My goal is to advocate for those who are truly handicapped.  Ivey falls into the handicap slot under three seperate criteria.  She is physically handicapped, mentally handicapped and medically handicapped.  I don't know if there is some other criteria that I might be missing, but I think possessing one of those components or any combination of the three pretty much saves one of those parking spaces for a person - with no limitation to the mildness or severity of the 'handicap'.  I think seizures are one of those things that you might never know about - but I have made that dead sprint to grab the Diastat left in the car or to get her back to the car - and I promise if that were her only issue - let people glare, because the back of the parking lot is no place to be in those moments. 

And I have been the recipient of plenty of glares, and that's okay - from a distance Ivey is pretty deceiving.  She is still small, so some days when running into the grocery store I can carry her rather than lugging out the wheel chair, it looks like a mom carrying a baby.  In reality, the last time I had her in the grocery store she did have a seizure right there beside the hot dogs.  I was trying to hold her because I couldn't put her on the floor all the while trying to decide if I should bail on the groceries and bolt back to the car or pray that this was a short seizure and we could ride it out in the deli section...and trying to look somewhat discreet...and wanting to scream for our friend Dr. Peek that we passed as he was heading for the check out and wondering if he would hear us if he were still in the store.

I have no discretion to the severity of handicap classifications - my dicretion is only to those who try to abuse a system designed for people who need a larger space for a wheel chair or van, closer access to the building because they are blind and/or deaf and parking lots are hazardous, heart issues, canes, mental disabilities, etc. the list is extensive - because anyone who really needs that spot - would trade places with the person who feels they 'earned' that spot - at any given moment.  And I promise not one cell in Ivey's body earned her spot....but she wears her sign with pride....we all do...you do.

So no - I was never offended - just skeptical that I overstepped my boundaries or wasn't very clear.  My soapbox is for all those people who have absolutely no disability, but encroach on those who do.  For example did I ever tell you about our experiences at Emory where on three separate occasions I witnessed pharmaceutical reps with handicap parking stickers....and they were actually using them....at a Children's Hospital!  For some reason, that's about as low as you can go.  I even approached one of the reps one day and asked her about it.  Now this is a person with a good job which requires great people skills, the ability to lug some heavy bags around, and this particular person had on 2 inch heels. So I asked her what her disability was.....she quickly jumped on the elevator...leaving me to buckle Ivey into her wheelchair and fumbling with her feeding pump....