Additional Needs
Why we need the Special Olympics
by Jodi Shenal
on 3rd May, 2024
I Said It.
What’s worse, they have definitely seen me struggle in to preschool with my son and daughter, pushing the wheelchair, desperately trying to juggle two ruck sacks, two book bags and two lunch boxes along with a huge potty chair and all the while trying to make sure my daughter doesn’t let go of my hand in the car park.
On numerous occasions!
Yet they still think it’s acceptable to park in the disabled bay without a blue badge (or a disability).
The blue badge sign is very, very clear and at eye level when you park, so there is no way they are unaware of what they are doing.
What’s even worse is that the times that I have seen this person parking there, the car park has been pretty empty! Not that it would be an excuse if it was full (I would still be fuming).
It’s just pure laziness and complete ignorance.
No sensible, caring, intelligent person would do this. The icing on the cake is that she is a mother.
She is a mum of a little person the same sort of age as my disabled boy.
Yet she has never thought to put herself in my shoes and think what it would be like if it was her beloved child that she had to watch suffer and struggle every single day!
For that, I can’t forgive her.
She is not a nice human being. So when I wrote the note for her (in black eye-liner, fittingly on the back of a letter from the NHS for one of my son’s physio appointments) I started it with: “I have reported you for repeatedly parking in the disabled car parking spaces without a valid badge. Please stop parking here.”
But there was a bit of room left at the bottom of the paper.
And I was so angry I couldn’t help but scribble “ARSEHOLE” in big, fat, capital letters.
Then I felt a bit guilty.
Then I felt ridiculous for feeling guilty. Then I felt annoyed with myself for not putting something far worse than the A word, but all the while I was shaking feeling like I was the one that was in the wrong.
Which is crazy I know, but it’s how people like this woman make us feel and that makes them even more despicable.
I haven’t seen her park there since (pats self on the back).
