Ignorance is annoying!!!!

EricMember

Ok guys,

Sorry, have to rant, and kind of rave, about something that happened to me today (this could only happen to me!). I was out and about today, when I suddenly had killer cramps, first time since my K pouch surgery. Not wanting to wait (as I have in the past 3 months, resulting in major Valve problems) I just happened to be close to the hospital I work. Now, I have a handicap parking pass, here in Toronto, it gives us the ability to park on the street, not only without having to pay, but we can park in a no parking zone, and when my gut is bursting, I'm not going to waste time looking for a spot, so, I parked on the street (it's in the heart of downtown, aka there is no parking anywhere else!) as I always do, and put my handicap pass on my dash, and dashed my ass as fast as I could to the loo next to my office. Ahhhhh....RELIEF! I come back out to my car to find these absolutely miserable older men standing beside my car, giving me the dirtiest looks imaginable. As I use my remote to start the car (I like my toys) they jumped back and began not talking, but yelling at me, accusing me of being a fraud, asking where I stole the handicap parking pass. Now, I know it's not nice to yell at old men, but these 2 old fools were getting on my nerves. According to them, no one my age (I'm 43) should need a handicap pass, I thought to myself, how ignorant can someone be? I, calmly as I could (not very) told them they were a couple of ignorant old fools, and told them to mind their own f'en business! But that's not the end, oh no, one of them flagged down a passing cop, and yelled, and I quote "arrest that fraud officer!!!!". The cop gets out of his car and gets an ear full from these senile idiots. He comes over to me, looks at me, and says "Eric?".....small world! Out of the 8000 cops in the city, the one these idiots flagged was an old friend from highschool I hadn't seen in 25 years, I had no idea he was a cop! It was terrific to see him, but sadly, it was a short lived reunion. These men continued to rant and rave to my friend to arrest me, so I showed him my pass (which has my name and info on the back of it) and briefly explained to him about my crappy health. Turns out a mutual friend of ours, who's been keeping tabs on me on Facebook, had mentioned my illness to him only weeks ago, so he already knew. The two of us just looked at these now furious men, and just laughed, I couldn't help it, they were so pathetic! My friend told them I was completely legitimate, and they just got even angrier. John (my friends name) gave them a choice, get lost, or get arrested for being a public nuisance (buy this point a small crowd had gathered). Of course, they chose the latter of the two, but not before insulting me and getting Johns badge number, because, of course, he acted completely inappropriately and let "a complete fraud" off the hook. Sadly, John was actually on his way to a call, so we didn't get a lot of time to chat, but we exchanged info so we can keep in touch. As for the men, they got in their car (which was illegally parked!) and floored it, hurling obscenities out the window! What is with people?

BUT, they actually did me a huge favor, I met a friend I haven't seen in ages, but it still ticks me off people think they have the right to be downright insulting because I use a handicap pass. They are not the first (but are the worst) I've encountered, and probably won't be the last, but why are people so blatantly ignorant? There are days I wish I had a physical disability (not an invisible one) just so no one will bug me!

I just proof read this (always do before I send a message, I can't spell to save my life), sounds like a movie, I swear these things only happen to me! Oh, and by the way, as those old SOB's skidded away, John got their plate number, it's not even their car, it's a daughter of one of the men, won't she be surprised when she gets a ticket in the mail totaling $325 for being a public nuisance and for illegal parking (John said he would have let them off if they had not called him a few choice words I cannot repeat here as they sped away, good!). And that's my day, how was yours?

Cheers,
Eric

9/14/124:58 PM

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RocketMember

Eric,

Don't let these ignorant people get on your case. I know that is hard but their opinions mean absolutely nothing.

They are probably miserable people to begin with so I would not take it personal. A lot of people do park in handicapped zones without a parking pass. I have seen it myself.

Why they continued to berate you after you had a pass shows they are ignorant. Who knows what their problem is and who cares? I would advise you in the future if this every happened again, to just give them the silent treatment and not even look at them. That will piss them off even more. Sometimes silence speaks more then talking does.

You don't owe anybody that confronts you like this with an explanation. If you want to say something I would say this to them. "You know guys, I would call you stupid for passing judgement on me, but to call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people." Or, "When you first started yelling at me, I thought I misjudged you. And I did misjudge you. You're a lot more ignorant that I thought."

However, the silent treatment is the best way to go.

