Hateful Disability Discrimination.

I'm not really well enough to write today, as I have been mainly in bed for the past three days and not really able to sit up or concentrate for long periods of time. Then again, neither am I truly well enough to be this this angry without an outlet for it, and you, my dear blog readers are that outlet!

Over the past few days I have read a lot of "bad press" regarding disability or handicapped parking spaces, both centred in the UK and America. I have stuck up for friends in debates about the legalities of it in the UK and reported a hate group relating to it on facebook and quite frankly have had enough of people's negative attitudes now.

Firstly this facebook group that I (and a lot of my friends) have reported. This group is a "group to revoke handicapped parking permits" they claim to not be a hate group, to be more that of "a bit of a joke". That's crap. For example, the group description:


"Stop treating people differently based on their physical capabilities, that's what they say, but it's all lipservice! As soon as one of those handicapped people wants to park a car they don't want to be treated 'like everybody else' anymore. Well, here at the group to revoke handicapped parking permits we say: "May every man, woman, child, and retard, be treated equally."


Do they really need it? If they're so messed up they can't drive, then why doesn't the person they're with just drop them off and find a fucking spot? If they are able to drive, but use a wheelchair then there's absolutely no need for a close spot- they're on wheels, a conveyance that's gonna get them there easily and faster anyway. Now for those who are just so weak and tired that they aren't able to drive and have too much pride to get in a wheel chair- I say stay home! You've probably got somebody catering to your every need there, too! Why do you feel you need to get that kind of attention when you leave the house as well?
Now there is new category of 'handicapped' people: the grossly, morbidly obese. Now with this I vehemently disagree. Isn't it possible that if you parked further out and walked to your destination you would burn a few calories and lose some weight, thereby negating the need for the 'fatticapped' parking in the first place?


FIGHT DISCRIMINATION!
Actions to take to show your support:
1- get out there and send in a photograph of yourself 'illegally' parking in a handicapped spot, then post it accordingly;
2- steal a handicapped placard from a car;
3- remove any 'handicapped parking only' sign you possibly can; and, finally,
4- flip off handicapped people in the name of equality!"


Yeah, not a hate group at all. Note he sarcasm! All this and they refer to disabled people as "handiass" all the way through. Here are a few other choice quotations from the group. Mainly from one person may I add, the one whom I believe set up the group in the first place. With mine, and probably many other disabled peoples responses:

"Sometimes I park in the handicapped spaces while handicapped people make handicapped faces.......!!!" - What on earth is a handicapped face? SERIOUSLY!


"shouldn't we be shitting in handicapped bathrooms also? just a thought
 i always do. they're so big and luxurious. if they have to wait, big deal, they should've taken the extra time needed to get to the crapper into consideration before they embarked on the journey to the john anyway, so an extra minute or two waiting for me should be no problem. and let's face it- if they can't wait their turn (like the rest of us have to) maybe they should be in diapers. just a thought.
 i hear quite a lot of those goofy bastards do wear diapers and some of them even go so far as to stow away their dung in a separate bag! gross! you gotta give these "equal members of society" a tiny bit of credit for going the extra mile. not a real extra mile of course cause they still get those awesome parking spots!" Right firstly, "goofy bastards" and talking about stoma's and nappies as a choice. Not a hate site, crap. Why do they seem to assume that needing to use a disabled toilet is all about urgency and not having to wait? Seriously? I can wait, I can probably wait all flipping day, what I can't do is get on or off the toilet unassisted. Joy! Sure everyone would love to use the big "luxurious" disabled toilets if they to had to have someone help them on and off the toilet, or relay on rails?


"i want to open up a business that has NO retard parking and big steps out front." Well, I can promise you it wouldn't be particularly successful as alienating a large chunk of the population from any business on purpose would not be a good idea and makes no business sense, not to mention a lot of people would not like the concept of supporting a business with such hateful, discriminatory and illegal "morals".


