primitives discuss scamming disability

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022635523

Oh my.

Purplehazed (92 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:21 PM

Scamming Disability

At the local Costco the yesterday, I watched as a mid sized sedan parked in a spot that was clearly laid out for a handicapped van. One of those spots that is huge enough for a van with ramps or other forms of lifts to accommodate wheel chairs. There were other handicapped spots open, but this one was the closest to the entrance. A mid 60's couple dutifully hung their sign on the mirror and headed into the store. Now, I know that there are all kinds of disabilities, however these people didn't exhibit any obvious problems. They seemed to have no difficulty grabbing a cart and pushing it with groceries all around this cavernous warehouse.
 
I contemplated saying something but I didn't. I should have. It bothers me because my best friend from high school has a brother, wheelchair bound, with Cerebral Palsy. When I we were younger and Bill was more able, we would take Bill were ever we could and it was sometimes a struggle to find a spot to park where we could (using home made ramps)get bill and his wheelchair in and out of the van.
 
It also bothers me because of recent responses to posts regarding disability. I lost my mom several years ago. She was 55 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer that had already spread. She was also in an abusive relationship for 20 years. My sisters and I did our best to get mom to move in with one of us but she felt she was financially tied to her husband for health insurance, shelter and food. My sisters helped my mom apply for disability and tried to get any and all assistance. Mom passed before any aid came.
 
We desperately need a system that comes to the aide of people quickly and efficiently. Waiting more than a year should not be an option for those that truly need the help. I can't help but to feel that Progressives have blinders on when it comes to any discussion regarding abuse of important safety nets. It plays right into Republican/small government argument to cut spending. In 2010/2011 the SSA denied more than 1 million claims for disability. I'll bet that some that desperately need help are in those figures while others who are not truly disabled are not.
 
Someone who scams the system and collects disability, medicaid, section 8 housing, SNAP etc. can live pretty functionally. It doesn't take many to become the poster children for efforts to slash the aid from our "socialist" welfare state.(sarcasm). That is a real threat to desperate people. Any scammer needs to be called out!

Trillo (7,202 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:26 PM

1. Someone who's had a heart attack may not show visible signs of disability.

You used to be able to get one of those placards if you'd had a heart attack. I don't know if that's still true.

MarcoS (52 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:30 PM

2. If you're a doctor or fancy yourself as one, that's fine imo. But in the meantime I'd steer clear of uninformed diagnoses of other people's medical problems. If they had a disabled parking placard it means they had the right to park there, regardless of your opinion. Or maybe jealousy.

duffyduff (779 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:30 PM

3. There are few "scammers"

You have to account for everything when you receive these benefits.

Duer 157099 (16,310 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:31 PM

4. Your post is really confused

On the one hand, you complain (rightfully so) about how long it takes to get approved; then on the other, you complain about people (possibly) scamming the system.
 
Don't you realize that there is a cause-and-effect relationship there?

If we would stop worrying about the (relatively few) who actually scam the system, the system would run smoother and faster so people could get help quickly. I could not care less if a few scammers benefit.
 
I feel the same about the death penalty. If just one innocent is mistakenly put to death, let's not use it at all.
 
This is certainly a case of not seeing the forest for the trees.

So much wealth is squandered by military, bankers, corporate tax (etc) cheats etc etc ad nauseum, so even thinking about the actual small time scammers as in disability etc so so so misses the point.
 
Wake up.

NightWatcher (20,056 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:34 PM

5. I'm disabled and don't "look it". I've lupus and other diseases

So please don't judge by appearances. You never know what's going on behind the scenes.
 
Btw, I have a handicapped placard and refuse to use it.

liberal_at_heart (3,583 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:38 PM

6. this thread is going in the trash. I get so tired of hearing democrats criticizing the disabled.

