Am I just being a jerk here?

[dclfun]

Talking Hands...I totally agree with your comments about driving with low blood sugar. By the way, this "gentleman" was NOT diabetic and later admitted he'd said that to try and persuade me to move since he was going to be embarrassed and humilated in public when the police finally arrived. There's more to the story than I cared to go into, but I also mentioned to him when he stated he was diabetic and needed to eat that we'd help him, send my son to get something asap, etc. vs. him driving away. My boys looked for candy or sugared gum in our van, etc. I don't feel Carol realized where I was coming from or the details of what happened as I aLso agree with her point of view about not caring where she parked if her son's life was in jeopardy due to a medical need. You'd have to be in my shoes to know how I feel, for example, about the parking abuse. Way too many times I've returned to my van, laden with melting food for example, only to find someone illegally parked by my lift without a HC tag. Rarely if ever have I received an apology from the offender when they finally come to move their vehicle so I can get in mine. While I wouldn't generalize or focus my disappointment in lack of common courtesy to one person, this particular incident I was aware of who was parked and blocking me in and I chose to take action without any feeling of guilt. ---Kathy

 

[Selket]

Thanks Kathy - I feel much better now! Whew! This diagnosis has been so hard for me - like I said he is just 2 so not driving yet! I thought he was parked at the quickie mart or something - and certainly if he was not getting food and not diabetic you should call every cop that was willing to come over and publically humilate him. You did the appropriate thing of offering to get him food rather than have him move his car and clearly he didn't need the food in the first place It makes me very mad to think he would use such an excuse in the first place. I hope you called the local newspaper...

I agree that a diabetic should not be driving without some emergency foods but I can see where it might happen (having just had a big pharmacy mix up where they gave me the wrong strips for my son's meter and I took them with me on a trip to go out for dinner about an hour away from my house and ended up with no strips that would work at all in his meter - couldn't therefore give the insulin and had to leave asap and go back home and feeling helpless and like a big idiot at the same time and horrible because I knew he must be running high and feeling bad). A diabetic having an emergency like that man claimed has to stop driving wherever they are and get help before they hurt themselves and/or someone else with the car. I can assure you that William will learn the importance of carrying emergency supplies while driving.

Thank you for clearing that up Kathy. I have never used a handicapped spot for anything and I hope I never have to use one - illegally or not.

 

[dclfun]

Carol- I'm glad you feel better and so do I! I realized I'd left out important details in that post ( the fact of where we were parked and that this man lied about being diabetic being only some of those details). I understand how it sounded to you. I too was angry that he used a legitimate medical need to get me to move, esp. after we went into "high gear" and tried to help him since my family is all too aware of what can happen to a diabetic who is going low. To me it was an insult to all people who truly have that condition and I did mention to the police that he'd used that as an excuse as well as cursing and physically threatening me. ---Kathy

 

[SueM in MN]

I too was angry that he used a legitimate medical need to get me to move, esp. after we went into "high gear" and tried to help him since my family is all too aware of what can happen to a diabetic who is going low. To me it was an insult to all people who truly have that condition and I did mention to the police that he'd used that as an excuse as well as cursing and physically threatening me.

There are people who think they are above the law and the guy Kathy mentioned was one of them. I don't know if it was in the news as much in other places as here, but here's a story about another one, who is diabetic and tried to use that as an ecuse (one of many) when he was caught speeding and killed a man.
Former South Dakota governor and congressman Bill Janklow was convicted of speeding thru a stop sign in a rural area and killing a man on a motorcycle who was in the intersection. During his trial, he tried to give every excuse he could: of being a diabetic who had taken insulin that morning, but not eaten all day, been overtired, had campaigning on his mind, so was distracted. He was with a member of his staff who could have driven (and did not know of any problem), told EMS people at the scene that his blood sugar was just fine and did not need treatment for low blood sugar at the hospital after the accident and had been cited for (and even bragged about) speeding many times in the past. Diabetes continued to be his defense during the trial and there was a lot of discussion about it, a lot of it with misconceptions about diabetes (like that an insulin dependent diabetic actually would take his insulin and then not eat) and calls for diabetics not to be allowed to drive because of "fears" that any diabetic could end up having a reaction and an accident. Even after his conviction (and minor hand-slap of a sentence),
he continues to try to get out of conviction - no personal responsability. Not only is a man dead, but thousands of responsible diabetics have been defamed by one man trying to get off the hook.

 

[Poohnatic]

I think that "Olga" complained about being blocked in, the right people heard her complaining and decided that they'd put it in the newsletter.

In the same position, I would have done the same thing and blocked "Olga" in. I probably would have said something to her after the service if I'd known it was her car.

