Is anyone else pissed because people are issued handicapped tags just for being fat? I would think the opposite should be tried. If you are that fat then maybe you should have to park further out and walk. The extra walk would burn some calories.
And while I am being a jerk about fat people how many others hate those stupid electric wheelchairs the stores have? They block the aisles and the people in them are huge. I always have the urge to tie a bag of oreos on a string and then walk in front of the fatsos. Just to see if they will follow.

Tim45 Wrote:
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> Is anyone else pissed because people are issued
> handicapped tags just for being fat?

im not sure it's that they are fat but rather related problems like really bad knees. i dont know if "im a fatass and i wanna park closer to stores all the time," would really work at the DMV.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

I am sure the bad knees naturally followed the being fat. The human knee isnt made to support 500+ pounds of blubber.

DMV doesnt care what your problem is. The doctor gives them a written form stating "This person due to being a fat fuck can no longer walk more than fifty feet and must be allowed to park closer to Giant so he/she can get more food to become even fatter"

Parking closer is the last thng they need.

I want to go into shoppers food warehouse, and race my friends around on those electric wheelchair things.

I have raced a lot of things that aren't ment to be raced. electric shopping carts being one of those things. Its fun.

I have no problem telling people who park in the handicap spots that they don't look like their handicapped to their face.

So if you park in a handicapped spot and you have the little hanger or tags and your not handicapped(as judged by ME) be prepared to hear somebody yell at you for abuse of a handicapped spot!

Dr Gridlock often had thread son this topic. Of course there's always the person who said "you really can't tell I'm disabled by looking at me but that's because I wear pants over my artificial leg" or some such stuff.

Those spots are labeled handicapped, yes. But the spirit of having those spots there is to allow closer parking for people that really need it. If someone ended up with a tag but they have no trouble walking the extra three feet from the spot next to it, then they ought to leave it open for someone who could really use it.

You see this all the time at places like Wal-Mart. People pull into the handicapped spot and then sprint into the store. It used to bother me to see it but I don't care anymore... I know there is a lot of abuse of those spots but I got over it because there's nothing to be done about it. Plus the people who "really need" it are also the ones tailgating me and driving like total assholes (you know, when someone is finally off your tail and you see the plate and say 'their handicap must be mental'), so I guess there is give and take.

They should really post the web addresses and phone numbers of places to call if you see handicap spot abuse right on the signs. Maybe just a simple:

Text violation license plate to "XXXXX"



Here are the numbers to report people:
Violations of Handicapped Parking, Reporting

City of Fairfax Police Department
703-385-7960, TTY 703-359-2480

City of Falls Church Police Department
703-241-5053, TTY 703-532-4489

Fairfax County Police Department
Voice/TTY 703-691-2131

Herndon Police Department
Voice/TTY 703-435-6846

Vienna Police Department
703-255-6366

The problem is if they have the tag and it isn't expired then it's legal. Perhaps what they need to do is use reported info, cross-reference through DMV to find the doctor who signed the request and bother them. That way doctors won't agree to those as easily if it means time and paperwork involved with the cops. If FCPD can put together a special group to fine people who have had too many false alarms from their home/business security systems then maybe they can dedicate a person or two to notifying doctors that their tags are being misused and to please evaluate more carefully.

Yeah really. The FCPD can protest places to eat, but they are blind to the huge abuse of handicap spots. LOL

There was a scandal a few years back where a bunch of UCLA football players had handicap stickers. I found that pretty damn egregious.

I think you all are being too hard on those with handicapped stickers. I also think it would be better to put up a public website to post the plates of jerks who toss their cigarettes and anything else out the window.

Undoubtedly there are abusers, as there are with everything. They need to be caught and fined.

A lot of people, while they may not ‘look’ handicapped, suffer from such things as arthritis and plantar fasciitis and those flare up. Sometimes they’re tolerable, sometimes they’re not. Could be these people have just had bypass surgery or wear a pacemaker.

As for the obese people, it’s so easy to tell them just to stop eating or suggest $57,000 stomach stapling surgery. But in reality they may suffer from glandular problems, or just poor genetics. If they walked much farther than a few steps they could have a heart attack. It’s also just hard for them to walk, period. You would not believe the pain of something like that until it happens to you. Why don’t you give people the benefit of the doubt?

It isn’t my job or my business to question why someone parks in a handicapped place, so I don’t rent it space in my mind. I’m thankful I can walk and don’t need a placard. It isn’t just old people who are handicapped. I work with a bunch. They’re called programmers.

I take a certain degree of offense to those who prejudge others with handicap placards/tags.

While I am not qualified as a medical professional, or otherwise, I can tell you this...

A few years ago, my wife was diagnosed with cancer. Five months after our daughter was born, she had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor and shortly after, began aggressive tratments involving chemotherapy and radiation. As she endured the discomfort of all that, she tried to carry on her day-to-day life of being a wife, mother, and to manage somewhat a life for herself with a degree of uncertainty abound.

