The Whole Disabled Parking Thing – AGAIN

It is nearly a year since I have been without a car.  We sold my old VW van a few years ago and since sifting to the wilds of West Kerry, haven’t found the need to replace our wheels.  It’s been a healthy transition for us and the public transport system lends itself to the deliberate life we’re trying to live. It also makes me a bit detached from the topic of disabled parking which has been an issue for me in the past. Thanks to the interweb and an old schoolmate, I was made aware of a story emerging from my boyhood home.  Seems a man with a very real need – the guy has used a wheelchair for nearly two decades and has a valid permit – was left one of those notes.  Local media has now gotten a hold of the story after his wife posted a response on facebook and it feels like another case of having to justify a disability that we’d rather not have in the first place. It’s likely the person who placed the note accusing the man of using the permit fraudulently thought they were doing “us” a favor.  Maybe this anonymous, angry scribe has a family member who needs a space and often can’t find one.  Will I speak the unspeakable and say that it was assumed that because the car was a late-model, luxury car with hip wheels that it was assumed that the person mustn’t be in need?  Because he was in the YMCA to play wheelchair sports that he wasn’t “handicapped ENOUGH”? I get the anger of the note writer.  On the days when I did drive and was in need of ...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Other Conditions Authors: Tags: MS multiple sclerosis awareness Living with MS Social Media Source Type: blogs