Disabled Parking Bays

[Guest guest]

dear all,

does anyone else experience this?

i have a disabled parking sticker so that i can park in parking bays

that are close to where i am going - for when i am not well and find

it hard to walk distances. i only use it when i really need to -

when my RA is flaring or my fatigue is really bad, as i know that

there are many people who need this service.

but...because i am a 30 year old woman who looks healthy, i

constantly get comments from the general public like " do you realise

you are parking in a disabled bay? " and some of them are quite

aggressive towards me. i dont feel that i should have to explain my

medical history to every person who choses to judge me by the way i

look - rather than by accepting that maybe you dont have to be

elderly or in a wheelchair in order to have a disability!

(the trouble with RA, the steroids make us all looks so damn good!!!)

it really upsets me as people look at me like i am a cheat and a

liar. i know people are only trying to protect those parking bays

for people who need them - but i am afraid they often stereotype

what a disabled person " looks like " which is so wrong.

how would you handle it? what would you say?

Thanks,

S