I've Reached a New Low

[Luke]

You probably could have done effectively the same (which I think you are right to do) while leaving out the "profanity" (at least until she called you an asshole) and without mentioning the kid - then it would have been a flawless victory in my book.

Ivo.

Yup. I've had it though. It seems to happen in every parking lot.

-Luke, The Handicap Parking Law Enforcer.

[joehero]

Hilarious. Could be a seen in the movie Falling Down! Michael Douglas would be proud.

[jp1]

I don't know man...not trying to pick a fight or anything BUT you were kind of a dick. The lady was wrong but that doesn't entitle you to go around berating and insulting her and her kid. I'm kind of surprised you are getting so many pats on the back for that. The cool thing to do would have been to have walked over and grabbed the cart to put it up and simply said "I don't want any of the people who really need this spot to have to move this." It would have got the message across without being a complete jerk. Going after the kid was pretty low too. I'm not trying to be rude man but it isn't any cooler to be self righteous than it is to be wrong.

If you aren't Canadian I think you might need some anger management classes.

J/K about that last part.

[corn619]

Luke thats great. I wish more people would do shit like this. Reminds me of a story of me and my buddy while at work meeting up for coffee telling this fucking loser to pick up the large iced coffee cup and bagel bag he just threw out his window into the parking lot. Imagine a wild eyed dude with a mohawk and a guy that looks like Michael Clarke Duncan coming up to your truck window calling you a lazy fuckface while stuffing your trash back through your open window. After he shit his pants from the surprise attack, he placed it in the trash can less than 10ft from his truck. The best part was about 20 people saw this laughing their ass off while he embarrassingly placed it in the trash. Sorry if I hijacked your thread Luke but, I thought the story was related and might have enjoyed it.

[Hatta]

I'm kind of surprised you are getting so many pats on the back for that.

People wish they could be rude right back to rude people, but we're generally too inhibited for that. I certainly sympathize with the motivation, but yeah it's probably not the most productive way to handle the situation. People get defensive when confronted and won't even admit to themselves that they were in the wrong.

[dsheinem]

Yeah, no pat on the back from me, either.

You had no good reason to go off on the woman (or her son) because she was "fat" or "lazy" when what you were really upset with was her inconsiderate behavior. Every time I come across some self-righteous asshole swearing at people in public (or bullying them - which is what you did ) I can't help but roll my eyes and wonder if I'm not witnessing the pot calling the kettle black. She could have reported you for harassment and had a pretty good case. She probably went home hurt/angry that someone was calling her and her son fat in public, and completely missed the point of what you wanted to get across.

In fact, after hearing Corn chime in with his story and your own mention of the "crowd" at hand, the cynic in me wonders if there's not an element of self-attention seeking in this kind of behavior. Perhaps subconsciously?

Why not just go up to the cart, inform her that you're going to put it away for her so that people can use the spot, and suggest that she might want to consider doing the same thing next time in order to set a better example for her son. I think doing that, right in front of her son, would have accomplished much more.

[GSZX1337]

Damn, am I the only fat mother fucker (6'3" ~295lbs.) that isn't lazy as hell? I put my carts away, every time. I always put stuff away, and I never, ever use those fucking carts.

[Gamerforlife]

I really don't see what the big deal was. Of all the things I could get angry about, THAT wouldn't be one of them

Course I'm pretty laid back and generally don't give a rat's ass what other people do if it doesn't affect me personally. Live and let live I say

[RCBH928]

You took it way far,
Plus aren't you capable of MMA or something like that?
You are dangerous to society, you could have easily lost it being that angry...

You should always take the advice road and be lenient , unless the other guy responses negatively, like :

Would you please move the cart away, its a parking for the handicapped

FU*K OFF

then you can get angry

any how I hate handicapped parking spots, maybe there are a lot more handicapped people out there in the world, but where I am its always crowded parking with no where to park your car, far away might mean streets away, while the handicapped park is ALWAYS free.

Any how I can understand if the handicapped is using crutches, but if he is on one of those electric wheel chairs, doesn't it mean that its easier for him to cut longer distances than your average guy? he is like in a mini car.

Plus I think people are too harsh on fat people, so what if they are fat? Let them be fat, no need to use stuff like lazy ass and you need to do some exercise , unless its going to kill them.

I know for a fact that a lot of people have a hard time keeping thin, they would eat like 1 chocolate bar and they gain 1kg of weight, and then its very difficult for them to loose that fat because they have to eat alot before they feel satisfied and not hungry, while other people will feel full after two slices of pizza. So they are kind of at a disadvantage too.

[Luke]

The cool thing to do would have been to have walked over and grabbed the cart to put it up and simply said "I don't want any of the people who really need this spot to have to move this." It would have got the message across without being a complete jerk.

Completely understand, and as I said, I usually follow through with more maturity and tact, and I actually usually do just that, move the cart myself.

Please understand that I see and deal with people doing this on almost a daily basis. Perhaps if you were in my shoes (size 12 Adidas sambas or size 11 black leather cap toes) you might understand why I lost it. I see it all the time, and the person is always a complete asshole. Not once have I ever heard "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it".

It's always, "Mind your own business", "So what?", or "I don't care", or "I won't be parked long". This is the first time I skipped the pleasantries and just went to the meat of the subject. And if you could have seen the fat slob, you'd probably think she deserved it too.

I wasn't going out of my way to hurt the kid, who was more of a teen than a kid, but was just trying to send a message about responsibility to the parent. Could I have handled it better? Yes. Do I regret what I said? Not really.