Nasty Note From Handicapped Parking Warrior Backfires, Calling Disabled Girl ‘Lazy’ And An ‘Idiot’
“Greetings,” begins the unexpected note. “I observed you parking in this handicap parking place today. It appears that you are not really handicap. Perhaps just in a hurry or worse, just plain lazy.”
Non-handicapped people that selfishly park in spaces reserved for the handicapped are generally thought to suffer from some type of narcissistic character flaw, very poor judgement, or both.
In fact, handicapped parking space offenders have even inspired a Handicapped Parking Wall Of Shame Facebook page.
So when witnessing one of these handicapped parking space violators, some are compelled by their anger to try to shame the handicapped parking interloper, often by leaving a note and/or reporting the violation to authorities.
Unfortunately, some of these handicapped parking, social justice warriors that leave nasty, and some would say passive aggressive, notes for those they believe have illegally parked in a handicapped spot, are wrong.
Such was the case for Naomi Barringer and her 10-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, when they recently swung by a Target in Westminster, Colorado, to do some shopping, reports KDSK 5. Handicapped placard in place they parked in the designated handicapped parking section, unaware they were being secretly scrutinized.
Kaitlyn suffers from hypophosphatasia, a rare genetic disorder which makes her bones weak and brittle. The hypophosphatasia comes along with several other serious medical conditions, often leaving Kaitlyn exhausted. Kaitlyn was born with 13 bone fractures, and experienced several others as she grew, requiring many surgeries with more on the horizon. Because of this, a Go Fund Me page has been set up to help with Kaitlyn’s ongoing medical treatments, reports the Daily Mail.
So when Kaitlyn and her mom returned from Target to the car they were surprised to find a note on the windshield, particularly a note as nasty as this one turned out to be.
“I thought it was a flyer,” said Kaitlyn’s mom, Naomi Barringer. That wasn’t the case.
Ten-year-old Kaitlyn was taken aback to say the least, emphasizing she’s not lazy but that pain is her unwelcome companion and, along with other issues, often requires the use of the disability placard.
“I was offended, I was hurt actually. I really didn’t know people thought of me like that. I am disabled and they may not know that and I can understand that because I do look normal but I don’t think they have to do that.”
One message Kaitlyn had for the person that left the unpleasant, pre-typed note is that she hopes they don’t leave one on anyone else’s windshield.
“This made me very sad so I feel like I’d try to comfort them and tell them that they aren’t stupid, they aren’t lazy and they have (the handicapped parking sign) for a reason. They have the sign because they need it.”
The Westminster Police advise those who suspect a non-handicapped person of parking in a handicapped spot to notify police, not to leave a note on their car or accost the alleged handicapped parking spot violator personally.
[Images via Naomi Barringer and Getty Images]
