Article posted Wednesday, September 24, 2014 7:58pm

Dear Mary Pat,

Just as I approached the entry to the supermarket, ready to get a basket, a car zipped into the handicap spot and a young guy hopped out and grabbed a basket. I looked at the car, saw the handicap tag hanging from the mirror, then looked at him moving like a gazelle. I said, “You don’t look like you need a handicap sticker,” and he said, “Oh, that’s for my grandmother and she’s in the car.”

I wanted to say, “You’re abusing the rules and taking up a space meant for people who need it,” but I didn’t. Seems to me that there’s increasing violations of both fairness and decency in this handicapped parking scenario. What do you think and what might you have said or done?

Exasperated in Ephraim

Dear Exasperated in Ephraim,

Just like a lot of situations in life, a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. The grandson should have parked in a regular spot since his grandmother wasn’t accompanying him inside. As you saw, he had no issues getting around.

While there are certainly abuses with handicap stickers, someone’s condition might not be obvious upon first sight. For example, they may have a heart condition. The problem is when you stick your nose into someone else’s business, you don’t always have all the facts in front of you. If you are sure of a situation where someone is taking advantage of the system, there is a website where you can log complaints. They collect information and send it along to individual state DMVs. They also have a blog. Here is the link if you’d like to check it out: handicappedfraud.org.

Good luck,

Mary Pat