June 7, 2006
Arrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!
So I had to go buy some lettuce today. A Price Chopper is down the road from where I live, at Dundas West & Runnymede (and its prices! They're chopped!).
On my way out, though, with my $1.50 worth of lettuce, I saw it: one of the most disgusting and horrifying things I've ever seen.
There are three things wrong with the photo at left, snapped (unfortunately) with my cellphone camera.
- There are no license plates on the car. Anywhere.
- That's a Hummer H2, which, if anyone is interested, gets about 8-10 MPG, contributes about 3.4 metric tons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere in a year, and costs at least $60,000.
- It's in a handicapped parking space. There are no handicapped parking tags, stickers, or permits anywhere on the vehicle (I checked), and the owner - middle-aged, ugly as sin, and balding, with some reddish-brown hair - walking quickly into the store seemed able-bodied enough. There were at least three empty parking spaces in a fifty-foot radius from this spot.
This is wrong on so many levels: it's insulting to handicapped people, terrible for the environment, and illegal twice over. Can we please get these worthless, ugly, polluting cars banned already?
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That is offensive to so many of my senses, it's made me tired.
But what did you do about it besides take this photo and describe what the owner looked like?
sounds like a cool guy to me.
Jeff: nothing. There's no point keying it - then I'm the one who can get in trouble. And I was considering calling the cops but there are far more emergency-level things that I'm sure they should be doing.
I was hoping there was a license plate so that I could report it, but how can I report one without plates?
any publicity is good publicity right?
http://www.gmcanada.com/english/vehicles/hummer/index.jsp
Key it!? That's not wise (I'm surprised you even mentioned keying).
Call a tow truck?
Guy would've been gone by the time the tow truck came. He didn't seem like he intended to be in the store that long.
I mention keying because that's the first thing that came to mind. Trust me, to see it here might be one thing, but to see a Hummer block a handicapped parking space is realllllly infuriating.
Of course it's infuriating. All the more reason to do something - like photograph the guy, for a bit of old-fashioned Internet naming-and-shaming.
Or walk up to him and ask him why his Hummer doesn't have license plates, and why it's in a handicapped parking spot. THEN you'd have something good to write about afterwards...
All I had was my cellphone camera, and the guy was in the store by the time I realized what was going on. Knowing the kind of people who drive Hummers, I wasn't in the mood to get into a shouting match with the guy. Not to say I didn't want to confront him, but I don't think that would've been a good idea.
I've seen that guy too!
He pulled the same thing near the Starbucks on Bloor in The Kingsway -- I recognize the tire cover with Royfoss on it.
What I want to know is, how does this guy get away with driving anything, let alone anything that large, without any plates?
This sort of thing makes me insane, but I know I will go to my grave ranting about it because I never seem to be able to accept that human nature sucks. He probably thinks he's a "rebel" and "sticking it to the man" by driving an obnoxious vehicle and parking wherever he feels like, and there will be a lot of people who sadly would agree. I just shake my head, look at people like him with pity, and tell myself he's probably a miserable person anyway.
Too many assumptions here about the driver. Yeah, Hummers are silly and the guy may be a jerk; BUT some people without the right plates actually have a disability.
Older people with arthritis or heart trouble may seem like they walk fine, but that's only if they don't have to walk far. They often resist getting handicapped plates, which they consider defeat. Also, with something like arthritis, every day isn't the same. So someone with the best intentions - - i.e., leaving handicap spaces for people in wheelchairs - - might need that space from time to time.
The same people need a larger, higher car because getting in and out of small cars is too difficult. My Dad would love an old roadster like he used to drive; he hates having to drive something bigger. But he has no choice.
On the other hand, he also thinks guys who drive Hummers are ridiculous...
its insulting how many times the out-dated word "handicapped" was used in this post and comments.
