Excuses

I think that l’ve heard just about everything that there is to hear from people who park their vehicle in a space that’s supposed to be reserved for cripples. I must’ve perfected some sort of judgmental glare because people often seem compelled to try and justify their actions to me whether I say anything to them or not. It seems like they think that because I‘m obviously one of the genuine cripples that those spaces are intended to serve, I must therefore be able to grant them dispensation. And the most common thing they say is, "I'll only be a minute.” And I‘ve seen a few things, too. Once there was a tow truck parked in a cripple space at a strip mall. That really baffled me. I wondered who you call when you need a tow truck to be towed away. Maybe the person that was parked in the cripple space worked for the towing company that the strip mall hired to yank away the vehicles that were illegally parked in the cripple spaces. And if he saw me watching he probably would have said, "I'll only be a minute.” But the most memorable thing that I’ve ever heard or saw came when I exited a grocery store and I noticed that there was a pick-up truck parked in the cripple space next to me. I didn’t think it was a cripple vehicle because cripples don’t tend to drive pick-up trucks. They aren’t very accessible Consequently, I must’ve had that look on my face because a man walked up to the truck and opened the passenger door. He then reached into the glove box and took out a cripple parking permit. He displayed it by hanging it on the rearview mirror and he said to me, “I’m a black man in America. I was born with one of these things." (Please support Smart Ass Cripple and help us keep going. Just click below to contribute.) https://www.paypal.me/smartasscripple?fbclid=IwAR2qrql-UFH19OepgeaCG4WmblyNylb27k2q8eYxXHH