But I'm handicapped!

[elysia]

...and yet still have the fortitude to walk from the parking lot into the store and back outside after they refuse to force the person who beat you to the spot to move.


My cousin is a dispatcher for the county and oh. my. god. some of the calls she tells me about make me glad to work in retail. Glad... to work in retail. There is no spoon.
This is second-hand, but hopefully I can still get the effect across. Keep in mind, my cousin is the person who picks up the phone when someone dials 911.

D - my cousin
C - sucky caller

D: Nine one one, what is your emergency?

C: Yeah, I'm over here at the Gottschalks on Alder, you know, and some guy took my goddam parking spot. He hit me - he almost hit me, you know, my car, and I was pulling in and he just cut in and took it!

D: Uh, has there been a collision?

C: No because I braked, you know, I was fast enough not to hit him, thank God, and he won't move. Its the only goddam parking spot in the whole place because there's this event, you know, and I was waiting for it. Goddam it.

D: Sir, this is an emergency line.

C: Yeah, and I'm handicapped you know, and all the spaces were taken, and this was the only one! And I went in and told the lady she had to have him move, and I dont think anyone was working the gears up there if you know what I mean.

D: Ummm...

C: And this ass won't move, and I said, I'm calling the cops, you know, being reasonable, and he starts swearing at me, now thats not very reasonable, is it?

D: Sir, I don't think you understand. If you are not hurt or in danger, if this is not an emergency, you should not call 911.

C: But today is the only day of the sale!

D: Sir, I am terminating this call. Deputies will be there shortly because by law they must respond to every call. But I do not think they will be able to help you. **click**

So in the end, they went just to make sure there wasnt some kind of brawl between these two old men in front of the Gottschalks over a parking spot. Meanwhile, someone who is having a heart attack cant get through to 911 because the lines are tied up with morons.

It reminded me a lot of this story, in which some twit calls 911 over a hamburger: http://www.snopes.com/crime/cops/burger.asp

[Bright_Star]

People like that ought to be arrested for tying up an emergency line.

[Crazeyal]

Actually you CAN be arrested for just that.

[depechemodefan]

C: But today is the only day of the sale!

egad. I guess he won't live long enough for next year's sale

[Music Mo-Gal]

So was the person who took the handicapped guy's spot also handicapped, or not? Because if the person wasn't, then I'd be pissed too.

[smileyeagle1021]

kinda OT, but related to the title of the post... nothing bothered me more in the call center than when I would inform people that a hotel had a parking charge and they'd ask me "ok, but what do they charge handicap people"... umm, sorry hon, handicap spaces are reserved spaces, not discounted or free spaces... we are more than happy to accomodate your physical difficulties but we're not willing to bend to your entitlement issues.
And not knowing what countie the OP is in I can't say whether or not she's recieved calls about me when I worked parking enforcement, there was at least one person who tried to argue that it was illegal to issue parking tickets and that he was calling the police... so I can imagine the pain those guys go through.

[elysia]

Thats the thing, I dont even think it was a handicapped spot, it was just the only one open that was close to the store.

[Music Mo-Gal]

Thats the thing, I dont even think it was a handicapped spot, it was just the only one open that was close to the store.

Ohhh...I see. Well, that's a whole different kettle of fish then. If all the handicapped spots are full, that doesn't automatically give a handicapped person the right to grab the next available non-handicapped spot.

It does sound like the other person cut him off deliberately, which was not nice. I can understand him being upset, but I don't get why he would think it would merit a 911 call.

[depechemodefan]

I have to admit, it sucks donkey balls when a person is waiting for a space and someone just cut in front and takes it.

i was reading in an old newpaper about someone parked in someone's space and the woman the space belonged to, parked her car right behind the car in her space. She left a note: You are parked in my space. I will be back at noon to move my car so you can get out.

She comes back at noon and finds her car windows were broken, and her car was moved. She found a note on her car that said. "I couldn't wait till noon".

[IT Grunt]

She comes back at noon and finds her car windows were broken, and her car was moved. She found a note on her car that said. "I couldn't wait till noon".

Sweet, sweet karma.

[elysia]

I don't know, I'm more on the side of the lady who's space it was. Not that I would have blocked them in, but I definatly would have wanted to.

[wanderingjoe72]

I don't know, I'm more on the side of the lady who's space it was. Not that I would have blocked them in, but I definatly would have wanted to.

I'm with you on this. If you have either paid for or earned a marked parking space, you deserve to have it available for you. I wouldn't block someone in, but I would go ask the attendant to have it towed. Most have some kind of tow company on speed dial for just such an occasion.

[smileyeagle1021]

I'm with you on this. If you have either paid for or earned a marked parking space, you deserve to have it available for you. I wouldn't block someone in, but I would go ask the attendant to have it towed. Most have some kind of tow company on speed dial for just such an occasion.

hahahahahahahahahahaha
a tow company on call
I'll have to remember that one
My condo complex has that problem with guests parking in resident's spaces (I refuse to go to Sears ever again because their vans park in reserved spaces)... and as far as I'm concerned I would have boxed them in, then written down their license plate so if they pulled a stunt like that I'd call the police... why because I pay for my parking space and I will do with it as I see fit, and I'm so sorry if your lazy ass doesn't find it convenient, you can pay for your own damned space if you want, or if you don't understand that residents in these complexes have to pay for their parking space then I suggest you take your ignorant ass back to bumfuckia and leave us alone (granted our parking costs are included in the HOA fees, but that is still paying for it).

sorry, I'll get off the soap box, that's just one of my biggest pet peeves.

[portia911]

One of the dumbest emergency calls here was in the paper last week. Some guy called in the middle of the night to say there were two hedgehogs mating or fighting on his lawn and he was frightened.

[portia911]

opps part of that was wrong

From the article

A woman in a rush to get to a garden party called 111 to ask for help with her sewing.

The woman, who has not been identified, called police in Rotorua yesterday pleading for help to thread her needle.

Police northern communications told the Herald the woman claimed she needed urgent assistance so she could get to a garden party.

No one was sent as the local police lacked the necessary skill, the spokesman said.

Police and other emergency services receive thousands of nuisance and hoax calls each year including heavy breathers, people wanting taxis and those upset that their takeaway meals were bad.

Last year, a bride in Christchurch, panicked by a large oil stain on her wedding dress, dialled 111 in a desperate plea for help.

Other calls have included:
* A man rang to say there were two hedgehogs fighting on his lawn.
* A woman called to get police to make her boyfriend ask for her hand in marriage.
* A man rang to say there was a cow at his letterbox - and he was scared.