or walk due to severe muscle spasms and nerve pain, but try proving that to others especially on the days that I  feel good, which is maybe one week in a month.

Posted 7/11/2009 1:06 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, Bella Welcome to the forum.
Like you I have a disabled parking sticker that I hang for my rear view mirror when I use a handicap parking space. I also, try not to use it unless I am having a very bad day and walking is hard for me to do. I drive a bright red charger and like you I get some really nasty looks and comments. It is hard to do but ignore the people and their comments.
You don't anything to prove to these people. If it makes you feel better fake a limp or use a cane when walking.
Hope you feel better soon.
Posted 7/11/2009 1:40 AM (GMT 0)
sorry to hear you have such a hard time... I don't have a sticker.. But there are days when i wish i did...

My aunt has really bad arthritis and is lucky if she can walk at all somedays... even though she hobbles in and out she still gets those looks and comments.... It tears her up inside but she don't let people see that... She says that someday they will get to that point then they will see whats it like

Try not to let it bother you, I know its hard.. I am only 29 and have had days where i have had to let my bf or parents let me out at the front door i know people think i am lazy but i just wish them to have one day with a bad flare up so they can see how it is
Posted 7/11/2009 6:36 AM (GMT 0)
I use mine. I have discovered that even I cannot tell if a person is disabled or not by looking at them.

Donnail
Posted 7/11/2009 1:05 PM (GMT 0)
Even before I had to deal with pain the only people I looked at harshly was the person with no handicap plate or a hanging one. I don't believe they are easy to get? I have been offered one but I don't choose to own one yet.

I never thought someone with a placard was doing anything wrong only the ones that just steal the parking spots.

Laurie

PS my sister has MS and shes young only 1 yr older than me. When we go to the Flea Market alot of people look at us when we use the handicap area. (she has a placard) They have acually pulled in front of us and tried to block our entrance to a space.
Posted 7/11/2009 1:53 PM (GMT 0)
I live in a small town so finding parking up close is not a problem usually when I go to Walmart, the only big store we have. But recently I went to a bigger town and stopped at a store and had to park a block away, okay I do need the exercise, but I also have to reserve my energy cause I only have so much in a day so I have thought of getting a card. I would never abuse it and only use it when I had to.

 

My aunt had one for heart condition but she walked just fine. You can't tell what is wrong with a person by the way they walk.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Posted 7/11/2009 2:42 PM (GMT 0)
I have had handicapped parking for years.  I was only 41 years old when I got it.  I drove a Chrysler Laser so  you can imagine the looks and comments I got.  Back then, you got a plate that you laid on the dashboard so it wasn't obvious that you had permission to park there.  I had someone follow me in the grocery store and yell at me for parking in a handicapped spot!  I yelled back at them to call the police on me... so I gave them a taste of the embarrassment.  I wish they had.  Then I could have nailed them.

 

Now I ignore people.  There doesn't seem to be the problem so much now that I'm older and I live in Florida.  I think half of Florida has handicapped parking!  LOL  Just remember, chronic pain isn't obvious to these ignorant people.  Just wait until they get sick.  This will come back to there rememberance.

 

Sherrine 

Posted 7/11/2009 2:51 PM (GMT 0)
I also have handicap parking.  All I remember is I was so depressed when I got it.  It was before my hip surgery and I really needed it, but refused to.  For about a week-LOL.  Unfortunately, it is a permanent one now.

I never judged people with hc parking, and I really don't care if they judge me.  The important thing is, I know I need it.

Posted 7/11/2009 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
I try not to judge people with the handicap parking either but I do always wonder how in the world do those people with the big, high pick-up trucks get in and out of them if they are handicapped. I wouldn't qualify for a placard but I seriously doubt if I could get in and out of one of those trucks on my best day! Lisa
Posted 7/11/2009 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
geckogirl you are so right.  Who on earth can do that I'm still a young 39 and I can't even look at those trucks without hurting... smhair

Laurie

Posted 7/12/2009 2:18 AM (GMT 0)
bella.......people dont require a reason for your placard. if you have to give them one just tell them " i hve a real problem........ my middle finger just wont seem to go down!!!

some folks just have to find something unimportant to ***** about!.

