The other day I was running into Giant Eagle to pick up a book of stamps and something from the salad bar for lunch. Since it was lunchtime the parking lot was packed, but in the distance I saw an empty spot right next to the handicapped spots. It was like an oasis in a desert. I happily headed for the spot only to find that it was “Reserved for Expectant Mothers and New Parents of Infant Children Only.”
Really? Since when do pregnant women and people with babies get spots right next to the handicapped spots to shop in the supermarket?
Look, it’s not that I am unsympathetic to the pregnant women. I was a pregnant woman once. In my totally “uneventful” pregnancy I gained 50 pounds. I had a sharp debilitating pain in my upper abdomen for my entire second trimester that the doctors called “a little heartburn.” In my third trimester, I could not find a comfortable position, and could not get from one position to another without a great struggle.
Not only did no one give me a special parking space in the supermarket parking lot when I was pregnant, I was encouraged to walk. It was supposed to be good for me. My “office” at the time was a desk located in a storage loft of a sheltered workshop. I had to climb up and down stairs every time I had to use the restroom, which was all the time since I was pregnant. My boss did not seem concerned about this, and never considered finding a workspace for me on the first floor to save me this trouble.
Okay, so maybe I’m just jealous of today’s expectant mothers and their special treatment in the parking lots, but what about the “new parents of infant children?” They need a special spot, too?
I won’t even TELL you about the time that my younger sister and I flew to Boston with my six-month-old baby to visit my other sister. My sister was someone who prided herself on packing enough for a week’s vacation in a carry-on duffel bag, and I was also an everything-I-need-in-one-suitcase kind of gal. You would have thought we were packing for a six-week tour of Europe with the luggage we had on that trip, but we were really just flying somewhere with a baby.
Actually, the “new parents of infant children” who I know today are a plucky lot. They are marvels of ingenious organization. They juggle careers, and the babies, and a bunch of fun extracurricular activities for the whole family. And they still have time for Facebook. Taking the baby out is a cinch due to all the new-fangled contraptions young parents have today – like car seats that convert into a baby carrier without having to so much as remove the baby during the conversion. It is actually insulting to young parents to suggest they need a special parking spot when they take the baby to the supermarket.
Do you want to hear my parking lot fantasy? I see that empty spot in the crowded parking lot next to the handicapped spots, and when I get there I find that the spot is “Reserved for People Who Ache All Over But Don’t Quite Qualify as Handicapped.” Hey, that would be me!
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oh.........my sentiments exactly !!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, thank goodness, a kindred spirit!
ReplyDeleteHey there! I've been enjoying your column, hope you're well. This reminded me of an article someone forwarded me written by a modern mommy, who not only demanded mommy parking spaces, but couldn't understand why they were farther away than the handicapped spaces, and couldn't understand why "those handicapped people got so many spaces". She fully admitted to taking handicapped spaces because she felt she deserves them. I kinda wanted to smack her. Anyhoo, I applaud my mom & you and all the moms out there who raised us up well without perks, gadgets or complaint. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Mamie! I am so glad you like the column. Really???? She thought that the handicapped were less entitled to the closer parking spots? I just want to go on record to say that I fully support handicapped parking spots. Someday that modern mommy might require a handicapped parking spot and then she might feel differently.
ReplyDeleteRIGHT ON SISTER!!
ReplyDeleteI chuckled when I read your blog. I applaud parking spaces reserved for the handicapped. I don't mind parking spaces reserved for the pregnant and people with young children. It's not easy manipulating those infant seats in and out of vehicles. I'm fine with all of that. What kills me are parking spaces reserved for electric cars because (as the sign says), "Electric cars are better for the environment." There is a spot reserved for an electric car in the (already too small) parking lot that is reserved for the building in which I work. NO PEOPLE WHO WORK IN THIS BUILDING HAVE AN ELECTRIC CAR. (Yes, I am shouting.) So we drive around like maniacs trying to find parking spots and get $55 parking tickets if we stay longer than 2 hours (or 30 min) in most of the available spaces while this reserved spot sits empty day after day after day....!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a parking space reserved for electric cars- where IS this, Anonymous??
ReplyDeletesharon, i just saw them this weekend at bakery square....on each level i believe, right next to the elevator, and they were all empty ! (it said hybrid cars only)
ReplyDeleteWell, now that I think about it, are these near outlets? Because that would make sense.
ReplyDeleteYes. They are near outlets. But to have one in a reserved parking lot for a building that has no occupants with electric cars is beyond absurd.
ReplyDeleteWhat gets me is those people that have handicap plates or mirror tags that park in those spots and they aren't handicapped! I have found my self on more than one occasion loudly stating that" it must be a mental handicap"! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I understand and agree, Anon.
ReplyDeleteJoe, I always give the benefit of the doubt if they have the handicapped plates or tags. Not all handicaps (even the physical ones) are readily apparent.
Joe Crows: Although I don't have enough balls to do what you do, it's a great idea (saying they must have a mental handicap!).
ReplyDeleteBut the reserved spaces should not be for pregnant women; the spaces should be for women (or men) holding infants, plus a toddler or two! For me, walking the entire length of a parking lot with a baby in arms and trying to keep my two-year-old from darting in front of a car was way, way harder than walking while pregnant. If I coulda put one of them back in the womb while we walked the parking lot, I would have! And my babies were born in Florida, where most parking-lot drivers are elderly. Double yikes!
Hi Sharon,
ReplyDeleteAfter having my 6 week old granddaughter for the weekend, I have to say that it's really not that much easier than it was when I had my son. (those car seats/carriers are heavy!) With snow just around the corner, and the icy sludge in most lots, I think I'd give up a parking space to a new mom who has to take her baby shopping so that baby doesn't end up in an over turned shopping cart face down in the sludge. jmo
Finally we hear from the other side - I figured there must be some of you out there who thought these spaces were a good idea! Actually, technically these spaces wouldn't be available to you if you only had a toddler or two, they're just for parents of babies, who are lots easier to control than toddlers. I remember very well the perils of traveling to the supermarket with just one baby then toddler, and it wasn't easy, but truly we all handled it for all those years.
ReplyDelete@ Leslie - how is that beautiful granddaughter of yours?? :-)