Abusing The System
I think we can all admit that, once or twice, we, too, have abused the system and used a handicapped toilet stall. And not just because it was “the only available one,” as we might tell ourselves. Fewer of us have parked in handicap spots, but it would be hard to argue that it doesn’t happen…often. After all, if they aren’t being used, why should you have to walk the extra distance?! At GraphJam, we understand, and we don’t judge.
Who uses the “Disabled” toilet
Graph by: Fishenfaust via Graph Jam Builder
People who own the handicap parking placards.
Graph by: lol789 via Graph Jam Builder
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aoisaosiaois, true, and also FIRST!!!
You forgot the section of your second pie for people who look normal and able bodied because they aren’t in wheelchairs, but who actually are handicapped and have people constantly judging them for parking in the handicapped space.
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS. Not every handicap is obvious. What about young people with rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, lupus, or other “invisible” disabilities? You can’t see how red and swollen that young woman’s ankles and knees are under her jeans. You can’t guess that the young man might be having a “good” day today, but tomorrow he’ll find it excruciating to walk more than a few feet.
I know a young woman who is only 22 and has Parkinson’s. Some days, she’s doing quite well. Other days, she can barely walk. And she LOOKS very healthy! Slender, rosy cheeks. And no, the cane is not just for decoration (although hers looks quite snazzy).
So yes, thank you for saying this. People can be so narrow-minded.
Agree 100%. It’s my understanding that the special dispensation goes with the vehicle, so that if you’re picking up your emphysematous grandmother, you can park close enough so she doesn’t have to hike to the car and, conversely, even if you suffer from a terribly debilitating disease, if you don’t display the permit, you may not park in a space designated for handicapped persons. Is this correct?
It has been my observation that not infrequently people park in handicapped spaces who don’t appear to have a handicap (and, yes, I am fully aware of many, many disabilities that may not be immediately obvious) AND DO NOT HAVE A PLACARD OR STICKER DISPLAYED on their vehicle, and then want to use the “you just can’t tell I’m disabled argument”.
Yep. My granda had a permit because he really can’t walk far at all due to a myriad of joint issues. He can’t get out of a chair without help and he can’t walk enough to even get around a supermarket nowadays. He had to quit driving maybe 10 years ago. He has a hanging permit which he can use when he gets a ride somewhere.
This is true, I go to the grocery store with my grandmother on holidays, we shop and cook together for the whole family. And she has a permit that she put up on the mirror so that we can park near the entrance. I get the most awful looks from people when I’m putting the groceries in the car, until they see my grandmother walking up slowly with her cane.
Someone ATTACKED (verbal and shoved her) my mom because she doesn’t look disabled. She walks with a hobble and can get along “okay” without her crutch (I believe she’s embarrassed by it so she doesn’t like to use it, because she’s still fairly young). I wish I had been there. I would have put the smack down. Don’t touch my momma.
Something similar happened to my neighbour. Her daughter has Down Syndrome (which btw, is something VERY distinctive… you can tell from her face that she is not normal) and yet someone yelled at my neighbour for parking there because her daughter isn’t *physically* disabled! Dude! The little girl is mentally disabled, cannot lead a normal life, and has a shorter life expectancy! It’s difficult enough that her parents have to take care of her as the little girl is definitely not independent. Can’t people cut them some slack? Horrible.
Not to mention that Downs can cause various physical ailments anyway, if I’m not mistaken.
It can, it can also mean that it may be very dangerous for a patient and their guardians to try to cross a parking lot, as a patient may not pay attention or notice things like a car backing out near them.
People yell at a friend of mine who is a double amputee all the time – he wears long pants so you can’t see his prosthetic legs. He usually just takes off one of his prosthetic legs when they do. I hope they feel wracked with guilt for months afterward.
That’s beautiful and poetic. I’d take it a step further and hop after them, threatening violence with my relocated limb.