 

Posted 7/12/2009 2:39 AM (GMT 0)
Bella-
I got a handicap placard about 2 months ago and it has been such an energy saver! Yes, I get funny looks sometimes but no one has actually said anything to me.
I only use it on the days I really need to use it. At first I felt guilty! Silly me. I got it because I needed it. I have gotten used to the fact that many people have "invisible" disabilities". including me. Although I do limp especially after driving, so sometimes it is visible.
It was not hard to get in Massachusetts, just fill out a form that the doctor signs, stating you have a problem walking a certain distance (I am not sure the distance that qualifies in my state).
If you are really bothered by what people say then just make something up. I like the suggestion about the middle finger (hee hee)! You could say you had a triple bypass, you have a fake leg, walking far causes you to faint, whatever. Be creative. I don't like to lie but the people that are bothering you are worse than liars and I would not feel guilty making something up to get them off my back if I were you.
One of my biggest issues with having fibro is that people that don't have it just don't understand it and never will. So you can't really expect them to understand why you need a handicap parking space, either.
Just my 2 cents!
Rose
Posted 7/12/2009 2:43 AM (GMT 0)
I don't know where you live but here in ontario .. its not easy there are quite a few criteria and you have to meet quite a few
Posted 7/12/2009 3:57 AM (GMT 0)
I have one too and only use it when I have to go to a big store or when I am feeling really awful.   I also have started using a cane BEFORE I start hurting.  The cane takes a little pressure off my feet and hips.  I have discovered that I can be stubborn and wait until I hurt and start using it (when it doesn't help much); or I can use it whenever I have to walk a longer distance and it takes longer for the pain to appear.  You never know when you may need it.  The other day I was stubborn and did not park in disabled parking and did not take my cane.  I felt fine as walking up to the building, but it got worse and worse as I walked and by the time I got there I felt horrible.  

My placard is temporary and only lasts until september.  I hope I can get another when it runs out.  No one says anything to me.  A few elderly people looked at me funny, but when I got out of my car, they said they liked my car and wanted to know if I liked it too.   It does make me angry when a person is parked in disabled parking and does not have a placard.  nono   Sometimes they sit in the car so they can drive away.  But it is difficult for a person with a disability to get out and knock on the window and ask them to move. . .   Then whenever I see someone without the placard or plate, I think of someone on here who had fog and forgot to put hers on the dash.  

I used to be afraid to use my cane cuz of what people would think of me.  Now I don't care.  I use it and it helps me.  I use the parking when I need to.  Take care of yourself and ignore the boneheads who think they know it all.

Sue

Posted 7/12/2009 11:48 AM (GMT 0)
HI Bella

I know exactly how u feel when me and my OH pull into  a disbled parking space we get looked at befroe we even get out of the car i think the reason for this is because  we are both in our thirties but what they dont know is i have FM and my partner is in  a wheelchair he is paralysed form the chest down after a RTA they see my hobble out and try to lift his wheelchair out of the car then if im having a bad day i have my cruthes they then dont know where to look but as you say just because your not in a wheelchari or FM is not somwthing that can be physically seen doisent mean you dont have the rite to park there. What gets me is the amount of people who abuse the system and dont have a blue badge and when i confornt them its oh im only going to be two minutes those two minutes take away form somebody who really needs the space and i am gong to start a potiotn where i live to try and get it stopped as we once had our car broken into and has our sat nav cds and other things stolen they also stole are blue badge not how low can a person be to steal that because they can sell and someone can use that dosent need it just becasue they are bone lazy and sometimes i have screamed and people and its awful to say but i say it i hope something happens to you and then you will know what is like it makes me so mad.

Hunibee

Posted 7/12/2009 3:25 PM (GMT 0)
I have one myself, I just got it about a month ago. I work in a large metropolitan city and work downtown. I couldn't afford parking in the building so was having to park 3-6 blocks away. I have Crohns Disease, Fibro and Osteoarthris and will eventually need a total knee replacements. I was so miserable everynight with having not only walk so far to get to work and back to my car, but I also walk some with my job, that I finally asked my doctor for one. It helps SOOOOO much, not having to walk as far. Yeah I have gotten looks too, but no one has said anything to me. If anyone did, I would just tell them do you know me or my health, until you do, I beg you to shut up! Before I got mine, I use to get mad at the heavy people who used them, but I never said anything to them, why, because I didn't know them or their health issues. Maybe they had other health issues other than being obese.
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