Her doctor issued her a mirror-hanger card - or at least, signed the papers to get one through the DMV. After her last week of treatments, I bought her a new car, trying to do my part in making her quality of life better - and she said it helped...

Every now and then, folks would stare her down in parking lots in her shiny new car, fumbling with a stroller for the baby, etc.
Some might caugh or whisper. Some pointed and even commented out loud.

SHAME ON THEM!

On some days, it was all my wife could do, to get out of bed and run water over her face to feel fresh. Some days she hardly got out of bed at all...

Some days, she had difficulty walking up and down the stairs. Add to the fact she had an infant that had to be cared for, it was often a miracle she still carried a smile at the end of the day.

At times, I might be in the car and witness this and bite my tounge over how shallow some people could be - There was a reason she had a placard and it was valid for a specific time period, renewable upon the doctors signature/paperwork.

While what I say may, or may not make a difference to you, I hope that the next time you see some younger person you feel might not be ohh so deserving of a placard, you stop and think - could there be another reason for what is going on here??

Regards -

ffxn8v Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A few years ago, my wife was diagnosed with
> cancer. Five months after our daughter was born,
> she had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor and
> shortly after, began aggressive tratments
> involving chemotherapy and radiation.

did she get pregnant knowing she had cancer? i think it would be a bit selfish having a kid knowing you may kick the bucket before they are old enough to care for themselves.

one thing society doesnt understand or even wants to acknowledge is people with disabilities actually have a harder time doing some of the things people take for granted. people are the best!


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ffxn8v Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A few years ago, my wife was diagnosed with
> > cancer. Five months after our daughter was
> born,
> > she had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor
> and
> > shortly after, began aggressive tratments
> > involving chemotherapy and radiation.
>
> did she get pregnant knowing she had cancer? i
> think it would be a bit selfish having a kid
> knowing you may kick the bucket before they are
> old enough to care for themselves.
>
> one thing society doesnt understand or even wants
> to acknowledge is people with disabilities
> actually have a harder time doing some of the
> things people take for granted. people are the
> best!



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

On the internet, it is sometimes hard to look through the text to see exactly how you might be judging here - if indeed you were.

With the benefit of doubt given, No, my wife did and I did not plan for her to have cancer nor did we know she was sick at the time of birth of our child.

We planned like a lot of couples do, to have a family. Cancer happened...

After our child was born, my wife noticed her neck was swollen. She went to her dentist for a routine visit and "ohh by the way, is there something going on with my teeth, causing swelling," was a question she asked while there (having had her wisdom teeth pulled years earlier, and that area swelling for a few weeks).

The dentist didn't say a whole lot, other than you should go see your doctor, NOW(!)

After a visit or three, I advised my wife it was time to see a specialist, as out family practice wasn't much help. A visit to the specialist exposed the root of the problem, the tumor in her neck - within two weeks I think, we were scheduled for surgery and the main tumor was removed and tested, leaving much of the rest of her body, still showing similar spots in scans.

My wife and I came to understand terms we never thought we would have to learn or discuss -

The worst part of it all, was the "bedside manners" of her surgeon who said, "more than likely, changes in your hormones during pregnancy brought out the cancer in you."

Never in my life had I been so angered by anothers words!

I agree with you Gravis, about folks taking things for granted. I look at my family and life with a different perspective than I did back before all that - and care less about many things now considered trivial, focusing upon what really matters.

Regards -

ffxn8v Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On the internet, it is sometimes hard to look
> through the text to see exactly how you might be
> judging here - if indeed you were.

no no, i definitely am judgmental.   :)
i take no issue with your choices. congratulations, your window will stay brick-free.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

"Every now and then, folks would stare her down in parking lots in her shiny new car, fumbling with a stroller for the baby, etc.
Some might caugh or whisper. Some pointed and even commented out loud"

If it was that bad why didnt you do the shopping?

"At times, I might be in the car and witness this and bite my tounge over how shallow some people could be "

If you were in the car why didnt you drop her off out front, less distance to walk and then park in a regular space? She needed the space you didnt.

ffxn8v Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The worst part of it all, was the "bedside
> manners" of her surgeon who said, "more than
> likely, changes in your hormones during pregnancy
> brought out the cancer in you."
>
> Never in my life had I been so angered by anothers
> words!

Would it have been preferable that he not tell you and your wife what he believed caused the problem? I'm not trying to criticize, I just want to understand why it made you so angry. If it was true and he didn't tell you and you had another child which repeated the problem, wouldn't you be angry that you weren't told and she had to go through all that again?

Nowadays doctors sugarcoat things a lot less, probably due to liability. If there is an opinion they will likely give it rather than be in a courtroom in a year explaining why they didn't.