C
It was used twice. So you're not objecting the number of times, just the word. Fine. Polite terms for things change over time, and I'm probably out of date, as you can tell by the content of my post. But the post was about someone who seemed to be parking a [INSERT YOUR WORD HERE] space. Go ahead and get hung up on the word choice, when the meaning was clearly not meant to be condescending in any way. And be insulted - - yes, personally insulted - -instead of saying something constructive. Because after, all, these are blog comments. No need for you to do anything but vent mindlessly. You can pat yourself on the back for getting angry, but I'm left without knowing what you consider - - maybe accurately - - to be a better way to phrase it.
Yeah yeah yeah, Hummer/no plates/no permit...bad. My concern is - what's with the use of the maple leaf in the parking space??? Is it to signify only disabled Canadians can use it? Is there some disabled patriotism movement going on that I'm unaware of? If it wasn't there, would we forget the parking space is in Canada?
It's possibly the most absurd use of the emblem I've ever seen, and is just another sign of the emblem being used to death.
Also..is handicapped really offensive? I mean - by definition they are handicapped. If they weren't, they wouldn't need a spot closer to the door!
When did we stop using handicapped? What is it then, differently-abled? handicapable? I thought those were joke words.
http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~ronald/HandicapDefinition.htm
I've had British people tell me off for using the word "handicapped". Now, I am not the queen of the english language (yet), but the way I see it, disabled is far more offensive, implying that the individual is not abled, whereas the term handicapped (like in golf) is about starting from a disadvantaged position.
In the parking lot of the building that I used to live in, if you parked without a permit, the property managers would put a big sticker on the windsheild that said "don't park here without a permit!!".
Then you'd have to spend 6-10 minutes scraping away the big obnoxious sticker before you could leave the lot so that you could see out the windsheild.
Torontoninans Unite! Let us carry 8.5 X 11 sheets of sticker paper in our satchels at all times. Then when we see this dude (or other dudes) we can stick them over the windsheilds and write scathing "you are a jerk" messages to the owners without causing damage, just infurating annoyance.
Way better than keying. For serious.
As far as I know, the currently-preferred term is "persons with disabilities."
The VIN should be easily viewed through the license plate. Write it down and report him. I alos like the sticker idea, even though it's not very feasible. Funny & Fun & Effective, but who's actually going to produce them?
This is what anchovies are for. Hit the store, crack a tin (no opener needed) and pour the oil through the vents in the hood. Nothing one can do will remove the smell.
Maybe leave a little note attached explaining to him why he stinks.
Fucking assholes.
Let the air out of a tire, then stick around to see if he actually knows how to change it, or if he carries the spare around just to look rugged.
I like the VIN idea - in the real world, the police would get around to looking into it.
Let the air out of a tire, then stick around to see if he actually knows how to change it, or if he carries the spare around just to look rugged.
I like the VIN idea - in the real world, the police would get around to looking into it.
While I do agree with you on most of that, I do take issue with the assumption that the middle aged man doesn't need the permit because he LOOKS fine. I am in my early 20's and I too have a Disabled Permit. Many people don't know I have it and assume I am fine by the way I look, walk and so forth. However I personally have serious back issues and can not walk long distances without severe pain. I may continue to walk fine and seem fine, but every day having the back pain is significant, and there are some days where I am unable to walk. So just assuming that because the man looks fine that he shouldn't use the spot isn't right. HOWEVER, the difference is, I do have a permit (which it should be noted has to be with a special form filled out by a MD and then filed with the Province) where as I disagree with him using the spot without the permit.
^ that's a fair point. All the more reason to say that the best course of action in this situation, if you're that concerned about it, is to talk to the guy when he comes out of the store. Get the story. The Internet has too many (a few hundred thousand too many) blogs and forums devoted to speculation on and reinterpretation of incomplete sets of facts. This doesn't help anyone.
Gigantic Hound: that's the spare tire in the middle of the photo.
I do agree with some of you: there's a chance he had a disability that I couldn't notice...which is totally fine. But he didn't have a permit, and he was parking in a spot designated for those with permits only.
