Begin Rant

Here beginneth the rant about parking spaces for handicapped people (excuse me, I meant "differently abled") and the use misuse thereof.

Rant, Part I: Time and again, I see someone pull into a spot specifically designated for the handicapped, whip out their hang tag, and hop out of the car to go into an establishment.

I'm sure that some of those people have a disability which is not immediately evident. There are always exceptions. But most of them look perfectly healthy to me.

I take umbrage at having to help my husband shuffle slowly, painfully, hunched over his walker, all the way down the parking lot to the door while some young man parks in the spot marked for the disabled, then vaults over the driver's side door of his top down convertible and saunters jauntily into the establishment.

I can't help but being annoyed at people who use the handicapped hang tag when they don't need to, especially in parking lots where parking spaces are at a premium, and the available ones are many yards away from the entrance.

My poor husband is exhausted by the time he gets to the front door and has to stop to rest while the lady in the summer hat and no discernable physical problems gets out of her car (parked you-know-where) and takes a stroll down along the shop fronts, window shopping. Clearly not that disabled, that she requires a stall by the front door.

Rant, Part II: The lady in the summer hat brings me to the second part of my rant. So many of these so-called handicapped persons with their hang tags (pay the doctor, he signs the form) drive expensive cars--late model BMWs, Mercedes Benz's, Lexus SUVs, etc. Probably most of them run in the circles where they have doctors as personal friends....

The truly handicapped people I know have large medical bills, small incomes, and drive older cars. I know this rant is showing my prejudice, but how many examples do I need to see over the years before I can say I see a pattern here?

End Rant