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Would it have been preferable that he not tell you
> and your wife what he believed caused the problem?
> I'm not trying to criticize, I just want to
> understand why it made you so angry. If it was
> true and he didn't tell you and you had another
> child which repeated the problem, wouldn't you be
> angry that you weren't told and she had to go
> through all that again?
>
> Nowadays doctors sugarcoat things a lot less,
> probably due to liability. If there is an opinion
> they will likely give it rather than be in a
> courtroom in a year explaining why they didn't.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

No problem - :-)

Actually, we did have a second child five years later (and many scans, checkups, etc) Healthy & happy :-)

We did not really ask how / why - but when the doc said it, it was like, WOW!

She also came into the lobby area where myself and our family were waiting after the surgery to remove the tumor and the doc blurted out, "YEP! Cancer..."

I do see what you were saying, but this doc had bad bedside manners, all around.

Whynot Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Every now and then, folks would stare her down in
> parking lots in her shiny new car, fumbling with a
> stroller for the baby, etc.
> Some might caugh or whisper. Some pointed and even
> commented out loud"
>
> If it was that bad why didnt you do the shopping?
>
> "At times, I might be in the car and witness this
> and bite my tounge over how shallow some people
> could be "
>
> If you were in the car why didnt you drop her off
> out front, less distance to walk and then park in
> a regular space? She needed the space you didnt.


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

With all due respect, please do not turn this around on me, or otherwise attempt to judge when you have not walked a mile in my shoes.

We did what we did to manage our lives, period. Thanks.

sounds like you got caught

p.s. what does it being a shiny new car have to do with the situation?

ffxn8v: You have my respect and sympathy. It sounds like you are handling being dealt some tough cards with dignity and without seeking pity... Life is hard enough - my hat goes off to you and I wish you the best.

That said, I think your wife is likely the exception to the rule, i.e., most people with the placard who "look" like they don't need it probably don't. And their abuse is so prevalent that we don't even offer them the benefit of the doubt; that they may have a disibility similar to your wife's and appear for the most part healthy. I imagine at some point they'll feel the karma whip...

burpgun Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ffxn8v: You have my respect and sympathy. It
> sounds like you are handling being dealt some
> tough cards with dignity and without seeking
> pity... Life is hard enough - my hat goes off to
> you and I wish you the best.
>
> That said, I think your wife is likely the
> exception to the rule, i.e., most people with the
> placard who "look" like they don't need it
> probably don't. And their abuse is so prevalent
> that we don't even offer them the benefit of the
> doubt; that they may have a disibility similar to
> your wife's and appear for the most part healthy.
> I imagine at some point they'll feel the karma
> whip...


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Thank you - I do appreciate it! :)

I think it is safe to say that we wish we did not have first hand knowledge of the process ane use of the placard, but am glad my wife has been healthy for the past few years as a result of the very treatments that made her so ill.


I do think there is more than a bit of abuse out there however, not from my direction.

For others who may or may not care, allow me to add this - my Aunt has a placard however, she only uses it on what she considers to be, "really bad days." As part of Fairfax that is "graying," I suppose she has a few health issues as she ages. She wants to just get along - but appreciates the use of it if she needs it - just not all the time.

My Father has H-tags. While he looks healthy and gets around, he sometimes walks with a stick (his version of a cane). While certainly not very old (not retired completely), he has seen his fair share of this world. With more metal in his body (courtesy of the U.S. Govt.), I think he is entitled to the tags too.


Don't take your mobility for granted - and if you do see someone take a space to just run into a store, report them. I am sure there is a form for that kind of thing online, somewhere...

Regards,

burpgun Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I imagine at some point they'll feel the karma
> whip...

that's right because that's all it is, imagination.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

I broke my foot this summer and asked for a temporary parking pass from the doctor. The doc wrote the note and put the experation date as October 1st, 2006, a couple weeks after her cast was to come off. But, when I got the pass from the DMV, they had for some inexplicable reason written the pass so that it expires on January 1st, 2007!

So, hoo-ha, I'm a 100% able bodied person who will be happily (and legally!) parking in handicapped spaces all the way through the holiday shopping season! Complainers, get off your high horses, and just admit you are jealous. You know it's true - you aren't really trying to push morals or ethics here. I can see it in your eyes as I zip into my reserved space while you circling the lot for the third time. Heehee!

I hope I see you so I can break your other foot, asshat.

You'll have to find a parking spot first! :D

Karma says somewhere down the road you will be crippled for real

Tim45 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Karma says somewhere down the road you will be
> crippled for real

karma *cough*your imagination*cough* has no bearing on reality.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

There's a path to things spiritual for you too Gravis - it starts one step outside your mom's front door...

see, now, THAT was an original play on the old "lives in his mom's basement" put-down.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2006 09:21PM by RESton Peace.

burpgun Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There's a path to things spiritual for you too

what does that have to do with karma?   ;)


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

i see a lot of fat people with handicap tags