I still stand by my point though (well. I would if I could).

Lil, Sydney and everyone else who thinks my views are wrong and uninformed

I am sure that with asthma/ RSD/ fibro etc you don't park your car and then run/ skip/ etc into the store?? I am imaging that with all of the conditions it would be a slow hunched walk if you are anything like I used to be and like people I know with fibro/ RSD that walk.

My complaint is not aimed at people who have a condition that means it is difficult but possible for them to walk... but instead at people who treat disabled parking places as a quicker way to get into the shops and which means they avoid paying for parking etc....

are any of you from the UK? you might be able to be a) less offended and b) understand my post better than people from different cultures.

I am not trying to say that people with hidden disabilities shouldn't have parking permits - I'm saying that people who have NO disabilities should definetly not have parking permits or park in disabled bays. Surely this is a concept that we can all agree on?

..........unless you can all hop, skip and run round town/ a supermarket and not spend the next week in immense pain... in which case.... congratulations!

LOL

Rosie xxx

Totally agree!

many times the person driving the car isn't the owner of the car.

family members...not a good thing. good when they get caught.

Rosie,
Sweetie I am not angry or mad or upset or anything with you or what you said or how you meant it. I soooooooo totally agree with you. People who do NOT have a disability, who do NOTown a placard or license plate, in other words have absolutlely NO BUSINESS parking in a Handicapped parking place are absolutely 150% IDIOTS. No matter what country we live in. In California I think they raised the fine to several hundred dollars if caught doing that exact thing. Only problems is there is never a cop around to do ticket them to begin with.....GRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr yes this is a problem that really raises my hackles.

I did so totally misunderstand what you were saying. We really have to be careful how we word 'things' so that there are as as possible any misunderstandings. I do know that sometimes we are all guilty of miss stating 'things' or not explaining 'them' so that our true meaning comes across plainly.

BUT I didn't say what I said either for other people to fly off the handle & saying things that are hurtful or angry. BUT I was in no way angry, or upset. Just pointing out about the hidden disabilities.

I am so sorry I misunderstood you. Was not my intention of starting a 'feeding frenzy' about hidden disabilities. I wish everyone else would stop snipping at your heels so to speak. I am sorry that you got hurt, but again we all have to make sure we word our opinions, or whatever you want to call them so that they say what we want them to say better. I am guilty myself especially when incensed over something near & dear to my heart. Sometimes I open my mouth & insert my foot & I have big feet *ROFL*

For that I apologize to one & all.

DebbyV

Hey Debbie

LOL it's ok - I re read my post and it wasn't very clear! no offence taken - was just explaining myself very badly........ I guess it's cos I'm so used to being the one in a wheelchair who can't find a stupid parking place because of people who don't need them (as in NON DISABLED) stealing them!

LOL!!!! it is hard to communicate over the net sometimes - because there are no behavioural cues to what the other person means!!!

LOL!!

No offence taken at all!!!!

Rosie xxxx

Hey Frogga,

I think everyone's in basic agreement with you.

Any action that negatively affects disabled people is reprehensible and should be curbed, from falsely claiming disability allowances (makes it harder for the genuinely disabled to claim basic life maintenance) to nicking parking spaces (makes it harder for the genuinely disabled to operate in life) .

Firstly, let me say that I view grocery shopping as a heavy-duty occupation, disabled or not. I hate it and the fact that dragging those heavy bags is bad for my arms, neck and back. Hate having heavy stuff hanging off my arms, hate carrying heavy things. But if you live on your own you gotta do it. I don't drive in HK, though, take the buses instead. Even worse, but it does limit the amount I can transport!

Frogga, I'm a Brit, as you know, and although I haven't lived there for a couple of decades I remember it was almost a national sport in the UK. You'd see these people hauling great trolley-loads of goods out of the store to their disabled parking spot then hefting 14 heavy bags worth out of the trolley and into the car, not a light-weight task, even in peak condition. Disabled? My eye!

