Handicapped spots are for handicapped people

I’ve just come from the Huntley Post Office. There is one handicapped parking space in front of the post office, on the east side of Woodstock Street, facing north. A blue car with two occupants, and no visible placard pulled into the spot. There were four empty spaces available, one of which I pulled into.

An obviously able-bodied man of about 40 got out of the car and briskly walked across the street, up the stairs and into the post office. His passenger remained in the car. The man was exiting the post office as I walked in. I looked at him and said, “Do you know you’ve parked in a handicapped parking space?” He barked back at me, “My mom’s handicapped and she’s in the car!”

I chalked it up as another rude, inconsiderate person, the type of which we’re seeing more and more of these days. I picked up my mail and left. The man was now in the car, still parked in the handicapped spot. He’d apparently been waiting for me to come out of the building. As I did, he reached up, pulled down his sun visor, grabbed a blue handicapped placard and vigorously shook it out the window at me as he yelled, “See! My mom’s handicapped. See?”

I guess that was supposed to mean it was OK for him to take a handicapped parking space away from someone who really needed it. To me, this is another sad example that the number of ignorant people in this country, who lack common sense and a conscience, continues to grow.

Barb Conley

Huntley