I've been going to the gym to walk on the treadmills in the hopes of getting my strength and endurance up so I can get rid of my cane. In just the last two weeks, I've noticed something. The people who ride their motorcycles to the gym have a weird habit of parking in the handicap spots. (well, in the hash marks where you'd have wheelchair access)

I dont see anything on the motorcycles saying that they're eligible to park in the handicap spots. No tags, placards...nothing. I'm sure there are a few motorcycle riders out there that might be able to park in the handicapped spots, but I would bet they have the correct parking permits for that and they're displayed correctly. I've looked at these bikes. There's nothing on them indicating that they've got a placard.

Been using my ipod touch to take pictures of the bikes. I just tweeted a picture of today's offender to the gym's twitter account. There's plenty of parking down there. I just dont understand why these motorcycle riders seem to think that the hash lines of the handicap spots are for motorcycle parking. Since I park in the handicap spots (I have the handy dandy placard) It's a bit irritating to get there and find motorcycles parked in all the wheelchair access areas of the parking spots, and not parked very well. (badly enough that I cant squeeze my minivan into the spot without knocking over their bike or scratching my van)

Am I right to be annoyed? I think I'm going to email the people that enforce the handicap parking, and give them a heads up that they could ticket a few of these people.

I'd definitely speak to a manager about it, these people probably just got lazy.... and if no one says anything to remind them of the rules ...they will keep doing it.

Maybe you could print out the pics and post them on the front door of the gym with a note reminding them that the handicapped spots are for the handicapped.

If that doesn't work you could send them to the local P.D. Just make sure you get a good pic of the license plate.

Or you could leave a note letting them know that you'd hate to accidentally bump into their bike and knock it over but if they insist on parking illegally it's possible that it might just happen.

I'd pull right in and block it! After getting a pic with lic plate.

A couple of them are those big motorcycles that are probably pretty heavy, but one of them is one of those little scooters that seem to be popular with women. I could probably block the big bikes, but the little scooter could probably be lifted over a curb and moved that way.

It's just SOOOO annoying, to get there and see motorcycles parked right next to the door where I want to park, in the handicap spot. These guys are going to the gym. To exercise. (the irony of it...) You'd think they'd be able to handle walking the extra 40 feet to the door. Lazy butts!

I'm sure they're really tired after bench pressing a few hundred pounds, or jogging a few miles, but I'm really really really exhausted after doing a half a mile. I need the space that's closer. (sometimes I stop before I'm tired. Sometimes I dont realize I'm tired and can barely move till I'm trying to get off the treadmill and then realize I can barely make it to the door...and that's after walking for less than a half mile sometimes. Depends on how tired the MS troll is that day)

I don't think you're wrong to be bothered. I had a dear friend back in the days I was more agile come ask me to shimmy in her car and back it out b/c someone at the gym parked so close to her big old Caddy that I had to get into the passenser side and climb across (which was a physical impossibility for her). Surely they noticed the big old car in the handicap spot right in front but chose to park so close that I couldn't have gotten in on the driver's side even if I weighed 80 lbs. She was in her 80's; we were working with the same physical therapist in the pool.

I do bettcha that it never occurred to them b/c they are not handicapped. And frankly 99% of people would want to know and would feel bad about not thinking. There is NO PARKING in the cross hatch spots for a reason most people never have to consider. Peeps with hc parking plackards/plates need the extra room for opening doors wide, equipment, loading our groceries etc. If I could shimmy into a half open door that would be a different story but I cannot. That is why the spots are wider and marked NO PARKING between. Some days I just go home w/o groceries b/c I am just too tired to deal with the parking to get into the store.

It takes a lot more physical ability in general to be able to ride a motorcycle b/c you have to be able to pick up several hundred pounds if you dump it, balance when stopped with your legs, even picking it up off the kickstand requires a lot of strength for some big bikes. I don't recall ever seeing a large bike with a hc sticker now that you mention it. I'm sure there are some but in general most disabled people need their cars just like they need the hc parking. Bicycles do the same thing many times when they disregard the rules of the road and parking. Most bike riders aren't struggling to walk over curbs or maneuver a scooter around.

I bet if they were made aware most would have the good grace to start thinking about where they park and give a lot more leeway and respect to the people because they can't imagine the situations we live. You will be creating more self-aware members of society that will help us all out a bit.

My pet peeve is the people that don't want their cars dented so park way over into the hc spots so people on the other side won't nick their doors. That leaves me with precious little space to clamber into my car if I'm having a bad day, or pull my grocery cart up close so I can unload w/o walking back and forth many times. Loading my car on the other side means I have to back my car into the garage to unload or walk around the car which is a little too long to fit in the garage and have me walk around easily. So i have to be careful the dogs don't trot out while I'm bag wrangling. I can't put them on the floor and bend to pick them up easily so it may take 20 more minutes just to get in my house.

This level of effort doesn't enter people's minds, how could it. A friend of my Mom's with MS asked a nice department store in their small town if they ever thought of installing a handicap bathroom for their shoppers. It was her favorite store but she rarely shopped there b/c there was no place she could easily go. So they very nicely built a grand little bathroom and installed the door so that it opened IN. i.e. nobody with a walker or wheelchair could enter AND close the door. It just never occurred to them. With very good grace they changed the door and now she has her fav store back. People do want to help, sometimes they just need to know how.