I like your thinking…
YES! A friend of my husband’s had a heart condition in his early 20s that made walking from the disabled spot difficult, yet looked like a normal, healthy 20-something. Now if he was leaping out of the car and dashing into the store, I could understand eyebrows being raised, but he had to use a cane and walk very slowly.
Thank you, MaryInBoise and Mijan!!
I have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, both of which can be considered invisible disabilities. Of course, I have obvious physical symptoms too; like the deformity and stunted growth of JRA, but the narrow-minded people are too busy judging me to notice!
Even when I’m using my wheelchair or cane people still think I’m either lazy or just another teenager messing around. I guess to the general population you can only be disabled if you’re elderly?
Not true – even us elderly get attacked for not looking disabled and having a placard. It’s sad. Makes Granny wanna use pepper spray on the little punks.
thats me
And then there are people like my granddad who has a disabled sticker on his car even though he’s able bodied. He just likes being close to the front of the shopping centre.
Oh, and the people who are just too darn fat to move under their own power…
And you forget about the WWII veteran who leaves the handicapped placard sitting on his front seat and parks in a regular space, and hobbles the extra 15 feet to the door so that somebody who needs it more can actually have the handicapped parking spot.
When I worked at Target I noticed that pretty much only EXTREMELY large people used the little motor scooters in the store, which are just for elderly and disabled.
They could use the exercise but at the same time I also understand it can be difficult to move all that around… and sometimes disability can also cause weight gain (or at least not leave you mobile enough to work it off). And the depression to eat more.
My friend’s mom gained the weight after becoming disabled. In her case it had nothing to do with the weight. Now that she’s down to about 170, she still needs those carts most of the time.
My grandmother had that problem too, but it *has* been scientifically proven that most of the time, those carts do more harm than good. It means the person gets even heavier, and the muscles no longer get enough exercise. It’s a vicious circle.
Though keep in mind that disability can cause obesity as well. If they got *that* fat from eating fast food everyday then yeah no pity for them, but if their obesity is from a disability that limits mobility, can’t really blame them.
I was in a car accident in 2005. My dad was driving and, the way that corner was built, he went over the line and hit a dump truck with his side of the car. My 6 year old nephew broke his leg, I broke my hip and ankle and my dad bled to death out of every orifice – and a few new ones – while we watched. I gained nearly 50 pounds while I spent 6 months in bed and I have been able to move enough – albeit painfully – to work it off only in the last year or so.
Most fat people who have that placard got fat because of whatever got them that placard. Things that slow you down like arthritis, MS, various diseases, etc, etc can cause it. Sometimes it’s temporary.
I had a cousin who got some disease volunteering in Africa and got realllllly fat for several years because it screwed with her metabolism. For nearly three years, she couldn’t walk more than fifty feet without loosing her breath and having to sit down. And the screwed up metabolism meant that eating less than normal still meant weight gain.
When the sickness was over, she lost the card and, with therapy, got “back in the game” and lost that weight in a year. She was left with mild arthritis and strong diabetes. She has since returned twice to volunteer in Africa and South America, despite what happened and despite the “thank you” she got from self-important, judgmental jackasses like you.
In conclusion: F**K YOU, YOU IGNORANT MORON!!!
I am overweight, but I walk and run just fine. Then one day I went shopping with my family after having just gotten out of the hospital with a back injury. I could hardly stand, and when I tried to walk more than a couple of steps I nearly fainted. So I used a motor cart, and people gave me the rudest looks the whole time. You never know what else might be going on.
What is it with people and disabled parking slots? Maybe they are too dumb to read, and that’s what their disability is.
When I was a kid, I always used the handicap stall because I thought it had the lower toilet and was usually empty. I don’t think I found out what it was meant for until I was thirteen or so.
The first one should be at least 50% moms with little kids, especially in stores where the changing table is in the disabled stall.
It should also include those who have significant anxiety problems and can’t handle being in the smaller stalls at all.
That would be a handicap.