Rocket

9/14/125:11 PM

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Jan DollarModerator, RN, retired

Sadly, most people assume that the only handicap is needing a wheelchair or a walker. I have a handicap placard due to my arthritis. Usually, I can walk just fine once I am a few yards from my car, but I get stiff sitting in my car, and cannot get out unless I can open my door all the way. This is particularly true if I have been in the car for a couple of hours. Sometimes I park way far away, so that I can have an empty spot around my car. It varies. So, yeah, sometimes I get looks from folks, since I am only 56 and do not have gray hair (at least as far as anyone knows!).

But, fortunately, nobody has called me a fraud!

There are lots of disabilities that are not visible.

Jan

9/14/125:44 PM

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skn69Member

That was perfect poetic justice! Great karma for them...and they deserve it!
There are so terribly many frauders here in Paris that the police no longer accept 'ilegal parking' with a handicapped pass because they know that most aren't true...in the suppermarket they have a special line for handicapped (supposed to go faster!) where everyone goes because it is shorter...when I show up and flash my card they refuse to give me my priority...so now the store manager has had to put a 3 signs (in the air over the check out, in front of and on the check out) saying that card holder are prioritary and others must give up their spots and he lists the other handicapps that are acceptable ie.pregnant women and parents with small kids. I get tons of dirty looks, nasty comments and down right insults...now I give back as much as I get...
Keep up the good fight Eric
Sharon

9/14/125:52 PM

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TE MarieMember

Some people are just morons. I'm glad you reconnected with your police officer friend. That's the silver lining for you today.

9/14/126:40 PM

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CTBarristerMember

I see this a little differently than you guys- I see it as a "road rage" situation. I have represented several clients who ended up in these situations. It almost always starts with a misunderstanding of the situation at hand, and always ends badly.

The funniest one I remember involved a client who is a retired fireman. He also has UC, although his UC is irrelevant to the incident.

The client was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic southbound on I-95, not far from an exit ramp up ahead on the highway. As a former fireman, who went to the scene of many highway accidents, my client knows it is very important to keep the breakdown lane open in case there as an accident that's blocking traffic. And that is what he assumes is the case, when he suddenly sees a vehicle coming up the breakdown lane at a high rate of speed.

My client assumed the vehicle was a "traffic beater", someone trying to use the breadown lane as a travel lane to get to the exit up ahead in the road. My client told me when he saw this speeding vehicle, he "snapped." He then violently turned his vehicle from the right travel lane into the breakdown lane, effectively blocking the "traffic beater" and causing it to turn left sharply to avoid colliding with my client's vehicle.

Only there were two problems. First, the "traffic beater" did not turn left sharply or quickly enough, and ended up rear-ending the left rear of my client's vehicle. Second, it turns out that the "traffic beater" was in fact a State Department of Transportation truck, which is authorized to be in the breakdown lane and authorized to bypass the traffic in this situation. My client only saw the speeding vehicle in in his right rear view mirror and, unfortunately, did not see the markings on the truck distinguishing it as an authorized State vehicle.

The overzealous prosecutor on that case overcharged the crap out of that case. I came up with a few novel defenses, but at the end of the day to save the money and time of my client, ended up getting a decent plea deal for the client whereby he pled guilty to an infraction and paid a substantial fine and court costs.

Eric, if you get in a road rage situation again, walk away. It is not worth it arguing or engaging others if you have a legal entitlement to be where you are. I also think elderly citizens tend to be overreact in these situations when they see something in their mind that is amiss as far as a handicapped parking sticker goes. Apart from that, those 2 guys probably lose their spots daily to active and engaged fraudsters, and because of it they probably had a short fuse with you, whom they took to be just another fraudster.

9/14/127:10 PM

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EricMember

That is true, I park near that spot every day when at work. Most cars parked on that street, being beside a hospital, have handicap passes, and rarely do spots open up, that being said, old does not equal stupid, I know many seniors, who are very intelligent, not so in this case, chances are these men were like this all their lives. I suppose it's human nature to assume rather then to ask. But, no one, young or old, has the right to scream at someone, and try to get them arrested all based on an assumption. Had they not flagged John down, I was just going to let it go, get in my car and drive away. But they brought the rest on themselves, I guess it's true, try as you may, you just can't fix stupid!

9/14/127:33 PM

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fqMember

annoying! something similar happened to me when i was in Europe with my ostomy. i got out of a handicapped bathroom stall and a lady in a wheelchair was screaming at me in some language, pointing to her wheelchair. i flashed her my ostomy and that seemed to shut her up! people don't realize and assume if you look relatively young and healthy, you are!