I am tired of motorcycles parking all over sidewalks and ramps b/c they feel the rules do not apply to them. I have to pop my grocery cart down off or worse up on curbs b/c I can't get to ramps or through hc walkways or on sidewalks. I don't feel like going back into the store to have the manager page the owner of the red motorcycle etc. if i can barely bump a curb.

I would certainly take photos into the gym manager and hand them all the info they need. I'll bet your problem is resolved pronto. The stigma of social embarrassment is a powerful motivator if not the price of parking in hc parking without a permit. If that doesn't do it one call to the local PD and a few tickets will permanently fix the issue. Those tickets are pricey. Don't be afraid to ask-you'll end up making things a lot easier for a lot of people all over town is my bet. I've had several people help me do things because they were aware and cared to stop an do something nice. Most people really do want to do nice things for those less able if only they knew what.

I did tweet one of the pictures (today's offender) to the gym that I've taken of the motorcycles parking in handicap. Only thing is, the gym is a national chain, and it's probably a twitter account for the entire chain. I'm pretty sure that if they're doing it at my gym, they're doing it at all the other franchises of this place.

What I'll probably do (in a few minutes when I get done posting this) is to email or at least find the number of the handicap parking patrol. I really do think that narking on them to the guys who write the $100+ tickets is the way to go. Public humiliation is another one for them, but having them learn a financial lesson is probably a better motivator. I dont think they really need any warnings. The law for handicap parking has been around for awhile, and so has the knowledge of what happens when you screw up and park in a spot when you dont have a placard.

I did mention something to the girls at the front desk the last couple of times that I saw someone parking their bikes in the spot. One of them said that they dont get handicap people there. It's a gym. Handicap people dont use gyms. (I lifted up my cane at that comment and raised an eyebrow to give her the hairy eyeball. Not sure it worked, she was kind of an airhead)

I'm going to go see if the gym I go to has an actual email address that I can send a complaint to and then go look up the email for the handicap parking enforcement. I think it's because I only just started using the placard within the last 6 months that I'm starting to get very...sensitive...when someone is parked in those spots. I was sensitive before, because my mom has been using a placard for years, along with a wheelchair on the bad "my kneecap just exploded" days before she got her replacements.

When I would take her shopping and she used a wheelchair then, and I'd get out to the car to find someone parked an inch from my door and another car parked just barely wheelchair space away from her door. I wasnt always very careful with maneuvering her chair between the cars...at least not on the side of the chair that was next to MY car. People take that chance when they park too close to a handicap spot. They chose to park too close. Not my fault they were a foot over into the wheelchair access area.

You have got every right to be more than annoyed. When I go visit my mom, who has a handicap placard and I drive her car, I never park in the handicap spots. I drop her off at the front door and then park in a regular spot. I may be drunk walking through the parking lot but I'd hate to have someone who really needs the spot not have it. I have noticed that motorcyles seem to be parked wherever they want or think they can fit.

Talk to the manager of the gym. Don't talk to the airhead at the desk. There is someone that is higher up and thats who to target at the gym. Use the tact that if you can't park easily then the membership is noto useful to you and you might as well quit. Not that you would but that might make them more responsive to your complaints.

I LOVE the hairy eyeball. I thought I was one of too few that used that phrase. It probably was lost on counter person, alas. Some people that have never been sick, particularly the young (and those that feel immortal-I do remember that feeling). Not to disrespect young people - because some are the light of the world (as are people of all ages)-but some are a tad unaware (of all ages) because the don't have the life experience to make an impression when being shown the proverbial 800 pound gorilla. Or they choose in denial of their own mortality to look at the gorilla.

I used to be mortified when I got rushed in the check out line about being a slowbie. "Hello! it wants you to sign NOW," as I struggled to get my credit card back in my wallet without dropping it and further delaying. Now I just smile and say, "I know but these hands only go so fast sweetie."

Chaos theory. (warning: this is what happens when you think too much as I do) The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does. (Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg. 141) Think of yourself as the butterfly.

I believe we are all here for a purpose--maybe that's a small bit of yours/mine??

So yeah, I believe the counter person might not have gotten the full impact of you nicely lifting your cane. We don't get "those" here, it's a gym. Oy! All Paralympians would disagree with her. If more disabled people went to the gym they would likely be more able-but to park, walk around heavy weights left unracked on the floor, or wrangle several 45 pound plates off the squat machine left by some huge able bodied guy makes it rather difficult. So I don't get to do squats that day or I ask for help which NOBODY ever refused to do. All jump with alacrity to the task and I've made a new friend that often goes around unstacking machines when they notice them for those who cannot even when I am nowhere near.

