Id been working inside on and off all day staying out of the humidity building up outside when I realized it was imparative I get some groceries because I was out of nearly everything in my fridge and had not eaten all day. While out, I made a quick stop at another store. So I was checking out at this place I frequent (which will remain nameless because my issue here is not with them) when the cashier told me By the way, you are parked illegally. Excuse me? I said, surprised. Id seen her outside having a cigarette when I pulled in and parked where I often do right next to the building. A storm was brewing and the air was really heavy. I was thankful the spot was vacant so I didnt have to trudge across the parking lot in that opressive swelter. (She hadnt said anything to me then when she first saw me park.) Thinking I missed some newly posted sign, my mind raced wondering who was moving into the adjecent vacant building space that has obviously usurped some kind of marshal law on whos customers got to use what spaces. She said You parked in a handicapped space and you dont have a handicapped plate. You cant park there. I swear I heard a lilt in her voice as she said it. I calmly corrected her Yes I do. I have a Michigan Disabled Veterans plate with a red handicapped sticker on it as issued to me by the secretary of state. This is the standard statement I have come up with over the years and say every time someone thinks I mis-parked my vehicle. She told me Well, I didnt see it. I assure her it is there and tell her even more reassuringly that I have had a handicapped plate for twenty years. Then she says it. That line of all lines - WELL, YOU DONT LOOK HANDICAPPED TO ME! WTF!!!!!!! I dont LOOK handicapped to you? What am I supposed to look like? A patch on one eye? A hook on my hand? A pegged leg? That would make me a pirate, not a 56 year old with weak lungs and a heart condition. It took all I had in me to keep from saying Oh, okay. Lets you and me both pull out our medical licenses here and see whos is bigger. Whats that you say? You dont have a medical license? Well, you talk like you do. Did you know its illegal to practice medicine without one in this state? Suddenly, I found myself defending my right to be out in public with a chronic illness. I felt like I had fallen through a rabbit hole and landed in mother Russia. I explained to her in simple terms that I have heart and lung issues, not wanting to expound on the whole nine yards because it is a long drawn out medical history and, well, frankly, its none of her damned business in the first place. I was there for a business transation, not a health physical and I was not breaking one single law or rule of etiquette. (She, however was batting 1000 in the catagory of arrogance.) I bit through my tongue to keep from saying Im sorry. I left my scarlet A for ailing at home today. I really tried to just let it ride thinking that it was enough said on the subject.. She wasnt giving up though. This had become some sick little competition to her and she just had to win. She said sarcastically Well, I have lung problems too but I dont have a plate. Now Im thinking back to my having had to use my rescue inhaler after passing by the cloud her smoking made outside the front door of the store and surmise You are smoking, holding down a job, and have the wind to raise your voice at me here at the register so your lung issues cant be all that bad. I knew shed passed the point of no return. She was out to embarrass me because she had missed seeing the red handicapped tag on my license plate. Rather than a quick Oh, sorry. or Oops. I missed it. and letting it go, shed followed up her first faux pas by making the mistake of trying to accuse me of falsifying my health status. To someone who has struggled their whole life to breathe and keep up with ours, learning to adapt, missing out on so much, and having to suffer through countless emergency treatments in order to stay alive, I was insulted to the core. A quick flash of memory of the blurry warped-looking world I lived in, isolated from all comfort under so many plastic-draped sterile hospital oxygen tents as a small child sent a shiver through me as I waited for her to hand me my receipt. She had no right to make me endure this mindless persecution. It had to stop. It had to stop now. It was time to pull out the big guns. I thought to myself I do not have to stand idly by and allow you to try to embarrass and belittle me with your ignorance and false accusations. I said very calmly but just loud enough for those around us to hear After picking me up not breathing in the middle of parking lots a few times they decided it was less hassle just to let me park closer to the building, especially on days like today. But dont worry, it wont last forever. Thanks to the new laws in medicine I am now too old to qualify for a transplant. Her jaw dropped. The people in line behind me glared at her rudeness, as well they should. I smiled politely at everyone to let them know there were no hard feelings and walked out the door to my nearby van. I did not win a thing today. I only survived an encounter with an idiot. Tomorrow there are sure to be even more who will take her place. And I will take them on as they come. Dont mess with me. I may be old. I may be physically challenged. But I know how to make you bleed emotionally and, forced into it, I will show the sharpness of my fangs and rank you right where you belong. And to the man who taught me how to effectively close the book on rude invasive conversations so many years ago, Thank you, my friend. You gave me a life skill I treasure. It has saved me emotionally so many tmies over the years. You were right. No one can fight a painfully honest bottom line. Today just proves I am still the reigning queen of How low can you go?
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 02:27:22 +0000
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