(no subject)
I can't freakin' believe it.
today I spent some time with my oldest niece and we stopped downtown to pick up some sushi and bubble tea. getting the sushi I parked in a handicapped spot seconds after someone parked two spaces away. while my niece was getting the handicapped tag from the glove compartment for me the guy who just parked two spaces away walks over to my side, knocks on my window, and flips open his wallet showing a badge.
he was checking to make sure I wasn't parking in a handicapped spot without a permit and was full ready to tell me off for it, he was even surprised when I finished hanging it on the rear view mirror before rolling the window down.
he had seen me with my oldest niece, and I regularly get mistaken for being around the same age she is, and made the assumption I probably didn't have a disability that would get me a handicapped tag. do you think he would have done the same to someone who didn't look like a college student? no, because people assume older people who park in handicapped spots need to use them, because it's assumed that disabilities are things that come with age. too many people see someone who is young or looks young and has a disability and decide it can't be a real disability because of the idea that youth and good health go together.
I do appreciate the fact that the guy takes his job seriously, but I don't appreciate the double standard that caused him to automatically decide to be prepared to get confrontational about where I parked.
today I spent some time with my oldest niece and we stopped downtown to pick up some sushi and bubble tea. getting the sushi I parked in a handicapped spot seconds after someone parked two spaces away. while my niece was getting the handicapped tag from the glove compartment for me the guy who just parked two spaces away walks over to my side, knocks on my window, and flips open his wallet showing a badge.
he was checking to make sure I wasn't parking in a handicapped spot without a permit and was full ready to tell me off for it, he was even surprised when I finished hanging it on the rear view mirror before rolling the window down.
he had seen me with my oldest niece, and I regularly get mistaken for being around the same age she is, and made the assumption I probably didn't have a disability that would get me a handicapped tag. do you think he would have done the same to someone who didn't look like a college student? no, because people assume older people who park in handicapped spots need to use them, because it's assumed that disabilities are things that come with age. too many people see someone who is young or looks young and has a disability and decide it can't be a real disability because of the idea that youth and good health go together.
I do appreciate the fact that the guy takes his job seriously, but I don't appreciate the double standard that caused him to automatically decide to be prepared to get confrontational about where I parked.