Is it normal no sympathy anymore?

76% Normal
13 Comments

Ok, so part of my job is creating handicap parking placards for the elderly and/or disabled. For those who don't know, its a card that hangs on the rearview mirror so that you can park in a handicap designated parking spot. I've been doing this job for about 3 years now. As you can imagine I've encountered lots of disabled people and those that aren't so disabled. The latter pretend as if they are in dire need of these placards. It gets aggravating having these people come in and on their applications it says they can't walk without a cane, walker, etc but yet they stroll into the office and hop, skip and jump out of the office once they've received their magical parking placard. Some if not most of them don't even bother to pretend like they're really handicapped. After dealing with so many fakes and phonies, I have almost lost all sympathy for all the customers as a whole. I start to look at them all as fakers. It's hard to feel bad for them now. is this normal???

Voting Results
76% Normal
Based on 34 votes (26 yes)
Help us keep this site organized and clean. Thanks!
[ Report Post ]
Comments ( 13 )
  • howaminotmyself
    11 years ago

    I think you will feel this with any type of service job. I work with customers and some of them commit fraud. And while it is sometimes fun playing dectective, it is bad behavior that forces me to rewrite policies so one person can't sink the entire company. And then some believe they are entitled to rip us off just because they are a customer. However some are truly grateful for the service and one good comment can make up for a weeks worth of horrible people.

    I get why you don't like the people who cheat the system, but they will always exist. I wouldn't want to deny help to those who need it just because some abuse it.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    1
    1
      -
    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Thanks. Like I told another commenter, as long as the application is filled out correctly by the doctor and the person has a qualifying condition I issue the placard to them. It does anger me though to see so many people abusing these things just because they are free. If we started charging for them like some other states do it would weed out a lot of fakers in my opinion.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
        -
      • VioletTrees
        11 years ago

        You'd also weed out people who need them but can't afford them.

        Comment Hidden ( show )
        0
        0
  • drugsrbadmkay
    11 years ago

    Are you a medical doctor and do you do a full workup on each applicant? If not, you have no damn business assuming they aren't disabled just because they are able to walk from the front door of the office to your desk. Try to stop being so self-centered and cynical and think about other people for a change.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
      -
    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Ok, first of all, RUDENESS, I can do without your attitude. No I'm not a damn doctor I never said I was and I never denied customers because of what you call me being "self centered" or "cynical" but hey thanks for making assumptions about my personality when you don't even know me. If they application is filled out correctly, and they meet our medical guidelines, then I have to issue a placard whether I feel they deserve or not. Secondly, I'm not judging if the person is disabled based on them walking to my desk from the door because they don't actually come to my desk, smart ass. You have no idea how big the parking lot is and how far these people actually walk to the office I'm located in. What Im saying is the doctor might check off that the person can't walk 200 feet even though most of people park really far away from the door and walk into my building which if you seen it is obviously more than 200 feet. Also they write cane or walker but customers come in multiple times and never have a cane or walker with them. Some don't even have as much as a limp or slow walk. One customer came in and I politely asked him why he didn't have his cane, he said "Uhh I left it in the car because I don't use it while its raining". Now What kind of f*cking sense does that make?? When Ifirst started working there, I took the job very seriously and I was glad to help people that were in need. However when I started seeing how many people applying for these things for the dumbest reasons, it started to feel like the job was a joke. We hand these placards out like lollipops now. Just because someone comes in with an application from their doctor, doesn't automatically mean they are in need of a placard. A lot of times the doctor actually writes "no disability" on the application. Some of these people just annoy and badger their docs into filling out an application for them and the doctors do it to get them off their backs. All I asked was, is it normal that I've started to lose sympathy for all people because of what I witness at work.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
  • lizieralizard
    11 years ago

    i have 2 jobs. one of them is at a homeless shelter, and yes i have lost my sympathy...

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • robbieforgotpw
    11 years ago

    I'm not surprised to hear people take advantage with handicap placards. The government has encouraged dependency and there are many who are content with letting it take care of them.
    Alot of people game the system. They'll have several kids and claim to be on their own but have a live-in. They'll get free housing and food and earned income credit based on fraud. And can spend any money they make on themselves since their necessities are paid by the actual taxpayers.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • VioletTrees
    11 years ago

    How do you know they don't have invisible disabilities, though? I look totally healthy when I'm not shaking or lying in a heap on the floor. Well, I do when I'm wearing makeup, anyway.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • Francophile22
    11 years ago

    OK in my case I broke a vertebra and had to walk with a cane for 3 months, then therapy and a bubble brace, and I collected disability during the period. But I know someone who claimed severe pain from kidney stones (no laughing matter) - only one problem: he called in sick with debilitating pain allegedly from that on one day (he had a note from a Doctor saying he could call in sick pretty much any time it was flaring up to the point where he'd have to take narcotics, thus could not drive to work), then he was caught doing a lawn service on the same day he called in - basically they fired him and threatened jail time.

    So my view is if you can ABSOLUTELY prove someone's committing fraud, turn in that person. Doubt is not enough.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
      -
    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Yes, a lot of time concerned (& nosey) people will send in complaints of customers with placards exercising or doing lawn work. In cases like those we may ask them to return the placard . It really disgust me how many people lie to get these things just so they can park closer to a building. Also in my state, a placard exempts you from paying parking meters so that's a big "selling point".

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
  • Short4Words
    11 years ago

    You can't look at them all like that though you have to remember that there are people who do need it. My Dad was a postal service worker and walked so much that eventually he got charcoal bone disease, which meant the bones inside his legs were disintegrating causing major swelling. It was really painful for him to walk until he got it amputated. Obviously there was still pain, but having the handicap card saved him from walking long distances when going to the grocery store and restauraunts, and he did all the stuff at home, which meant even more going out and buying things. I'm sure he wouldn't have made it nearly as far as he did, if he had the stress and pain of walking all the way from the back of the lot. It was a luxury for him. So don't feel it all goes to waste. :)

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
      -
    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      You are correct and thanks for reminding me why I should still take my job seriously. I'm glad that your father was helped at least a little by this placard. It sucks that so many people that really don't need it can get one so easily though. I lost my grandmother 2 years ago to cancer and while she was alive, the only time she used her placard was after her sessions of chemotherapy. Even being sick, she still felt she wasn't in dire need of a placard. Yet I get applications for people with a damn ingrown toenail calling and yelling at us because they haven't received theirs yet! Ingrown toenails! I get those all the time. The customers who act like they're so entitled when they aren't nearly as disabled as a lot of others out there is what really pisses me off about it. Sometimes we get confiscated placards from the police w/ reports of people using dead relatives placards, really old expired placards, or altered ones that didn't even belong to them. Makes you lose faith in humanity.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0
        -
      • Short4Words
        11 years ago

        Don't lose faith. I get you though. Convenience and self-entitlement are a detriment to the human soul.

        Comment Hidden ( show )
        0
        0