Excuse me? That’s just plain ridiculous to suggest that only handicapped folks can use the larger stall. There’s no “Handicapped Only” sign on them and to do so would be stupid.
Especially when the men restroom often only contains one stool stall, which by law must be enabled for handicapped use. Sometimes the stool is the only facility.
If they’re really for handicapped persons only, then you’re gonna have an increase of men (1) having a crap in the urinal, (2) having a crap in the sink, (3) having a crap in the women’s restroom toilet, or (4) having a crap in the women’s restroom sink.
David, you are completely correct. The law is that the bathroom has to be handicapped accessible, not that other people can’t use the stall. If the stall is open, I will use it. Now, if there was a line and a handicapped person waiting, of course they should have “dibs” on it. But how often does that happen?
Right. The notion that the disabled toilets should be left empty the 99.9% of the time that there isn’t a disabled person there to use them is ridiculous.
The difference between a disabled toilet stall and a disabled parking space is that when a disabled person needs the stall, they can immediately be given precedence.
Well, I was on crutches after knee surgery, waiting in the bathroom line, and when the “handicapped” stall opened up, an able-bodied older person (and when I say able-bodied, I seriously mean she moved very easily) walked right past me and took it. Not joking.
Do you know how offensive it is in the second one, where it states “normal, able-bodied people”.
Just because my spine is the wrong shape doesn’t mean i’m not normal. Being ‘able bodied’ is not the norm, a hell of a lot of a given population have problems / disabilites / conditions.
These are a bit sh*t anyway as they should include mothers and deperate people when there are no others.
Graphjam fail.
Ehh… normal is a setting on a dryer. Or the middle of a bell curve. Or just the average. The word “normal” isn’t so big a deal to me.
what is a big deal is that people seem to use “normal” as a synonym for “Better Than You”. When they say “normal” that way you know they’ve mentally put “people” and “disabled people” in two different categories. Of course, there’s nothing about being disabled that makes people inferior, but the average person doesn’t seem to have grasped that yet…
Incidentally: 1 in 6 people are disabled. You’re right: There’s a lot of us. And there are going to be more, with the aging post-WWII population boom. Enough people are getting PO’d about being second-class citizens that things are changing. Slowly, but they are.
And that has been my lecture for the day…
1 in 6? Heck, in Africa most people have lost some part of their bodies to disease…in Iraq it’s bombs…
The actual percentage might be even higher if you add mentally retarded people.
I resent that implication regarding my grandma. In my country, $150 will get you a totally legit handicapped placard, no questions asked.
Ditto all the comments above about the second graph needing a section for “People who look able bodied, and get hassled by people who don’t understand that you don’t have to be visibly disabled to qualify for a handicap tag.”
And the first one needs a section for “People using it because it’s the only one open”
@DavidB AMEN! Handicap-access bathroom stall is NOT like Handicap parking space.. it’s PERFECTLY OKAY to use those stalls. They’re like the “VIP” seats on the bus.. use them if they’re free, give them up if someone needs them more.
I’d also like to point out that most standard toilets are only rated for 300 pound people or less. I’ve never broken a toilet, but I don’t want to risk it either. In unfamiliar places, I use the handicap stalls which are rated for 500+ or something.
NOT that I’m close to 500. I’m 300.
Sorry, but I’m not giving it up until I complete my business.
Not everyone who is handicapped is in a wheelchair. You can get a handicap permit if you are deaf, for example.
Or Narcoleptic. But then it raises the whole issue of narcoleptic people driving, and that’s always a hotbed of debate.
Really? Why do deaf people need to park closer? Is there something about their ears that makes it more difficult to walk in to the store? Really?
My sister just turned 22 and she has multiple sclerosis. She needs a handicap placard because her mobility is severely limited. A few weeks ago she parked in a handicapped space while using her legally obtained placard. A grumpy able-bodied looking man in his 50′s in the handicapped space across from her yelled “you have to be handicapped to park in that space!”. She waved her placard at him and yelled back that she has multiple sclerosis. He repeated the words like he didn’t know what they meant and just kept scowling.
