I so need to rant about this. It's something that really really bugs me! I can' t count the number of times I've pulled into the grocery store or shopping mall and as I'm walking past the "Expectant Mothers" parking spot, I see an elderly woman, whose well past her child bearing years climb out of the car and gracefully walk up to the entrance Sometimes it's a teenage boy, an elderly man who are not shopping with an expectant Mom & clearing they're not expecting either!
When I was pregnant I loved this space. It was a nice little thing that grocery store and shopping plazas did just to honor us as a courtesy during our nine months. After my Daughter was born (a Winter baby,) I stopped using them unless it was clearly very icy and I was alone. Otherwise, my new favorite spot is next to the cart corral.
Some might think, well if she's got enough energy to walk around the mall, then why does she need to park so close? Well, for starters, She's pregnant! The spot was made for people like her. Just because you're an elderly person doesn't give you the right to take it. If you weren't given a handicap sticker & can't park there you are also capable then of walking. Or, maybe it's the middle of winter and while the inside of the shopping mall is dry and ice-free, the parking lot is covered in ice and slush! Maybe she's not at the mall and at the grocery store, in which case she might actually need to put food in her house and has no other choice but to be there!
Today, I had enough of this! While I was loading two children under three in the car, I watched a man in his 60s-70s sit in not one, but BOTH "Stork Parking" spots while his wife walked into the mall, you guessed it, not pregnant! I got into my seat, and phoned the mall just to ask what they can do to enforce such behavior. I KNOW they can't issue a ticket or call the Police and I totally get that but it's flat out rude and disrespectful to think it's owed to you just because you are elderly. Even more rude when you're a male who isn't helping your pregnant partner by parking there & only doing so because it's the closest available spot! Ugh!
I was told by both security people at the mall how much it also aggravates them & that they wish something could be done but obviously, since you don't need a special tag to park there that they couldn't do anything but attempt to talk to the person and hope they understand (COMMON COURTESY) and move. I absolutely understood, and knew before hand they wouldn't be able to issue tickets but inside I was just hoping to witness somebody make this Man look like the fool he was being!
Rant ended. :)
How many of you are also bothered by this? My mom is needs a handicap sticker when she goes places, that doesn't mean that just since she's going to the mall, she should be considered lazy as I read somewhere about these spots. When it comes to the handicap spots, I have been known to call people out on using them ILLEGALLY. I once watched a late teen-early 20-something squeal his tires into the spot, park crooked and RUN in with a red-box movie in hand. I asked him if the Dr. denied his sticker for the space because he could run just fine.