Katashi_itto (1,297 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:41 PM

7. Trashing this. Bunch of uninformed BS.

JustAnotherGen (5,352 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:41 PM

8. I have Ankylosing Spondylitis - you can't see how breathless I am during a flare when my ribs continue to close in around my lungs as my spine is freezing ramrod straight. I'd be careful. In NJ - I'm eligible for disabled parking but I refuse. Until I can no longer work - I'd rather the spot go to the strong survivor thanks very much.

madmom (9,352 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:47 PM

9. My husband has a handicap placard, but hardly looks handicapped....

He has Menere's disease. At the drop of a hat he can become extremely dizzy, completely disoriented and unable to stand up...without one bit of warning. He doesn't drive anymore, but still likes to get out of the house, we go to the local mall to walk when the weather is bad.
 
So feel free to climb down off your high horse at any time.

Glitterati (1,092 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:47 PM

10. Scamming Democrats with RIGHT WING bullshit

that's what this thread is.

Nothing less, nothing more.

Take your right wing bullshit somewhere else.

FairyDust (36 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:49 PM

11. You cannot judge a book by its cover

My husband had a stroke at 45 which has almost completely blinded him and he has severe vertigo. Looking at him you see no problems. Please get over judging medical conditions by someone's appearance.

pipi_k (15,943 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:55 PM

12. Just the same old sucky shit about invisible disabilities.

Mr Pipi has had knee surgery on one leg, is missing cartilage from an old work related injury on the other leg from like 1981. He also has COPD, diabetes II, and neuropathy in his feet.
 
I have bad knees and back pain, so I'm always grateful that when we go someplace we can park close because the placard is in his name.
 
If you look at us, we seem fine.

But nobody knows how much it hurts to move, and how getting through the days involves just working through the pain because it's there all the time.
 
So it behooves all of us to refrain from believing we have the right to "call scammers out" unless we have full access to someone's medical records.

MineralMan (52,356 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 02:02 PM

13. Don't judge others' disabilities unless you're their physician.

They had a placard. Leave them the **** alone. Lots of people have no visible disability, but need those placards.

Ho-hum, but at least the primitives aren't yapping about Massa Barry messing with their social security, which is a relief from that monotony.

[GOBUCKS]

Response to Purplehazed (Original post)
Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:47 PM
madmom (9,352 posts)

9. My husband has a handicap placard, but hardly looks handicapped....
He has Menere's disease. At the drop of a hat he can become extremely dizzy, completely disoriented and unable to stand up...

I'll be damned. We finally got a diagnosis for Will Pitt.

[Chris_]

Response to Purplehazed (Original post)
Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:47 PM
madmom (9,352 posts)

9. My husband has a handicap placard, but hardly looks handicapped....
He has Menere's disease. At the drop of a hat he can become extremely dizzy, completely disoriented and unable to stand up...

Why the hell is he allowed to drive?

[franksolich]

Why the hell is he allowed to drive?

My question too.

[Undies]

Why would a wheelchair-bound paraplegic be going to Costco?  Getting those folks in and out of those vans is a really big deal.  Couldn't some able-bodied caregiver do the shopping? 

My point is, I park in those spaces all the time.  I have every since my heart attacks.  I have yet to see one of those special vans parked at any store.  It's just more "feel good" crap law.

[franksolich]

Why would a wheelchair-bound paraplegic be going to Costco?  Getting those folks in and out of those vans is a really big deal.  Couldn't some able-bodied caregiver do the shopping?

Now, being a "handicapped" person myself--although no parking sticker--I might, or might not, know what I'm talking about here.

I've always noticed that among a certain class of the "handicapped"--usually the ones with bumper stickers lauding Massa Barry--there's a resentment against normal people, because normal people can get around with ease, while they can't.

It's jealousy, nothing more than that.

So anyway, so as to "get back" at normal people, they go out of their way on purpose to make as ostentatious  a nuisance of themselves as possible, such as demanding "special accommodations" that inconvenience normal people.

They're trying to shaft the Man.

I'm deaf; there's certain things I can't do, certain things in which I can't partake, certain things I can't enjoy, certain things that cost others a great deal of money, time, and trouble to make "usable" for me (which end up being wasted money, as nothing really can be done).

For whatever reasons though, there's never been an ounce of envy in me, for hearing people; it's life, and my particular lot is my fate in life.  It's never been anything to fret about, because God straightens it all out in the end.