Suzanne

 

[dclfun]

Sue- That's a horrible story but one that's becoming all too familiar as it seems there's an epidemic of people refusing to take responsibility for their actions. Not only that, it sounds like he has no remorse for the person he killed.
Our family has gone through alot in the past few years since my husband passed away. We lost our home and truly were nearly homeless due to my high medical bills until I could go back to work ( yes, I have to work while on life support so my children don't starve/have a roof over their heads!). Anyway, our local newspaper has a compassion program that people donate to during the holidays and someone referred us there. There was a new fully furnished modular home on land donated through a company. Guess who got it? A man who had fallen asleep at the wheel of his car and ran into the back of a truck, becoming a partial quadriplegic. No one mentioned what happened to the driver of the truck. I was so outraged that someone who caused their own disability and could have killed innocent people was awarded such a life altering gift. I truly didn't care that we didn't get the home but there were many people who deserved it instead of a negligent driver. This man also has an able bodied wife, neither of them now work, and are of course singing the praises of how their horrible life experience was turned around due to the generosity of others. I'll never understand it. This in no way compares with the above story Sue mentioned but it further illustrates the lack of responsibility people choose to take when a committee awards a 100K home to a man convicted of felony reckless driving. ---Kathy

 

[Selket]

Sue and all,

I hadn't followed the story of Janklow too closely and wasn't aware he had used insulin depend. diabetes as one of his reasons (main reason?) for his accident. I don't know as much about type 2's who take insulin but I think type 1's have to take it even when they are not eating....like when sick with a stomach flu - in order to keep ketones from forming. However I think generally they must keep drinking something with sugar in it at the very least in order to keep hydrated and to keep the glucose level from going too low. Clearly if he was THAT sick (and of course he wasn't sick at all!) and taking insulin he shouldn't be driving either! It would be foolish for a diabetic taking insulin who is unable to eat to drive a car. It is criminal what Janklow did and clearly he deserves a good deal of jail time and some diabetes counseling while he sits there.

And if you can believe it (I still can't) my son with diabetes just had a terrible reaction yesterday at lunch to some peanut butter (he didn't eat it thankfully - just licked it or got it on his hands). I called my doctor who kept me on the line helping me out and they called 911 for me. Fortunately by the time the ambulance got here he was getting better and not worse (and fortunately he didn't actually consume the peanut butter!). Too much to deal with in 4 weeks time

Kathy - it amazes me what goes on sometimes.

As for the original posting about blocking someone in....I think the person was right to be angry. I'd have blocked her in also as she clearly is not entitled to the spot. However that can't work every week. I hope talking to folks at the church and perhaps persuading them to designate more disabled parking will help solve the problem. I agree with someone who said she probably knows a dr. who will give her a tag! Having more handicapped parking spots would help...for you and the other folks you mentioned who drive a van and need it sometimes too. And then for folks like her....

 

[IandGsmom]

Last summer I was a "Parking Control Officer"- glorified name for someone who hand out parking tickets. I used to go into big and small shopping centers and always found someone willing to risk the $250+ ticket just to be close or they thought they could get away with it or they just did not care. I heard every excuse. One man said he thought he could park there becasue his back hurt. Too bad. Call the police next time and hopefully they will send someone and not give a warning.

 

[mike07801]

I highly recommend always calling the police every time. I always report folks parked in handicapable spaces without a hang tag or plate. Where I live, in addition to fines, a court appearance is required even for first time offenders (NJ). The judges like to fine the maximum and humiliate offenders in open court. (Have seen it done plenty of times while testifying for my work.)

 

[mamajoan]

Originally posted by IandGsmom
Last summer I was a "Parking Control Officer"- glorified name for someone who hand out parking tickets. I used to go into big and small shopping centers and always found someone willing to risk the $250+ ticket just to be close or they thought they could get away with it or they just did not care. I heard every excuse. One man said he thought he could park there becasue his back hurt. Too bad. Call the police next time and hopefully they will send someone and not give a warning.

Holy Toledo!! Do you think you could come down here to Hollister and pass out a few tickets in the Nob Hill/Target parking lot??!!


I am a diabetic.. brittle.. who must test herself everytime she drives.. it is a pain it the butt.... well actually finger However, I learned how fast I can lose consciousness behind the wheel.. it happens... I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia unawareness along with my diabetes. I was so glad the endocrinolgist was able to figure out why I could not feel "low" BS coming on until it was way too late. I beg of you not to be too hard on people who are diabetic and trying to be responsible.

As for blocking someone in who parked illegally in a handi space.. I say go for it! Call the cops while you are at it too!

 

[mbb]

Originally posted by pumpkinboy

Nope.

