Blue badge police again

[Rainburstflowers]

Name changes for this as I do every so often.
I have blue badge but my disability is not visible.
For the 3rs time in 2 weeks I have been challenged about not looking disabled and I am fed up of explaining myself

yesterday got out the car and this man came charging towards me shouting “oi you don’t have a blue badge”. I sighed and said “yes I do”. He then said “where did you nick that from?”
I said “I didn’t nick it from anyone I got it off eBay”
He then looked at me and said “oh right and walked off”
as if that was then ok!!!!
or it could be my built like a brick shithouse husband opened his door and got out the drivers seat.

I know I should not have said the eBay comment but I am fed up of explaining myself.

if anyone has any good comebacks please let me know

I know you're being encouraging (and I try to avoid explaining my disability to strangers) but well... most of us are physically weak and would rather not risk getting beaten up

Oh gosh I hope this is hypothetical and you've never given these cutns that level of detail!

No I haven’t it’s just a few people on the thread seems to think that challenging people was ok and we should then explain themselves. I was just trying to make the point that if we did this is what it could get like.
I also I am sure some people do try to explain themselves as they don’t want someone (even a twat) thinking of them badly

I'm an amputee, a woman said to me 'my husband has trouble walking' i replied 'so do I and I've only got one leg, beat that love.' She shut up.

I'm confused by this.
People can have two legs but be more disabled than an amputee. If no /unreliable nerve signal can get to their muscles (for instance) then someone's legs can look perfectly fine but not walk at all

I have a friend with MS. She would love to run around like Johnnie Peacock or swim huge distances. But just getting from the car to a cafe is an unreliable fear. Having two legs is irrelevant when she her nerves aren't communicating properly with her muscles

I had someone insisting that I shouldn't use my blue badge as I didn't have a wheelchair...

Idiots...

This!

@TessasandersonI was ASSAULTED by a member of the blue badge police once, whilst holding my child! How is that trying to “protect” me?

This. I can cover great distances in my power chair however traversing car parks with reversing cars and blind corners is truly terrifying.

Also in my power chair, the controls aren't weather proof so if it's raining I need to get it inside ASAP. I've tried various covers over the controller but it usually affects my steering and I crash or fall off kerbs. So if it's raining I try not to go out to anything I can delay but if it's doctors/hospital/school stuff then it's tough.

These BB police seem to see our permits as an “entitlement” that they don’t believe we deserve. They resent that people who they assume contribute nothing to society (like taxes, etc) are “given” something or privileges that they don’t have. I work and study full time despite my disability. These BB police are resentful of everyone that they believe gets it “easier” than they do.

I am friends with a man with a prosthetic leg who can't get a blue badge or any PIP because he said he can walk 20 metres. He lost at appeal too. It's very hard to get a blue badge.

This isn’t the flex you seem to think it is.

’beat that’ - WTF, why do you think other people are your competitors for disability.

this is one of the most vile attitudes on the thread.

I just roll my eyes at those sorts of comments. I am vulnerable, as in being quite physically weak, due to my disability, just as you state in your post. There is no way if I was challenged, that I would use a retort like that. I want to get home in the same shape, that I left. Who knows how the other person will react, if spoken to like that. I personally would not give a rundown of my medical ails, but would just say, I have a valid BB, and just go on my way.

My Mum, when she first got her badge, could walk for England. But her vision, hearing, and awareness were poor. Disabled spaces saved her, and us, nerve wracking walks across car parks with their attendant careless drivers adding to the mix.

Not unrelated -
Many car parks are designed primarily for cars - the planners forgetting that people will be walking across them.

Many cars have minuscule reversing lights and poor rear visibility. Hard for pedestrians to see them/it and hard for the driver to see pedestrians whilst reversing.

I agree.😁

As a power wheelchair user, I always park in the yellow space furthest from the shop door. As once I am in my wheelchair distance is not an issue anymore and I leave nearer spaces for those who need them more than me

There We Are Then is my favourite reply. My daughter (ASD) has a blue badge, I only use it when she is with me. Oldies love to stare at us when we park.
once I was with my dm (blue badge holder) and there was no spots in disabled so I parked in mother and baby (which is allowed) and some lady next to me said ‘you don’t have a child you shouldn’t park there’ my reply was ‘mind your own business Karen’ and off I trotted with my clearly disabled DM

Maybe you should find out the vigorous assessments that disabled people go through to get a blue badge. My husband has 2 different types of arthritis, as well as other health issues. He needs 2 sticks to walk and can only manage a few yards before resting. He can't carry anything heavy, or bend down very well, yet during his assessment he had to walk 20 yards without his sticks, and 'prove' that he couldn't do the other things. So being questioned by someone about their blue badge is an insult when most have them have had to go through such vigarous assessments in the first place. My husband gave up a job he absolutely loved due to his health- people need to mind their own business and get on with their lives and be grateful that they have the luxury of not needing a badge

Oh well. At least it took 12 pages before the 'Karen' trope was trotted out.

Blue badges are not given for hearing impairment alone. They are specifically for parking conditions and if the person you referred to has qualified for one they must have a reason beyond what you are stating
it’s not easy to get one.

perhaps you missed the point entirely. I read it that the woman with the husband was challenging the poster as to why they got a bb when their husband didn’t. It’s none if that woman’s business. If she thinks her dh deserves one the. She should go apply. Not harrass disabled people because she’s bitter they got one.
I think the posters reply was brilliant.

The point is that the other woman was clearly having a go at a disabled person because she had a bb and the rude woman’s dh didn’t.
if the dh can’t walk then go apply for a bb. Don’t go around harassing other disabled people in your bitterness.

That’s fair enough, you’re right. I can see why you’d want to avoid any sort of confrontation.

I really feel for you. I wish there was some kind of temporary blue badge scheme for people with temporary but significant mobility issues.

I had really severe PGP during pregnancy and literally couldn't go places unless I could park close enough to walk just a very short distance from the car. Obviously that's nowhere near as significant as your need for a badge.

Have you considered whether you might qualify under the discretionary criteria?

funnily enough, i get this too..

Now, its my badge, but i only get challenged when i'm on my own or with my DC's, never with my 72yo mum!

The BBP assumptions are wild.

Yes they are. I literally know someone who has one for that reason alone.