Blue Badge 'police'

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  • skipsmum
    skipsmum Posts: 707 Forumite
    I get hassle all the time when I park with DS age 10.
    People see me pull up with a child in the car and I get out ably, they (always elderly) then come and rant at me as I walk to the back of the car to get DSs wheelchair out. they generally fizzle out as they watch me struggle to lift DS out of the car.
    I actually only use the disabled spots because I need the extra space at the side of the car. DS hates it when people start shouting at us.
    I usually say "you don't have to be old and ignorant to get a badge you know, sometimes young disabled people are awarded them too." Occasionally I have then been cheered by bystanders!
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  • lyniced
    lyniced Posts: 1,880 Forumite
    On the upside, sometimes I wish I had a camera to record all the pitying looks I get when going round a shop in my wheelchair. I reckon it's a 50/50 split between patronising and challenging - there are very, very few people who just accept disabled people as they are. I get so fed up of conspicuous parents who tell their kids to "watch out for that lady", of elderly people who barge into me, of people to whom I am completely invisible. Teenagers are the most understanding group IMO, they might not understand how to hold a door open but at least they try.

    I don't want special treatment, I don't want your pity, I just want to be equal to every other person in the shop.

    Yes 'watch out for the lady' is the usual one. Or the kids just stop and stare at you with their red-faced parents saying 'don't stare!' Also have you found that when you are in a wheelchair people don't look down and hence don't see you and turn around and almost fall on top of you. This has happened to me quite a few times. Not sure who'd come off worse - me or them??
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  • colin13
    colin13 Posts: 1,007 Forumite
    I suffer from MS and walk witth a walking stick,,once when I was in tesco car park,after an argument with the wife,in a very bad mood(c wot u females do ),,a yougish woman pulled up in a sporty car ,,looking fit and healthy,I noticed this and said about disabled parking only,she told me she had an artificial leg :(and had a blue badge,,she just forgot to put it up,she walked back quickly to her car and put her badge up,,now I challange no 1
  • only_mee
    only_mee Posts: 2,367
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    dane-katie wrote: »
    Sadly i am as subtle as a brick and would have told her where to go, hope your ok though.
    Same as I have and will carry on to do so.
    I'm 40 and 99% of the time the "complainers" are older than me.
  • I get the odd whiner even though I have massive eye shields and a long white cane that scream "I'M BLIND". I just say "I've got a bad back' and walk off whistling.
    Only 3% of those registered blind in the UK have zero vision.
  • NeverInDebt
    NeverInDebt Posts: 4,634 Forumite
    Tell the nosy gits

    "Having a disability is not just unique to older people", they may have been fortunate to have been able bodied most of their lives


    Its bad enough when some of them say "I cant afford that I am only a pensioners" when you know for a fact they just got out of a nice shiny car or you may know they got plenty of money
  • mumps
    mumps Posts: 6,285
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    i also am a bb holder, im 30 something with 3 kids, one being a baby, and i have a heart condition. i rarley use my bb, because of that very fact, im to scared to!!
    i have no idea what i would do or say if someone was to challenge me, either cry or explode!! but i really i do not want the stress of it!

    My husband got a blue badge when I was heavily pregnant and we also had a two year old. Twenty years on and I can honestly say we have only been challenged once. A guy cut us up and DH sounded horn at him. He then watched us park and came over and asked if we had a BB. I smiled and held it up. He just sloped off.
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  • Oldernotwiser
    Oldernotwiser Posts: 37,425 Forumite
    Anybody notice a strongly ageist tone developing here? Is this any better than being prejudiced against disabled people?
  • Anybody notice a strongly ageist tone developing here? Is this any better than being prejudiced against disabled people?

    I haven't noticed that. It's mostly old fogies who complain though, like when I sit in the disabled person's seat on the bus there's usually some old crone who has a point and mutter. Not ageist at all.
    Only 3% of those registered blind in the UK have zero vision.
  • Until I had my son I was quite ignorant of disability, thought it was only physical disability that counted, (although I would never confront anyone parking in disabled parking).

    My son has aspergers, and a lot of people say how 'normal' he looks and I think people have their own opinion of what is and isn't disabled, some obviously feel its their civil duty to 'tell' the 'offenders'.

    I think every disabled spot should have a notice that not all disabilites are visible, also that people need educating on the facts surrouning diability.

    I don't drive, but I know how it feels for people to pass judgement on my sons 'bad behaviour', and until I had him and learned about aspergers I was once one of those people. Now I do not avoid eye contact with people in wheelchairs, or other disabilities. There is a lady who catches the bus with a carer, most people snigger, but I make a point of speaking to her if she addresses me.

    I just think the 'blue badge police' type of people are ignorant, and unless they are educated on certain facts, will remain so.
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