Later on my sister wished she’d said “I AM Handicapped! It’s too bad you are too because doctors can’t remove your head from your butt!” Or something. What she said was actually more clever than that.
But yeah. Handicapped people aren’t always in wheelchairs. Don’t give people sick people crap for where they park. They deal with enough as it is.
I had an old lady look at me once and scowl, “You don’t look handicapped” (I have bad knees and walking is very painful). I looked at her and said, “You don’t look like an idiot, let this be a lesson to us both for judging based only on what we can see.”
That’s a brilliant response. I’ll have to remember that one.
Hahaha, sometimes reality beats House MD hands down. Well played!
I’ve heard:
‘You look pretty healthy for a disabled person’
the response is:
‘You look pretty clever for an idiot’
What really irks me is handicapped judging other handicapped. Hey, mine is invisible so why can’t yours be too?
But, I have one friend who got her permit from a relative, and she goes to the gym! (have you seen the handicap spots at the gym? tons of ‘em)
Another, who does have spine problems, who comes to work talking about how many miles/hours she did on the treadmill last night. If you can walk on the damn treadmill, you can park legit and walk your butt into work! Puh-leeze.
I’m not sure how you expect these handicapped individuals to overcome anything possible to overcome if you begrudge them a handicap parking space at the gym.
Your friend with the spinal problems isn’t forced to hit that treadmill twice a day. Maybe she has days when it’s extremely difficult to make it the short distance to her car, let alone to work. Do not ever presume to know someone’s disability.
Besides, there is a world of difference between walking on a smooth, even treadmill with handrails to steady you and walking across an uneven parking lot that has no handrails and probably has morons like tigerbunny driving through it.
I always use that restroom because some people at my high school seem to think it’s fun to stuff all other restrooms with toilet paper until they don’t work. I’d instantly quit keeping it occupied if they would quit too.
A local radio station does a Friday afternoon best bumper sticker contest. Best winner ever was not a bumper sticker, but a card left on a placard-less car in a handicapped spot: “Being lazy is not a physical handicap. Leave the space for someone who NEEDS it.”
Regarding the toilet stalls, when my child was in a stroller, I would use the handicapped one if no one needed it. Was I supposed to leave my child alone? Or put him on the floor of a public restroom?
Well I think that’s a acceptable reason to use the handicapped room as long as no one handicapped needed it =)
Yup, as a parent of 3 kids, I’ve done that many times when I’m out shopping with just me and the child in the stroller. I see nothing wrong with it.
*Parking attendant* “Oi, what’s your disability mate?!”
*Guy with disability parking placard* “Tourette’s you c**t, now f**k off!”
Ha! When I was in fifth grade, do you know what they did with the handicap stall in the girls bathroom???
They put a little white wire table in it. They put a vase of fake flowers on the table. They put a can of air freshener on the shelf under the table. And on the outside of the stall door they put a sign. Do you know what that sign said?
“TEACHERS ONLY!!!”
You can imagine the indignant anger of myself and the other fifth-grade girls at the time.
….anger of the other fifth graders and me
maybe you should have listened to/respected your teachers a bit more.
I don’t know. My teachers had their own bathrooms and each classroom had one. I guess I hope that there weren’t any students who needed wheelchair accessibility. Also, I hope I didn’t make a single error in this. It will probably be because I didn’t listen to/respect my teachers. Lord knows it wouldn’t be because I’m human.
I use it because it is much more comfortable. I can poop in peace.
Is fat a handicap?
d00d it’s not illegal to use a handicap stall if you’re not handicapped….
