Don't Be A Jerk.

By Doug Geed

   It was quite a few years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in our company parking lot when a little sports car came speeding in and zipped right into a handicapped parking space right by the front door. Out stepped the well-known announcer for one of New York's professional sports teams. (I would never say publically who it was, but he
was a former professional athlete himself who had been broadcasting for quite awhile for one of the pro teams. He's also long since left the local broadcasting scene.)

     He wasn't in a rush, but stepped out of his car, did a little stretch and walked calmly in the building.

   Now let me say, parking in a handicapped spot when you don't have a right to is a major pet peeve of mine. I remember when Newsday used to ask candidates around election time simple everyday questions (along with whatever the political issues of the day were). Questions would include, "What's your favorite t-v show?" -- "What's the last book you read?" -- "Who was your favorite teacher growing up?" And maybe my favorite was, "What's your big pet peeve?"

    Along with littering, abusing a handicapped parking spot is right up there in my book. I can't think of a circumstance where I'd say it was okay. But at the very least, I thought after zipping into the lot and into that spot (when there were plenty of non-handicapped spots not far away) I at LEAST expected to see the guy run into the building, grab something or drop something off and then hop back in the car and drive away. If all of that took place in about a minute, maybe I wouldn't have found it so disturbing. But that's not the case.

    Here was a guy blessed with enough athleticism to make a profession out of playing a game and yet he took it upon himself to take advantage of something reserved for people less fortunate. I actually saw him a couple of years after that at an Islander game and I spent much of the time trying to come up with a tactful way of bringing up the incident and letting him know what a dumb thing I thought it was to do.

   Every year, Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco launches an enforcement program cracking down on people who violate handicapped parking laws during the holidays. Good for him. Too bad Long Island doesn't have the resources to do it more aggressively every day of the year.

    But it really starts with you. Just obey this sign and privately say thanks that you're not in a position where you NEED the spot. In short, just don't be a jerk.

   Here's more info of the Suffolk Sheriff's program.

http://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/departments/sheriff/handicappedviol.aspx

Comments

[Carol Noran]

Why don't you also mention the so called "handicapped" people who have the plate on their car, yet proceed to park and walk from their car as well as you and I.

Getting your family doctor to approve the paperwork to issue you a handicapped parking permit just because you are grossly overweight, have a heart murmur or asthma, is not fair, and just an outright abuse of the entire system.