Dear “non blue badge holder who parks in bays reserved for such holders”
I wanted to write to you, to check that you’re ok. I really hope that you are sat at home this evening, drinking your favourite tipple, really comfortable and pain free. I am confident that you choosing to park in a bay reserved for Blue Badge Holders has contributed to you feeling so happy and healthy tonight.
Why should we live in a world where people are segregated and allowed to park in areas designated to help them exit a vehicle and enter a business safely? The world has gone mad! You should have equal rights and be able to experience the short walk usually reserved for people who would compare said walk to climbing a mountain.
Who am I to criticise you? You have probably been working all day. You have probably got children in your car and are petrified that they will scratch your precious BMW if you park in a normal space. You probably thought you would ‘only be a minute’. You probably thought it wouldn’t matter if you just jumped into that space because it’s private parking and you ‘don’t have to pay the fine’.
Well it did matter. It mattered to the disabled person who couldn’t park. To the person who had to abandon their trip because you wanted to shorten your walk. Because you are too important to live in a world where you can’t do what you want.
I hope you feel great. I hope you had a lovely weekend. And I hope to God that you never have to experience any illness that would require you to write an open letter like this.
Regards
Em
Blue Badge Holder
P.s I work full time, drive a BMW and have kids in the car and I’m a blue badge holder
Chapter 2 
Is it ok to park if you don’t have the disabled badge but you are disabled (no energy to apply for what time is left) and don’t really care if received a fine.
LikeLike
Emma, been fighting this for 32 years……Angie can walk….but not always and if something upsets her…(like christmas music) she has to get out of the shop pretty quick……xx
LikeLike
People don’t realise what impact it has them parking in a space they shouldn’t.
It means I can’t get out my car, I can’t get into the shop because I can’t walk across the car park, ahd without a blue badge space I can’t get my wheelchair out. The blue badge space is my lifeline, the only way I have to get out the house, to do things you regular healthy people do.
Don’t take for granted your ability to walk across the car park to park 20m further from the door, because the moment you have lost that ability you will see the world in a different light.
I will gladly swap you my unstable spine, my paralysed arm, my reduced movement in my leg and the chronic pain I live with daily.
I don’t want to use the blue badge spaces at 29 but I have to in order to undertake some elements of normal life. If you want my space please take my disability too.
LikeLike
You should’ve wrote this blog piece! wonderful comment x
LikeLike