You are right to take it up with the Church Administration/Vestry. The Parish needs more than one accessible parking spot,...

and a spot just for Olga
Maybe she would "get it" if a spot was officially designated as hers, and published in the bulletin...

*tongue firmly in cheek*

Let us know what happens...

 

[SueM in MN]

However, I learned how fast I can lose consciousness behind the wheel.. it happens... I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia unawareness along with my diabetes. I was so glad the endocrinolgist was able to figure out why I could not feel "low" BS coming on until it was way too late. I beg of you not to be too hard on people who are diabetic and trying to be responsible.

I didn't mean to be hard on responsible diabetics when I posted about Former South Dakota governor and congressman Bill Janklow (and I hope it wasn't taken that way). All the facts that have come out in the news point to him having used diabetes as an excuse for his speeding; ie. he said at his trial that he had not eaten, but had told the EMS people on the scene (one of whom was an insulin dependent diabetic himself) that he HAD eaten and his blood sugar was just fine, the medical people at the hospital he was taken to indicated that his blood sugar was fine when he was seen there.
So, there are responsible people and there are some people who are just looking for excuses for their behavior.

 

[mamajoan]

Thanks Sue.. I knew you understood where I was coming from with my post. Sometimes even Docs don't get it.. I had an ER Doc YELL at me.. about having an insulin reaction. When I was aware enough to explain... he just shook his head and mumbled something about not knowing much about hypoglycemia unawareness. The bugger never did apologize.
There are lots of diabetics who work really hard to manage their BS and their life. The people who try to take advantage of others like the above stated governor or the man who tried to Fake it.. to avoid a ticket for parking in the Handi space really irk me.

 

[SueM in MN]

As a nurse, I have seen people with pretty low blood sugars who were not aware at all that they were low.
I am not a diabetic, but had an interesting experience with low blood sugar a long time ago when I was pregnant with first DD. Blood sugar monitors were just new and we had an inservice in the public health department I worked with on using monitors with gestational diabetics. Since I was pregnant and they needed a volunteer, my friends volunteered me. My blood sugar was low enough that the doctor doing the inservice made me eat a donut and a full glass of juice and then retested me. I felt pretty good and otherwise would not have eaten for a few hours. So, if it wasn't for the inservice, I might have ended up in an accident somewhere.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by SueM in MN
...the doctor doing the inservice made me eat a donut ...

Hmmm, a Doc that makes you eat a donut. That's my kind of Doctor.

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by pumpkinboy
Hmmm, a Doc that makes you eat a donut. That's my kind of Doctor.

It was the last time I volunteered for anything, I'll tell you that much. Plus I was a tiny little thing then, more in need of donuts than I am now....(but the donut was good)

 

[Lachesis00]

Check with the local zoning. Here in Juneau (I think it's a city wide but I could be wrong, maybe it's state) there is a law that if a building serves so many people X amount of handicapped parking spots must be allocated.

Maybe talk to the church and see if they can't allocate a couple more places, but I would not Olga get away with parking there. Thats just plain wrong.

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't have a link ot it (and don't have time to look), but I know there are some requirements written into the ADA about the number of accessible parking spots that are required. It's set up by the total number of spots in the lot (this is not the correct numbers - I'm just making up for illustration purposes: For a total of 1-25, spots, you need 1 handicapped spot; for a total of 26-50 spots, you need 2 spots, one of which needs to be van accessible). The law is set up like that and applies in any state. Individual states, cities or counties can be decide they want more accessible spots, but they can't have less than the law allows
For the ADA stuff, there usually is something written in that says you must comply on new construction or if you renovate, but if you have an existing place that you haven't changed, you usually don't have to completely come into compliance.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Well, there are really only 7 parkijg spaces in the church parking lot, one of them accessible. We have a move on to hold the lot spaces for those with access issues, reserve three spaces at the end of the driveway for those with limited mobility but no placards and the rest can park on the street next to the lovely park accross the way. There is no overnight street parking in our city anyway, so street parking is not hard to come by; just on Easter or something you might have to park a block away (or compete with the Presbyterians up at the other end of the block ).

 

[meandtheguys]

I am a diabetic.. brittle.. who must test herself everytime she drives.. it is a pain it the butt.... well actually finger However, I learned how fast I can lose consciousness behind the wheel.. it happens... I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia unawareness along with my diabetes. I was so glad the endocrinolgist was able to figure out why I could not feel "low" BS coming on until it was way too late. I beg of you not to be too hard on people who are diabetic and trying to be responsible.

Please, if you have the time can you tell me more about hypoglycemia unawareness. Even if you can just send to a starting point web address. My DH has some pretty weird spells, and if I were going to name them that is what I would name them! Thank you so much!

Michelle