Am I just being a jerk here?

[mamajoan]

pm on the way michelle

 

[JudithM]

Originally posted by meandtheguys
Please, if you have the time can you tell me more about hypoglycemia unawareness. Even if you can just send to a starting point web address.

I, too, would be interested in any web site info on this subject. Thank you!

 

[mamajoan]

I am going to start a new thread as I feel like this one has been unintentionally hi jacked...... deep apologies to OP.

Joan

 

[disdreams]

I'm glad you did what you did. Around here, I see people park in HC spots (and other spots they are not suppose to park in) ALL the time. I practically never see someone coming out of the car with a limp, or see a wheelchair, or anything. A lot of the people look perfectly fine. I think a lot of people are driving their parents cars, too, just because of the HC plates.
PS: I think God will forgive you! Didn't you ever watch "Highway to Heaven", with Michael Landon? He used to do stuff like that all the time.

PS:Edited just to fix a spelling mistake. I type very fast and don't spell check on these boards....sorry.

 

[UponAStar]

" I pracically never see someone coming out of the car with a limp, or see a wheelchair, or anything. A lot of them look perfectly fine."

As a young woman with M.S., some of us DO look perfectly fine but feel like *&^#! You can't always see a disability and the invisible ones like fatigue are especially difficult to deal with. Malls are especially draining and I try to avoid them whenver possible but sometimes I can't.

I left work the other day and had to sit at a bench outside the building before I had enough energy to make it my car (in the handicapped area). I wasn't limping or had a wheelchair but I surely couldn't have made it across the parking lot easily. By the way, going into work I was fine but by the end of the day I was completely fatigued. Same with a mall, I may enough energy to walk in and maybe even could park in a non-handicapped spot at that time, but by the time I leave - I'm completely drained.

I'm sure there are other invisible disabilities so please don't judge by only what you can see. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to educate people.

 

[SueM in MN]

One of my friends has a handicapped parking permit that she uses mostly in the winter or when the weather is bad. She is only 50, but has fibromyalgia and has already had both hips replaced twice because of congental (from birth) hip problems. She doesn't walk with a limp, but is unsteady if it's slippery or slushy, so it's not safe for her to be walking a long distance in bad weather.

 

[phillybeth]

My father has a HC tag. To look at him he seems 'normal', but he has a double knee replacement and a serious heart condition. Neither of these ALONE would have been enough for him to get a tag here in PA, but the combination is. He did have a temp tag right after his knee surgery, for 3 months, so keep that in mind too when you see an apparently able-bodied person using a HC tag

 

[disdreams]

phillybeth and UponAStar :

I will keep this in mind. Thanks for enlightening me. However, there are people out there who do not need the HC plates.....one of my family members happens to have one, yet she can hike high mountains and wear spiked heels with her "bad knee's".

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by disdreams
phillybeth and UponAStar :

I will keep this in mind. Thanks for enlightening me. However, there are people out there who do not need the HC plates.....one of my family members happens to have one, yet she can hike high mountains and wear spiked heels with her "bad knee's".

There are some doctors who give them out much too easily (and there are people who use one that belongs to someone else). If all doctors followed the guidelines for who is eligible for handicapped parking, there are quite a few people who would not have them. But, there are other doctors, who are way too strict in their interpretation and some people who should have one, don't.

 

[JudithM]

Originally posted by UponAStar
As a young woman with M.S., some of us DO look perfectly fine but feel like *&^#! You can't always see a disability and the invisible ones like fatigue are especially difficult to deal with. Malls are especially draining and I try to avoid them whenver

I'm sure there are other invisible disabilities so please don't judge by only what you can see. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to educate people.

I agree 100%! Not everyone who has a handicapped parking permit has a visible disability. I have bad knees ... some days are better than others. Today was a not so good day mostly because I took a round trip airplane trip yesterday & sitting in an airplane seat is not good for my knees. However, the trip was worth it! Today I did use the parking permit & I'm sure the people parked opposite us was wondering whose permit I was using.

 

[dclfun]

My favorite "pet peeve" is to go to the mall early in the morning and follow folks in who've parked also in the h/c space. When they get inside, they gather up as the mallwalkers group and walk at a fast pace through the mall. I have to laugh....perhaps by the time they've finished their workout they can only drag themselves to the h/c spots. ---Kathy

 

[McCall]

Originally posted by JudithM
I agree 100%! Not everyone who has a handicapped parking permit has a visible disability. I have bad knees ... some days are better than others. Today was a not so good day mostly because I took a round trip airplane trip yesterday & sitting in an airplane seat is not good for my knees. However, the trip was worth it! Today I did use the parking permit & I'm sure the people parked opposite us was wondering whose permit I was using.

Since the Massachusets hang tag has your picture right on it, it prevents others from using it with wild abandon. I think they should all be that way.
the only time my husband uses it with me not in the car is when he has dropped me at the door but I will have to come back to the car, so he drops me then parks in accessible space for my return trip. other times he will drop me park in reg space and pick me up again.

 

[Michigan]

Kathy that bugs the heck out of me too. I wanted to make a shirt with a handicap parking sign with a slash going down it saying no mall walkers.

 

[dj2]

I bet we're in the same stage of MS and I agree with all you wrote.

Originally posted by UponAStar

As a young woman with M.S., some of us DO look perfectly fine but feel like *&^#!

....by the end of the day I was completely fatigued. Same with a mall, I may enough energy to walk in and maybe even could park in a non-handicapped spot at that time, but by the time I leave - I'm completely drained.

for me, at the end of a visit to a store, not having "energy" translates to not being able to lift my legs enough to walk w/o tripping (although a rollator or shopping cart helps). catch me coming out, and you'd have no doubt i needed the spot. catch me going in, and it seems some posters might be angry with me based upon "appearances".

UponAStar wrote a great description of how the impact of MS can change over the course of the day and a good illustration of why it's important not to judge based upon appearances.

i feel all we can do is live courteous, upstanding (no pun intended) lives and teach our children to do the same.

 

[Tiiiigergirl]

Not a jerk. Just more gutsy than I would have been!

As far as not judging the people who are parking in the disabled spots....here was experience just yesterday at church. We have the plates and placard for my mobility issues. I went to church with my husband and so he parked in the disabled spot because I was with him. Before all of the meetings were over, I started to feel ill. My mother agreed to drive me home in her car. My husband had some responsibilities and couldn't leave until the end. So he ended up getting into our van without a disabled pax! Now he would never park in a disabled spot if it was just him. He has had way too much experience driving around without a close spot and have to push my wheelchair in sloppy weather. But it APPEARED as though that is what he did!