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 have rabies. Want me to prove it’

Moves closer to them
‘well it was the damndest thing’
inching forward
’you wouldn’t believe how surprised I was’ getting right up next to them
’to find out I have Ebola’
cough
’yeah it’s highly contagious but I get this blue badge - score!’

looks around
’you can see me?’
excitedly run to them
’im not disabled I’m actually dead. No one else can see me’

That third one they’ll either shit themself they’ve seen a ghost or conclude you’re mentally ill enough for the badge.

So if a pregnant woman can use a parent and child space what about a person who is obese?? I’ll just amend your reply slightly and it would appear that’s ok too.
It's really difficult to get in and out of a car when obese - you obviously have to open the door wide. (You could give them your space as) I have a child who can do his own seatbelt, he doesn't need help with it and doesn't have to open the door wide to get in and out.

Twenty five years ago I once congratulated a friend on her pregnancy because her tummy was overtly large.........she was very upset with me as she wasn't with child😬 I now know to keep my mouth shut because things aren't always as they seem......especially now that I have 2 large umbilical hernias🤣🤣🤣

Interesting….

Previous post about people standing up for right and wrong these days and not understanding why we moan about the BBP - basically hashing up the bystander effect.

So….
Given my particular medical condition, I am to be quite content to be left lying in the bloody street every so often while everyone strolls by not wanting to get involved.
Or…. someone with some kind of moral compass calls an ambulance and when it arrives, Im a freaking cabaret act.

Given some of the states I have had to call my Husband in and what has happened, he now always stops if he sees someone who looks as if they might be ill or injured to ask if they are ok.

I assume the general consensus is that this type of ‘someone else will do it, I don’t have to get involved’ behaviour, and the ‘gawping’ effect with incidents and accidents, as I like to call it, are socially unacceptable behaviours that, whilst they do happen, any reasonable person would say that it is unacceptable for anyone with a disability to tolerate them, especially regularly.

However, if these types of distancing from direct involvement with disability in all it’s glory need changed and it is agreed that we shouldn’t have to put up with being gawped at or walked round like a piece of litter, then why is a direct verbal or physical assault considered to be something that we should definitely tolerate because ‘it is for our own good to protect against fraud’? The people who do this type of unofficial policing have absolutely no right to do it. To call it a type of citizens arrest is idiotic, a citizens arrest involves a crime. The BBP are only imagining that some sort of crime may be being committed.

They hand out Blue Badges because we have medically diagnosed and proven disabilities. I was even told when I went for my first BB form by some council jobsworth ‘oh YOU’LL never get one there’s no point applying’ (I have an invisible disability and a job).

Some people like the BBP tend to verbalise their opinions, unfortunately where they formed those opinions was further down the spinal column from the brain.

Tell folk to mind their own business!

Or you could look past them and totally ignore. Simple.

My long term pal is ex forces and has his blue badge for injuries revived on active service.

The one time he was challenged by an aggressive individual whilst I was with him he ignored them but the ignorant individual carried on at him as we walked into a packed Tesco’s Express. I was about to wade into him when my pal said

“Do you know what mate part of me thinks you’re right” the ignoramus looking stunned shut up for the first time. My pal went on to say “I have my blue badge for injuries sustained on active service, but if I could see my time over again I sure as hell wouldn’t bother largely due to tw**ts like you”
At which point applause rang out in the shop.
Classic!

There is no law against anyone using a parent and child space. They are a concession and not legally enforceable. So theoretically there is nothing stopping anyone from using one if they have difficulty in using a standard space and don’t qualify for a BB.

Hmmmm, I wonder why disabled people complain about being insulted and questioned multiple times a week about their blue badge.
How is harassing people protecting blue badge holders? You must be one of those. Next time you are about to harrass a person, dont.

My DP is a full time wheelchair user, and in the passenger seat, looks perfectly able bodied. We also have 2 young children. When we’re out together, I will park in a disabled bay, get out to get the pram out first and pass my youngest to my DP to get her coat on, while I get the wheelchair out of the boot. It’s my routine and the order I feel works best when I’m managing a small child, a toddler and a wheelchair.
I once had a woman MARCH from the other end of the car park, heading straight to me with a proper rage on her face. Before she reached me, I opened the boot and pulled out the wheelchair. She basically did a cartoon skid stop, went beetroot red and turned on her heels back to her own car. 🤣
People need to learn to mind their own business. The hoops you jump through for a blue badge- if you have one, it’s almost guaranteed you’re entitled to use it, and being issued with one does not mean you’re now obliged to disclose your personal medical information to random busybodies.

On a connected topic, if we need a blue badge (which I have) to park in specific spaces, why doesn’t the same apply to seats on public transport? I have a disabled railcard, and try to book every journey. I paid for first class on the outward leg of my recent trip as it is usually less packed. On a packed return train last week (no booking available, no FC) there were very few empty seats, and people had their bags on them. I asked one woman if she could move her case, she blanked me, then a younger woman asked another passenger to move her bag so I could sit down. I don’t want to stop these journeys, but I get anxious, especially as there is rarely any member of staff around whilst boarding. Standing for an hour would be really difficult.

IME no one who genuinely has and needs a BB forgets it, or parks in a BB without displaying it.

I would politely challenge someone l saw leaving a car in a BB space without displaying a badge. I think that’s acceptable because they’re breaking the law - the offence is parking in a BB space without displaying a badge, and producing the badge after you’ve received a fine won’t mean a thing because the law applies equally whether you don’t have a badge, or whether you just forgot to bring it with you.

