A cop did something that pleased me today
I generally have a low opinion of police (at least the ones I've encountered), but the campus police keep doing things that I am glad they did.
Today, I went to my school, and had to go to the credit union. As I pulled up, first I noticed that someone had parked a motorcycle across one of the handicapped parking spaces, not only making it inaccessable but also partially blocking one from walking between the spots. As I got out of my car, I noted that there was a boy (late teens, maybe early 20s) standing there, and there was a campus police officer reading him the riot act about selfishly blocking the handicapped parking and that he needed to realize that some of us don't have good health (like he admitted he did) and are able to walk the short distance from 'ordinary' parking to the door.
I was very pleased to see that. Generally (off-campus), you DO run a (small) risk of getting an expensive ticket if you park in a handicapped space and don't have a placard or a disabled tag (as we do). But it's rarely enforced - many times I've seen people without placard take spots to go into the store, making it more difficult for us and others who have trouble with walking (for me, I can walk, but it hurts and most days I'd rather not deal with the pain - especially if I don't have an opportunity to rest and get the pain back under control before I do something else). School is a place where you'll see more young people parking in handicapped spaces because they think it's convenient (and they don't care that their selfishness makes life far harder for someone else), but it's also where you'll see rules/laws like that enforced and kids in tears because their precious image-cars were towed.
I told the officer I was glad he'd had that talk with the kid. We chatted for a minute... talked about how things had changed over the years. He said that they have a lot of problems with students who just can't seem to get their cell phone unglued from their ear, and texting while driving was even more of a problem. He said something to the effect that the students, as a general rule, had become more self-centered and unaware of how their actions impacted others. To that I totally agree. One thing about our school - unlike the area around here (where we live), multiculturalism is a way of life, and it's a good thing - and if the laws are enforced, it's because they're good common sense and decency, rather than 'a law is a law".
Today, I went to my school, and had to go to the credit union. As I pulled up, first I noticed that someone had parked a motorcycle across one of the handicapped parking spaces, not only making it inaccessable but also partially blocking one from walking between the spots. As I got out of my car, I noted that there was a boy (late teens, maybe early 20s) standing there, and there was a campus police officer reading him the riot act about selfishly blocking the handicapped parking and that he needed to realize that some of us don't have good health (like he admitted he did) and are able to walk the short distance from 'ordinary' parking to the door.
I was very pleased to see that. Generally (off-campus), you DO run a (small) risk of getting an expensive ticket if you park in a handicapped space and don't have a placard or a disabled tag (as we do). But it's rarely enforced - many times I've seen people without placard take spots to go into the store, making it more difficult for us and others who have trouble with walking (for me, I can walk, but it hurts and most days I'd rather not deal with the pain - especially if I don't have an opportunity to rest and get the pain back under control before I do something else). School is a place where you'll see more young people parking in handicapped spaces because they think it's convenient (and they don't care that their selfishness makes life far harder for someone else), but it's also where you'll see rules/laws like that enforced and kids in tears because their precious image-cars were towed.
I told the officer I was glad he'd had that talk with the kid. We chatted for a minute... talked about how things had changed over the years. He said that they have a lot of problems with students who just can't seem to get their cell phone unglued from their ear, and texting while driving was even more of a problem. He said something to the effect that the students, as a general rule, had become more self-centered and unaware of how their actions impacted others. To that I totally agree. One thing about our school - unlike the area around here (where we live), multiculturalism is a way of life, and it's a good thing - and if the laws are enforced, it's because they're good common sense and decency, rather than 'a law is a law".