But some of my brethren, well.....

It's not really that they want to do these things (wheelchaired people shopping, whatnot), but more so in their jealousy and resentment, they want to "get even" by being a nuisance.

Flame away vesta dear, but I know whereof I speak.

[franksolich]

Okay, it looks as if vesta dear's going to be posting shortly, waxing in righteous indignation.

Choose your words carefully, vesta dear, because I don't want to be rude to you.

[Celtic Rose]

Why the hell is he allowed to drive?

No kidding!  I almost crashed the car once when a sinus infection caused a sudden onset of vertigo.  If one had meniere's disease (correct spelling) severe enough to be on disability then he absolutely should not be driving.  I can't imagine a person with severe vertigo be able to walk around a store either, so I'm not seeing the point of a placard even for a passenger.  It seems that when someone is symptomatic he would be fairly non-functional, and when non-symptomatic he could walk across the parking lot as well as anybody else. 

Many elderly people have cardiac issues resulting in poor cardiac function which leads to them becoming easily fatigued with activity.  I suspect that functionally they are more "disabled" than most the Dummies who claim disability benefits.

[GOBUCKS]

If one had meniere's disease (correct spelling) severe enough to be on disability then he absolutely should not be driving.

Is that the affliction Bill Clinton has, described by his rape victims, that allows him to piss around a corner?

[JohnnyReb]

Is that the affliction Bill Clinton has, described by his rape victims, that allows him to piss around a corner?

No, that's Peyronie's disease. The perfect disease for a crook and his crooked wife.

[Gina]

madmom (9,352 posts)    Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:47 PM

9. My husband has a handicap placard, but hardly looks handicapped....

He has Menere's disease. At the drop of a hat he can become extremely dizzy, completely disoriented and unable to stand up...without one bit of warning. He doesn't drive anymore, but still likes to get out of the house, we go to the local mall to walk when the weather is bad.
 
So feel free to climb down off your high horse at any time.

I may be dense but if he doesn't drive anymore, why does he need a placard? 

Is being closer to the store going to make him better since at the drop of a hat he can become dizzy?  I am confused as to why that warrants an up front spot at a store.  I thought closer parking was for people that were going to have a hard time walking the distance to a store?  If you are going to the mall to walk then why do you need a closer spot?

[Chris_]

I may be dense but if he doesn't drive anymore, why does he need a placard? 

Is being closer to the store going to make him better since at the drop of a hat he can become dizzy?  I am confused as to why that warrants an up front spot at a store.  I thought closer parking was for people that were going to have a hard time walking the distance to a store?  If you are going to the mall to walk then why do you need a closer spot?

I actually watched someone parked three spots from the door back their car out of the spot and turn around just so they could get an open spot that was ten feet closer to the store.

It was pathetic.

[Gina]

I actually watched someone parked three spots from the door back their car out of the spot and turn around just so they could get an open spot that was ten feet closer to the store.

It was pathetic.

I have seen that!  An empty frigging parking lot with 9 regular spaces and 2 handicap in front of the store.  Asshole with a handicap sticker parks in a handicap spot instead of taking up an empty regular spot right next to it.  I couldn't believe he would be such an ass as to take up a spot for a handicapped person when there was a perfect spot right next to it.  He just slighted one of his own people so he could park there 

[Undies]

I have seen that!  An empty frigging parking lot with 9 regular spaces and 2 handicap in front of the store.  Asshole with a handicap sticker parks in a handicap spot instead of taking up an empty regular spot right next to it.  I couldn't believe he would be such an ass as to take up a spot for a handicapped person when there was a perfect spot right next to it.  He just slighted one of his own people so he could park there 

I like to think of it as leaving a choice spot open for someone who cannot park in the handicapped space.  It's all in how you look at it.

[Gina]

I like to think of it as leaving a choice spot open for someone who cannot park in the handicapped space.  It's all in how you look at it.

I don't.

[Undies]

I don't.

Save them bitters for a good gin-n-tonic.