I don't know if Britain is worse than other countries, I think it's natural to try to cheat the system somewhat...I imagine if you accosted the culprits they'd say "Oh! Sorry! No one was using the parking space, so....??"

Of course, this was in ye olden days, it was kind of in the national psyche to try to get away with cheating the traffic cops and meter maids...but we were all very uninformed about disability then - you only ever took it seriously if you were disabled yourself or ancient.

But undoubtedly people see it as "cheating the system" rather than "cheating the disabled" - which is really what it is.

I think people are still very much *not* attuned to disability in any form. I'll never forget the first time I had a bad injury, I was about 21 in the UK, burnt my left arm by dropping a stew (= pot roast) directly from the oven onto my arm, very bad burn. Walking around the streets later, arm in bandages and sling, arm ultrasensitive and horribly painful, I was horrified at just how little other people respect signs of infirmity. They bang into you, let doors slam in your face, barge you through doors, you name it. When I broke my arm recently in HK, same thing. No one in the street can walk in a straight line, it's almost like "oh a sling, let's head for that..."

And in both cases I wore a sling, a wopping great signpost saying "injured!!".

You can bet your bottom dollar that if any of these cheaters had to cope with life with a disability, visible or otherwise, they would be the first to line offenders up against the wall. But, as with everything, until it directly affects YOU, you don't understand. Sadly, that's just how human beings are.

Just my $0.2 worth! all the best!

Hey artist

I swear the UK is the worst for it... it's improving but not much!! but I was on the wrong side of it the other day - was sitting in my friends car and this lady came up to her and was like "you can walk fine why do you have a disabled badge? you're both young"...

I hate "cheating" the system take Thursday - social worker visited me to fill in some forms - and she is trying to exagerate things so that I can continue to get 24 hr care funded (I sort of imagine that as I have almost no movement, can't transfer, can't feed myself, can't go to the bathroom on my own, need night turns, etc or do anything without help I kind of need it... but they are trying to remove funding.. grrr )

oh well!!!

have you thought of a "cool" oap shopping thing on wheels? the scurge of modern UK.

How come you now live in HK?

People are so rude - they dont open doors, they stand there and stare whilst you struggle to get through them (which is why I have broken 3 at uni so far..) or they just totally blank you (if you're a wheelchair user)...`

LOL oh well... the joys of living in the UK - I suppose we are just lucky to have a good NHS (well... sorta good) and social services support or I'd be so stuffed!!

hope you are doing ok

Rosie xxxx

Nah, Frogga, those trolley things are too rigid - it's still easier for me to handle flexible shopping bags; and I try to shop on my way in and out of town for work - I live on an island in a small village, ice cream and noodle shops only! I live here cause I like it, btw - but when the time comes I surely will get one of those things, cool or not

all the best.

Ooops, forgot the point of my last post (neurontin moment there ) - doesn't sound like you're cheating the system, sounds like you are in *exactly* the situation the system was set-up to help. Don't make the mistake of feeling guilty about it on top of everything else...

Remember, in a case like yours - you sound absolutely, undeniably disabled - it's not about honesty/dishonesty, it's about **presentation** - I hope the social worker is good at that, because it's all in the spin

I have no problem at all with people trying to establish as sound a financial base for themselves as they possibly can, u go for it, girl!

good luck with it, all the best!

LOL noodles and icecream........sounds good..

you need a hunky guy to carry all the shopping home for you..

LOL I think social worker is good - she thought of all this stuff I can't do - open curtains, open doors, turn lights on, turn radio/ CD player on/ pick stuff up/ hand over money/ sign cheques/ use a phone/ put scarf-hat-gloves etc on when I'm going outside/ turning the pages in textbooks/ grip anything.... move around by myself, even silly things like opening the post...
whereas I would just have said "can't uise arms or legs!"..

where did you used to live in the UK?

Rosie xxxx