There is a new addition to the disabled and mother and baby parking bays. Or maybe it’s always been there and I’ve never noticed. There is now designated parking close to the entrance of the store for people with walking disabilities. (At least that is what I think the sign means).
Fourteen months after injuring my meniscus, and with arthritis invading my knee along with acute tendonitis (as and when), I am basically knackered when it comes to walking. The pain is like an acute toothache so when shopping in large stores I tend to use crutches as there is never anywhere to sit down.
You can imagine my delight when I spotted one of these bays on a recent visit to Aki in Portimão. Thinking of my poorly knee I told my husband to pull in. While I was faffing around trying to untangle my crutches from the seat belt on the back seat, a car pulled up alongside in the only other allocated parking space. A man got out of the car (no passenger) and ran into the store. What? WHAT!?WHAT!!!
I skippity-hopped (my equivalent to a run) into the store where I spotted the man looking at the paint. A woman on a mission I limped towards him and was about to lecture re. parking in allocated bays when my husband gave me ‘the’ look, and shook his head.
‘It’s not worth it’
‘It is to me. He took the last parking space.’
I relented as I muttered a curse under my breath.
My pet peeve: able-bodied people who park in disabled or allocated parking bays are selfish. You’ve got legs, use them.
If this gets your goat, please like and share!
Piglet in Portugal 
i was under the impression its now illegal for non disabled to park in disabled slots in Portugal
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I hope it is. But it’s like dogs on Blue Flag Beaches: people don’t give a damn. 😦
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Oh yes, totally agree with you, I hate people that use and abuse of rights they don’t have!
Just this week I parked in a 5min spot in front of the Post Office (next to one of the entrances to the local shopping) just to drop a letter in the postal box outside. Right next to the 3 or 4 bays allocated to the 5min parking were a few bays for “People with prams”.
I saw a woman parking there, and then she gets out with a 8 to 10 year old child, grabs the shopping bags and off she goes!! No pram at all!
But here you can actually report those abuses to the Police if you wish, I just don’t do it…
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That’s another peeve of mine.’People with children parking in the ‘babes in arms’ parking spaces. Children have legs, let them use them. 🙂
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