I may be a hippie after all

Maybe I should have titled this "So YOU think it's a luxury do you? Just try being Ivey for a day - buddy!!

Okay - I've been on this soapbox before but this time I am seriously aiming to do something about it. My hubby thinks I may 'have a point' but that thus is the ways of the world. Maybe so, maybe so, but get ready because when I get on my box, oh boy.

So here is my plan - do I have any takers before I get started??

I need volunteers. Good ones. Ones who don't mind showing off their disABILITIES. Basically blatantly obvious. I mean that with utmost respect remember my daughter is blatantly obvious.

Anyone willing to become a hippie with me will work just fine. We are going to silently protest --

Now I know it is sufficatingly hot in Georgia right now, but all the better because we have some doozies out there to rattle and shake. We need to attack on a hot miserable day to better prove our point.

Here's what we are going to do. We are going to get someone to drop us off at our favorite places in town, whether it be a restaurant, hospital, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, TJ Max, or Barnes and Noble.

Ivey and I get dibs on that one spot in front of Harvest Moon.

We are going to stand or sit out there in this darned Georgia humidity in our wheelchairs (Ivey will) in front of the closest 'handicapped' parking space. Not saying a word, just parked on the sidewalk in front of the spot, and see if those people with the little hangy 'handicap sign' that looms from the rear view mirror - who had an injury at some point - still have have the gumption to turn into that designated spot.

Trust me on this restaurant one - I've seen the same couple eat in there multiple times who have parked in that lone spot out front - it's not heart issues or their diet would be different.

I also call dibs on a spot in front of the hospital. I think a whole group of us should sit up there in front of those spots.

Let's just sit out there and make them think. "On a hot day like today, could someone else have better use of this space?" If they are 'handicapped', you would think they would use those special spaces more wisely.

I know I do. Every single time I drive my car I could pull in one of those specially marked spots, even if Ivey was not in the car. My car has a tag, so the fines would not matter because legally - I'm covered. Seriously, have you ever seen a police officer question anyones parking? My conscience would kill me.

But you better bet that even today if Ivey is not in my car, I park further away from the store. I still walk from the back of the parking lot because I know that those handicapped spots are taken and someone whether in a wheelchair or elderly needs a spot up closer to that store. I am NOT a parking lot stalker!!!!

When Ivey is with us, we park there in those special spots. My daughter is a three year old mentally challenged blind girl who cannot walk. Her three year old counterparts are running around. Sometimes she needs her wheelchair other times I would love for her to try to walk to where we are going. But she can't do it from a block away, not YET. No, she has not 'earned' that spot but it does make a small portion of her life easier.

And trust me on this one, she would rather not be the one needing that space - EVER.

So why do so many people think it a L.U.X.U.R.Y?

It's not people.

So who is with me? Seriously. Any one want to be a hippie with me?