I’ve been in rest areas with a line and had to wait, and wait, and wait….
to get into the handicapped stall with my mobility service dog. Trying to squeeze into a regular stall with a large dog in a harness with a fixed handle can be next to impossible depending on if they have those large toilet paper holders set low enough. I’m amazed at how rude some people have been regarding looks and comments despite my wicked limp. If I wasn’t afraid of getting a ticket for vandalism I’d get a sticker for all the cars I’ve seen parked with no plates or placards that say, “If you want my parking spot, you are welcome to my disability!” and put them across the windshield.
“Fewer of us have parked in handicap spots, but it would be hard to argue that it doesn’t happen…often. After all, if they aren’t being used, why should you have to walk the extra distance?!”
Because while you’re inside the business, someone with a legitimate disability and a tag or placard comes along and finds the space already occupied and either has to try to make it in from the far reaches of the parking lot or give up and turn around and go back home.
To sum things up: this graph totally sucks.
You can’t get a disabled sticker/placard without actually being disabled. They don’t come free in boxes of cereal, you know.
I don’t know how it works in the States, but in Canada people could take it from someone they know who has one, because they hang from the rearview window (sometimes they’re on the license plate but a lot of them hang). My Mom had a temporary one when she had surgery on her feet, and should could easily change them between her two cars. So… what this person says on the graph could and probably does happen.
Forget the parking space. The bathroom is for everyone. There are no laws or restrictions on the bathroom.
Yea it does seem that the people who mostly use the electric carts are the grossly obese. There was a 4 month period in my life when I did use them even though I’m not disabled. It was in the last 3 months of my last pregnancy and I was so large that walking was physically painful on both my legs and back. But as soon as I had the baby, I was back walking like a normal person even though I am overweight, I will not use it as a crutch to get out of getting a little bit of exercise.
And as far as the bathroom stalls. Stores nowadays are trying to cram as many stalls into the bathroom as possible that the regular stalls are extremely narrow. While I can fit into one, I have to usually straddle the toilet and reach backwards to shut the door. Then once I’m sitting down I can barely spread my legs open far enough to wipe. So if the handicap stall is available, yes I’ll use it.
LOL Always spell check before you post. *3 month period in my life*
i use the handicap stall in the bathroom cause i have quite an issue with claustrophobia. i’m not huge but i’m not skinny either, and sometimes those doors are just tooo close to the toilet in the little stalls. freaks me out.
As everyone else has pointed out… The larger stall makes it easier for disabled persons to use the restroom but is not exclusive of people who are not disabled. So when it’s the only one – I use it. Or when I have had luggage with me at the airport – I use it.
At the point in my pregnancy when I couldn’t close the stall door without either hitting the belly or backing my hip in the tp dispenser, I started using the handicapped stall. The rails also made it easier to hoist myself off the toilet. I am not overweight and I did not gain an excessive amount of weight during my pregnancy. Some bathroom stalls are just TINY.
You also forgot obese people who could use the extra walk.
Wrote that before I read all the comments, guess it was mentioned. And I’m not ignorant, I know some people are fat because they’re disabled, but I live in New Brunswick, and 95% of the people here are just fat because they’re lazy and have poor dietary habits.
I got screamed at for parking in a disabled spot last year (I have rheumatoid arthritis, walking is sheer agony) by a pregnant woman who reckoned that she deserved the space more because ‘two lives are more important than your ONE’
No she didn’t have a disabled sticker. She just reckoned pregnancy = disability.
I love how they put ‘normal’ in there.
Something that whoever made this graph didn’t take into account is that some people of a non-binary gender use disabled toilets because they don’t feel comfortable in the binary-segregated toilets.
Just sayin’. Peace xx from Rhea.
I’m pretty sure that they meant the handicapped stall, which is after the gender associated cutoff.
The one you’re talking about? I think they just call them family bathrooms, now…
1st one for me*it’s not like I’m going to take two hours to use the friggin bathroom*
2nd one for mom, because she uses the one they gave my disabled father*who no longer drives*
But in her defense, her legs are killing her most of the time since her knee surgery.
I just love it when I realize something that should’ve been included in the comment in the first place when it’s too late. ;P