Assuming you have no disability, have you ever parked in a Disabled Parking spot

[tblue37]

73. You never know, though. I use my cane most of the time now, but for quite a while

I would have good days and bad days. A couple of times I locked up coming out of a store after going in without my cane. I had to ask a passerby to help me to my car, which was parked inconveniently far from the door. One woman just asked for my keys, hurried to my car, then drove it back to me. People can be jerks, but they can also be awfully kind. She did ask me, though, why I hadn't parked in a handicapped spot. I hadn't because I was not using my cane that day, and I didn't feel like getting hassled by someone who didn't know that I am often not able to walk far. That day I had been doing so well that I didn't even think to bring a cane with me.

Now, though, I always have one of my spare canes in the trunk of my car. That's because on a good day when I was hurrying to make my first class, I forgot to grab one of my canes on the way out. I was fine during my first three classes, but I had to teach the fourth one sitting down (which is very much not my style), and then had to have help getting down to my office. Fortunately I was able to call a friend to go to my apartment for a cane and bring it to me. (A lot of my friends have keys to my place.) Ever since then I have always kept one spare in my car and one in my office--just in case.

But the thing is, I don't always need to use my cane. I can go for several hours, sometimes even a whole day, without ever using one. But at any moment my hips or knees can lock up so I cannot walk without support, or my lower back can become too painful to allow me to take another step. I usually carry my cane around now when I am away from home, even when I am not using it, just in case. But still, when I haven't needed it for a while, I might carelessly rush out to the car without one--or from my car to my office without one.

That's why I always keep one in the trunk of the car and one in the office.

But it is also why someone might on occasion have seen me park in a handicapped spot when I seemed to be able to walk just fine. It doesn't happen now, because I don't go into stores without my cane any more, but I sometimes did in the past, and when I did, I bet some people thought I was being a jerk using someone else's placard to park in a handicapped spot. I was using my own placard and just being careful, since I would not be able to get back to my car easily if I locked up on the way out.

Not all handicaps are obvious.