I hired a helper in moving out to CA and she parked the first time we went to the store next to a hc place in case someone "needed" it. I wanted to point out well I am hc and have a hc plate hence I need it but thought oh well I was having a good day- no biggie. I finally had to talk about it with her and make clear that 8 feet may not seem a lot just with you looking at me be sometimes that 8 feet might as well be 8 miles. AND if someone parks really close I will have a devil of a time getting in my car. If something weird happens in my brain 8 feet may be insurmountable and I never know when that is. She got it-esp the longer she spends with me.

Now I hand her things with a shaky hand and we joke about playing tamborine for Fleetwood Mac and how I missed a wonderful career op. She'll watch me glacially & laboriously dig a hole (on a slow day) for planting a tiny cauliflower and finally ask, "do you want me to do that you determined thing you??? I know you like digging but I can start the hole and then you can talk to it and get it in position just right." We giggle about it. She's taken care of friends and her mom who was disabled with back issues as I am. So she's very sensitive and very aware but some things she just can't know it all unless I ask.

As with all people (including me) the first few months I used my placard I felt like I was trespassing. You are not trespassing--most people would wake each morning and thank their lucky stars they don't NEED a placard if it was on their radar. I would ask to speak to that particular gym manager and give him the photos and tell him you're trying to work up to being able to walk a half mile and it's taking a LOT of hard work. Explain that sometimes you don't realize until you get off the treadmill that you did too much and that distance stretches out like a few miles as do all the objects in the way. That happens to me too.

I don't know what I would do without my alert dog-not everyone is as lucky. It is she that notices I am going too far when pulling weeds on the hill in my back yard long before I realize there is a problem. I live in CA so the hill is quite steep which is great b/c I don't have to bend over to pull weeds (I dig out little flat spots to kneel or stand) and my dogs have the great huge back yard (the hill allows a huge flat portion of grassy yard) so they glory in bounding unchecked over hill and dale. I have waist high terraces where I grow organic produce without bending over. I realize suddenly oops I am going to have a devil of a time getting off this hill and it is very scary. Things in my brain changed without me realizing because I was moving/working. My dog bounds up to me and starts badgering me BEFORE this happens. HELLO!! you need to go down NOW. When I get down I realize she is right again. One bad scare was enough-she talks I listen.

I've left entire carts of groceries in the store b/c I could NOT go through check out. I had to get to car, sit, take meds, or drive home NOW while safe to do so.

Explain to the gym manager. If he's another that doesn't get it then ask for his boss who might be a little more experienced. Most likely (all managers generally do) he WILL understand the hc community IS a force to be reckoned with. Plus you look like a total *** when you don't DO something. Public shame at work again.

If you've just started using the placard you are in the queue for many transgressions of the uninformed. Mostly if you are nice and educate you leave a wake of helpful willing Johnny Appleseed's behind you. If you don't ask you don't make progress. Fear and frustration are destroyed by ACTION. So think of yourself as an ambassador if you are able to do so on some days. You will help many people behind you, too timid or tired to ask for themselves (in particular the elderly who are of a different mindset of their generation, proud, timid, tired, or have given up). I have several friends that I "fight" for if not fighting for myself. My Dad is a Korean vet so I fight for him-he fought for me.

A young man rammed his cart HARD into a hc motorized shopping cart (enough to move the several hundred pound cart) when I was in line next to a woman piloting it last week. It scared her so badly that she was literally near tears. I understand this fear because I have been run over, knocked flat, tipped over, etc by people in a hurry so I go to the store with a great deal of caution. I often have to stop short and wait until people outweighing me by hundreds of pounds change direction without looking.

I was the only one that went over and asked if she was okay. I explained that I understood a little of how scary that must have been. I told the young man when he pushed past me to get back in line with his GF that he had scared the woman and almost knocked me over b/c my balance is precarious. She may be more obvious and elderly but I look able bodied and am not. I offered to have him follow me to my car and observe the placard if he didn't believe me. But I asked that he be more careful hitting electric carts or people because sometimes it can be devastating. He had the good grace to apologize to me but not to the lady in the cart. I caught her on the way out and told her I gave him a talking to. She shook my hand and thanked me. I have a new friend.

My 73 year old mother was knocked to the ground in he grocery store and slid more than 20 feet after being slammed into by an employee running to do something around a blind corner. She's about 5 feet tall and tiny. Luckily she wasn't injured but she could have been (I would have been). That employee no longer RUNS through the store.

Don't be afraid to ask for what you are legally entitled to have. A lot of people fought for you to have it despite problems of their own. You owe it to them and yourself to use that placard because you need it. I always hated to ask for extra consideration at first when I needed it. Just tell yourself you deserve this consideration, you are worthy of this consideration, you would not ask unless you needed it.

If nothing else you are helping other people by asking for what Americans believe you are entitled to have. Honestly it costs able-bodied NOTHING. This is an opportunity to teach. These people will raise their children to respect others better.

Princess Diana took William and Harry to many places that most royals their age had never been. Her desire was that they see how many less advantaged people survived WITH their tragic circumstances. As a result I think she helped foster an incredible generosity of spirit in her legacy that more people would like their children to know. If only they thought to do it. Go forth and spread generosity of spirit-you never know when a little girl will become a doctor due to her upbringing and feel compelled to find the cure for a disease that will change the planet. Go forth and be a Butterfly.