June 2014
We were returning to our rental Jeep (Below) after our nice hike through Stratton Brook State Park when my blood started to boil. I was parked in a disabled spot and I could see a car was illegally parked on the striped lines next to our Jeep. They had a disabled placard hanging from their mirror, but they were still parked illegally. To make matters more difficult, they were parked on the side where Kellisa was sitting. I need every inch to safely maneuver her safely in and out of the vehicle.
Being in this "disabled world" for as long as I have, I had a pretty good idea that the owners of the car weren't disabled because I don't know anyone who would park over the lines blocking a fellow disabled community member in when they're parked legally. I had Kellisa's placard clearly hanging from the mirror.
I hate doing this, but I had to leave Kellisa behind the Jeep close to where cars were driving through the parking lot. I asked Laurel to watch Kellisa and make sure she didn't unlock the brakes and start wheeling. I know this is a lot to ask of a 4 year old who can't stand still herself. I had no choice because I had to open the back door before I could wedge Kellisa in the Jeep. Laurel did an excellent job of keeping them both safe. She has a knack of stepping it up in these situations.
In the maybe 45 seconds since we returned to the Jeep, I saw two old people literally running up from the pond and over the small hill (Below) that was a steep 10 feet. They had packed up their two folding chairs, cooler and Sunday afternoon reading materials. Why were they running? I suspect they saw that I didn't open the back door carefully and it came within a couple of millimeters of hitting their car. I don't think they could tell that I missed. So close!
They quickly huffed and puffed as they threw everything in their trunk. The old lady got in the passenger seat while the old man couldn't get in because we were blocking his path to his driver's door.
While I had Kellisa over my shoulder fireman style, he told me that he was trying to get in his car. I followed a "really" with "I was trying to put a huge dent in your car and that didn't work out either".
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The old guy backed off. I left Kellisa's door open while I helped Laurel in the car and loaded the wheelchair in the back. I might have taken my time a little. The old guy never said another word and every time I looked at him, he dropped his eyes. As soon as I closed Kellisa's door, he jumped in his car and they drove it maybe 30 feet to another disabled spot (Below) before resuming their afternoon.
Having fun with old people abusing disabled parking spots is one of the benefits of being in this community and it has a therapeutic effect as my blood pressure immediately returned to normal. I'm sorry, being old isn't a disability. And if they had one of those unseen disabilities, I still believe they never would have squeezed in to block someone else. Plus, would they have been able to pack up and run that distance and up a small hill so fast? If I didn't have a placard up, then yes, take the spot and give it to the person parked illegally. But that wasn't the case.
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