"mutants
should they even be out in public? 
let's face it, looking at those people is depressing. it's bringing me down, man.
all these people do is break their mother's hearts. why should we have to be afflicted as well?" Mutants? MUTANTS? You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. I am a mutant, who breaks my mothers heart am I? O and you shouldn't have to look at me, young, in a wheelchair and struggling and with a baby in case you might what exactly? Feel something? Have to change your hateful, self righteous opinion?

"ever notice how handicapped people are always asking for handouts? "handicapped" is not a job or an employer - turns out we are!!! and to those who feel like they should be paid for having a pulse and are reading this - you do have an employable skill! get off your asses (so to speak, lol) cuz you can clearly type and use the internet so do some fucking data entry or something!!! " Let's get this straight shall we, right now. Firstly, I do not ask for handouts, I am lucky to receive some but I don't get all I am technically entitled to. I take what I need to live on and my husband works to support us. Secondly, these "handouts" are often practically impossible to get, in fact it took my over 5 years (18 months of which I was completely bed bound) of form filling, appealing and fighting with everything I had just to survive. Thirdly, these tiny "handouts" that we have to fight for are by no means a reason to become disabled. Fourthly I do not feel I should be paid of having a pulse, look at yourself for goodness sake that's just ridiculous. And finally, yes I am well aware that I have an "employable skill" as a matter of fact I have quite a few and a degree and a dipolma, shame the government and employers don't want to make the adjustments it would take for me to have the ability to put my "employable skills" and my education into practice and work. No, no one wants to employ me, my education, qualifications and considerable "employable skills" aside.

"last week i was reminded of how EQUAL parking availability is in Paris. despite my sister's limping and pain she doesn't expect bullshit for parking or special preference in the metro. dog, i love Paris, they don't ruin architecture for the disabled either." Ok, so, lets imagine, we will remove your sister's ability to walk altogether ok? She has to use a wheelchair, so sure why not park in a normal space, further away from her destination, that's fine. Now, get her out of the car. In a normal space, with in a busy, full car park. Ah.... you see.... you can't! Sometimes, and only sometimes the need for disabled parking spaces is about distance and pain, I could probably argue that if you sister does not see the benefit in closer parking and seats on the underground for her then maybe she isn't in the same pain as I've been in my life. Often though, the need for disabled parking spaces is actually more to do with inability to get in or out of the car without space, and/or specialist equipment. Take a look around you and gain some flipping common sense. Oh, and in reference to them not "ruining their architecture for the disabled either, I happen to know that in England if the building in question is grade 2 listed or higher then they don't in fact have to be altered, I have this on good authority as somewhere I used to work was just such a building, (well hell, fancy that a disabled person actually had a job). Just because Paris has buildings this old, and most of modern America isn't even that old would probably be the reason that many places do not have to be adapted. You would probably find also, that, like my old place of work the staff in these establishments would probably go massively out of their way to help a disabled person enter the building or provide them with the services they offer by some other means!

So, let me get this straight for all you idiots out there. Disabled people do not choose to be disabled. We do not choose to be in pain, to miss limbs, to be blind, deaf or unable to walk. These are not choices. One of the few things that society offers us to make our situation just a little bit easier is parking that allows us to be close enough to make it to a shop, or in a bay wide enough to be able to get out of a car. For some it is the difference between the ability to go out and being permanently house bound. I have been house bound, it is no fun, I can promise you.

Oh and as for the other debate it is completely legal for a disabled person to park in a parent and child parking space if there are no disabled spaces available as they are the only other spaces with wider bays. We can also park on double yellow lines if we have to, but only if we have to.

So now we have all this straight, I can move on and quit ranting. Oh and by the way the group has now been deleted. I am very, very glad.

Onto something more light hearted. Here are mine and Niamh's 366 photo's for today.

Niamh's, some people say I look like my mum.

Another mostly bed day, Niamh visiting me in bed.

Bye all, sorry about the rant!