Entitled git

Sue Gregson,

I dinged your black BMW in West Chester today because when I returned to my car you were parked in the space with diagonal blue lines next to my handicapped spot at the doctor’s office. Entitled git. That space is NOT a parking or idling spot. It’s to allow people like me to get in and out of our cars or vans with mobility aids: wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, even canes.

I have a wheelchair in my trunk and a rollator in my backseat when I’m not using them. The rollator is a walker on wheels with a seat. After a motor vehicle accident where I crushed both legs, it depends on the day whether I use my chair or rollator. Regardless, I cannot take unaided steps without falling, something I try to avoid.

Parking and using the chair or rollator is almost always a nightmare. Someone needs to be with me for me to use my chair, but I still need to maneuver unsafely between vehicles if my family member can’t wheel the chair to my door for me to transfer.

Handicapped spots tend to be a little wider than the narrowest regular parking spots so that’s helpful. Some handicapped spots for vans have that space next to them with the blue diagonal lines. Both things allow me to get my stiff body, inflexible legs, and rollator out of my car.

If I don’t get a handicapped parking spot, it’s nearly impossible for me to haul my rollator out of the back seat (because I can’t walk to the trunk to remove it) without scratching my car or the car next to me. I must wait until someone returns to their car and moves it. I’ve waited to have someone move, only to have another driver pull into the spot and refuse to allow me to grab my rollator because they’ll “only be a minute.” Asshole.

Over 25 years, I’ve encountered about two dozen people parked in the space with the blue diagonal lines when I was using my chair. Not once was it a Ford or Chevy. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Jag and other expensive sedans or SUVs. Detect a theme? Most of the time it was in hospital or medical building parking lots.

If I’m by myself, I’m at the mercy of fellow parkers, and most do their best to allow space. Thank you. Some parking lots cram in too many spaces though, and not enough handicapped ones. More than 19 million Americans use a mobility aid. 

So next time you’re tempted to park on the diagonal lines next to a handicapped spot for a few minutes, please don’t. Or I’m going to be more than tempted to dent your door. And try to stay centered in your spot please, not only because it looks nicer but because the extra inches let me carefully remove my rollator without nicking the paint on your and my cars.

Sue Gregson

Sue Gregson is a business writer and kids’ book author who used to work for the Delaware and Maryland state governments in the education, legislative, affordable housing, and community development arenas. She’s volunteered for federal, state, and local political campaigns for nearly 50 years. Sue is not growing old gracefully.

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