Disabled enough for a disabled parking placard?

During our recent venture to California, the topic of disabled parking placards came up a couple times.

One night we went to Red Robin for dinner. There was nowhere to park; we were considering going elsewhere. A parking attendant -- I think that was his job -- saw us searching. He directed us to park along a curb by the dumpster. He explained to us that in California that if you have a disabled placard that you can park along any colored curb except for red. He told us that a few years ago that he was hit by a car and that he was layed-up for months, only recently landing his current job.

When we went places with family we were staying with while our car was getting fixed, we brought our disabled placard. Cindy told us that the disabled placards were a hot issue down there because so many people had them, and they perception was that any of the people who had them were not disabled, but were cheating to get the parking advantage.

The issue is causing a lot of rage in California, as in this blog entry. 1 in 16 Californians have the disabled placard...that seems like a huge amount!

Sacramento Bee columnist Anita Creamer inspired this blog entry with her August 3 column (registration required - sorry). The issue is people with non visible disabilities (like back problems) having to explain to non-disabled people who want to know why they are using a disabled placard with no apparent disability.

I feel sorry for people with invisible disability. My cerebral palsy is very obvious; nobody ever questions whether I am disabled. I have also had disk pain...that can be debilitating.

When I am in the car and drive up to disabled spot, I have has people watch me until I get out of the car, as if they want to make sure I am disabled. They watch me until I get out of the car and start walking. Our new Sprinter van has a rear lift that you can see through then rear windows, and our last van had a rear outside lift, so people usually get a clue from that that I am disabled.

Sometimes it seems that the elderly feel that the spots should be reserved for them. I get looks from disabled drivers searching for a spot and I am about to get out of the car.

I don't spend time worrying about disabled parking cheaters. I always figure they must have a reason. I have no time for a witch hunt.

I did find humor one time years ago at Beaverton Mall. Two handicapped parking spots. One of the vehicles was a very small sports car, and the other was a pickup that was jacked up 5 feet off the ground. It seemed humorous to me, as I wondered how a disabled person could get into either vehicle.

I do get frustrated when I go to WalMart and cannot find a disabled spot to park in. It is not really for a lack of disabled spots -- they have a ton of them. They are just always full!

Before Jodie and I got together, I did not have a disabled card. I didn't really want one. I could walk. I never wanted to take a disabled spot from someone who might be worse off than I.

With Jodie, and a few more challenges myself, I now regularly use the disabled spots.

Maybe someday there will be a disability rating system. Different colored cards for the more severely disabled, matched to the best parking spots.

What a fun witch hunt that would create!