Handicapped Parking

Let there be no question, this guy was in a hurry.

He whipped into the parking place nearest the entrance of Harris Teeter, jumped out of his luxury SUV, flung the driver’s door shut and strode majestically into the store.

He had parked in a space reserved for handicapped drivers. It was well-marked with the wheelchair logo painted on a blue field on the pavement plus a sign on a post. It was the last remaining handicapped space available.

The problem was, no handicapped parking permit was visible anywhere in or on his car.

I don’t know what the man’s urgent errand was and don’t need to know. That’s his business.

But that he apparently thinks that it’s OK to cheat a disabled driver out of a parking space near the entrance of a public building should concern all of us. Someone I know well has been disabled since childhood. She needs a cane or crutches to walk. She is entitled to use her handicapped parking permit.

Sometimes she must settle for a more distant space because all of the handicapped spaces are full. Let’s hope that those drivers have legitimate parking permits.

The time was, I would confront drivers who parked illegally in handicapped spaces, but I have grown tired of their profanity-laced responses. Some simply laugh, point to their heads and make a comment like, “It’s OK. I am handicapped . . . up here!”

Do they actually think that’s funny?

To those who park where they shouldn’t, here’s a suggestion:

Be thankful that you are not entitled to park in that convenient spot, that you are able-bodied and could easily tolerate a longer walk to the front door.

Leave the handicapped parking spaces for those who truly need them.

This is Raleigh Mann.

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