If I see the guy again, I'll definitely talk to him. And thanks for the info re: the VIN, brokenengine. I wish I'd known that at the time.
Go to the manager of the building and complain. It is the landlords responsiblity to maintain the parking lot, and ensure that cars in violation are towed. It's infuriating, yes, but this guy could be serious bad news and you aren't getting paid enough to be a make-shift parking attendent.
i think the real sin here is that he was balding and sporting reddish hair at the same time, like the scion of wealth and opulence himself, the donald. may he be burned on a pyre with biodiesel.
I find SUVs offensive, and this is obviously th act of a complete moron, but i don't see how it's worst that it is a SUV in parked illegally than any make or model of car?
For me, it was the cockiness of the gesture. Driving a Hummer - and it's not just any SUV, it's a Hummer - is infuriating and showy enough in itself.
brokenengine--the beauty of the sticker idea is that no one has to produce them...letter-sized pieces of sticker paper are readily available at all office-supply stores. We don't need printed ones, just a sharpie does just fine.
These'll probably do as well (thanks David!): http://www.glarkware.com/securestore/c181844p16370773.2.html
upon further reflection, the fact that this person has no plates suggests that he doesn't care about anything, never mind a handicapped (disabled persons) sticker. so my thinking, and i'm sure it's controversial, is that despite his argued able-bodiedness, he's probably still an asshole. and to me, able-bodied or not, you don't have to be an asshole.
that's just my two cents.
Ok, parking in an empty handicap spot is not cool. But really, in the grand scheme of things, that's akin to jaywalking and public urination. Come on folks, we've all been there. Second, why diss the Hummer? And third, what does its price have to do with anything? Lots of cars cost that much. Sorry, I forgot, prosperity isn't hip.
Parking in a handicapped parking space is NOTHING like jay-walking. I'm not even going to bother arguing about that.
Also, the Hummer's a horribly, horribly wasteful car (did you read the part about getting less than 10 MPG???) that's incredibly damaging to the environment (again, 3.4 metric tons of carbon emissions each year??) and totally unneccesary for city driving. The price is relevant because if you buy a Hummer in the states, you get a tax credit back from the government because it weighs so much.
This is more about holier-than-thou SUV poo-pooing rather than defense of the less than able bodied. If it was a Ford pickup in the same spot, you wouldn't have pulled out your camera phone.
PS - You got ripped off on the lettuce.
Why are you shopping at price chopper? Your buying lettuce imported from the depths of california or south america and you're commenting on SUVs, try shopping locally if your concerned about fuel efficiency!
ep: The issue isn't just one thing. It's a culmination of things. If it was just a guy parked in a parking lot with a Hummer, I wouldn't have posted it.
AJ: I gotta disagree. Like I said, it's a culmination. But the fact that it was a Hummer definitely bugged me more.
Also, I've deleted one recent comment from the thread that was totally unneccesary and rude.
All cars are wasteful. Complaining about the difference between how many metric tons of carbon you're putting out in a year is just splitting hairs. If you drive a car you're part of the problem and have no right to criticize.
Again, you're missing the point. It's a combination of a bunch of factors - it's not just that he's in a Hummer. It's that he's parked in a handicapped parking space without tags or license plates!
No plates? Fairly new and shiny? Bastard driving it? It's a dealer car, most likely. And he can't be arsed to hang a dealer plate out the back. Have a look around the Royfoss lot to see if that's the case.
The VIN number and CarFax.com would have told you everything you needed to know to publicly embarrass the guy.
All Hummer drivers have a disability: microscopic penis.
Should
Have
Keyed
It
keying is immature and childish
the next time just walk into the grocery store and pick up the store intercom and say "would the person with the large hummer in the handicapped spot without plates please report to the officer in the front of the store"
There should be a $100 per day tax to drive an SUV in Toronto. SUVs belong in the countryside, and only in the countryside.