The important distinction here is that if someone is displaying a badge, then no-one has the right to challenge at all. They’re not doing anything wrong and my advice to self appointed BB police is not to delude yourselves - you’re not ‘protecting’ disabled people from fraud, you’re harassing disabled people for no reason. The reason they have the badge is between them, their healthcare professionals and the issuing authority. You have no right to examine or handle the badge and they don’t have to explain their disability to you. If you think there is something amiss take the badge number and report it so that the actual authorities can deal with it. Trust me, a car park slanging match reflects much worse on you than the person you’re challenging.

Oh, and on the back of personal experience from being challenged, no not all disabled people drive motability cars and there’s no way to tell without looking at the log book. And just because l’m going into Morrisons at midday doesn’t mean l should ‘get a job you lazy scrounger’. I already have one and it’s my lunch hour.

God I have parked and forgotten to put the badge up many times. I had 3 fines last year alone - I would imagine it actually is far more common than you think.

I see your point, but they are accosting people with blue badges, these are not the people they should be targeting. Having been a carer and experienced this regularly this seems to be more about judging the disabled and knowing more about their abilities than their own doctor than doing right by them. The instances I’ve had to deal with have all been very aggressive and accusatory, blue badge clearly visible and when proven wrong they storm off angrily rather than apologising.

Print some cards with your GP's details and your consultant , give them one and say take it up with them.

Nope. The ‘retaliation’ as you put it, is entirely unwarranted. It’s perfectly simple. If you see someone parking in a disabled bay without displaying a badge then challenge at your own risk because you’re likely to get abuse, and it will be a pointless exercise. Ideally just take a photo and report it to the relevant parking authority. They will deal with it - you just won’t get the gratification you seek.

If someone parks and is displaying a badge then mind your own business. Whether or not they look disabled is nothing to do with you. If you think something is amiss then take the badge number and report it to the issuing local authority. They will deal with it. Absolutely no need for any confrontation.

What most BB police want and need is the confrontation and attention - ‘look at me, l’m performing a civic duty’. No, you’re not, you’re just a nosy twat harassing someone who hasn’t done anything wrong because they don’t fit your ableist ideas of how disabled people should look or behave.

Entirely missing the point. There is a difference between challenging someone parking without a badge and someone who is displaying a perfectly valid one. If someone has a BB then it’s because someone a lot more qualified to judge than the BB police has decided they need one. If a badge is on display there is absolutely no reason to challenge. If you have concerns, take the badge number and report those concerns to the issuing local authority.

@Seymour5 I agree with you on this point. Luckily where I live trains tend to be quieter. I have had the ‘you don’t look disabled!’ from other passengers though and have witnessed other disabled rail card holders with invisible disabilities being challenged by interfering, thoughtless passengers.

However, once when travelling to my Mum’s when she was in hospital (four hour journey, large suitcase, seat bookings cancelled as usual, many shopping bags and suitcases with separation anxiety and standing room only), I showed my ticket and disability rail card to the ticket inspector. He looked me up and down (I had been standing for two hours, and had the joy of an hour long connection prior to that), frowned, motioned for me to follow him, picked up my case, then wrote something on my ticket and handed it back to me.

I thought I was going to be thrown off the train.

He took me to first class and put my case in a luggage rack, simply said that it was disgraceful that I had been standing for so long and he had upgraded my ticket for the rest of the trip.

At the time we couldn’t afford the cost of a first class ticket, however convenient it would make the trip and seat bookings were forever being cancelled. It was such a kind thing to do.

Seven years on I still have that ticket.

@LadyKenyaTbf they were really old Victorian toilets so had a big gap at the bottom of the loo. The disabled toilet was also sandwiched right at the front before you dived into male and female so on full view.

Really? This is not a game, and I think that it is quite crass to suggest doing such things. A simple wave in the direction of the dashboard, displaying the badge, is more than enough.

Is this something that you would do yourself?

Oh I see. I was just trying to imagine how they could have done that. It makes sense now. It is just extraordinary some of the lengths some people will go, to try, and dispel who they believe is disabled or not.

Hmmm…. I can imagine my consultant’s face, and that it would be the fastest way to really speed up your next consultation.

I do however have an ancient letter written in doctor speak. I carry it to remind me never to let the medical profession disempower you. I have a biomedical degree partially relevant to the subject it relates to and I still found it a freaking nightmare in places.

I have been tempted to redact personal sections and save it for the BBP. Hey, THIS is why I have a Blue Badge. Go find a medical dictionary for the big words with four or five syllables.

Im being flippant that bloody letter terrified me.

On a serious note, my husband and I have been stopped twice by traffic wardens to check for Blue Badge fraud.
Do they ask about my disability? - No
Do they ask to look at the Blue Badge? - Yes
Are they polite? - The ones we have met have been.
Do I feel assaulted or victimised in any way? - No

The dullards in the unofficial BBP that go about finger pointing Blue Badge holders for no good reason, really need to get a grip.

They wouldn't contact anyone- the average take up of any details to look into something are around 1 in 10,000.

Yes you are right ... First rational things ... but if this does not work and they still project on people with blue badge disbelief and angst... second thing is something lighter... it works for me when getting nuisance calls ...

Uh… joke…..funny

Like I think some of my last but one consultant’s letters are.