To the cop who judged my invisible illness:
I saw you glare at me as you walked your family into Target. I tried to ignore it as my best friend waited for me to get out of our car that was parked in the handicapped spot. I saw you continue to stare as you typed our license plate number into your phone.
I shrugged it off because I was having an okay day.
What you couldn’t have known just by looking at me is that I am plagued with a severe and progressive neurological autoimmune disease.
It means, quite literally, that my body is destroying my own nerves, and essentially, ruining everything they touch.
I tried to focus on my shopping. I wanted to have a good day with my friend before my major surgery the next week. As you and your staring crept further from my mind, you pulled the most passive aggressive move I could ever have imagined.
You stopped about ten feet away from me in the lingerie section and you said to your wife and children, “hey, let’s go park in a handicapped spot that we don’t need.”
I could have easily flown off the handle. I could have screamed at you or called you names but instead I asked to speak with you. And then you did the most childish thing I have ever seen a grown man do, you ran away.
When I finally caught up to you, your wife, and children, I spoke in a very calm tone attempting to explain myself, because in the last two years I have used a handicapped-parking pass, no one has ever questioned me. I knew it would happen someday, I just didn’t expect it to happen like this.
As I, a young, disabled, woman politely explained to you my need for a parking pass, you laughed and told me to walk away. And because you couldn’t stop acting like a child, that’s what I did. I left you to look like an ass in front of your family.
I hope your children grow up and learn not to judge people the way you judged me. I hope your wife, or someone, will explain to you how utterly rude and hurtful your actions were. Mostly though, sir, I hope you are never in a situation where, God forbid, a passive aggressive, narcissistic bystander who knows nothing about you, judges you or someone you love.
I saw you glare at me as you walked your family into Target. I tried to ignore it as my best friend waited for me to get out of our car that was parked in the handicapped spot. I saw you continue to stare as you typed our license plate number into your phone.
I shrugged it off because I was having an okay day.
What you couldn’t have known just by looking at me is that I am plagued with a severe and progressive neurological autoimmune disease.
It means, quite literally, that my body is destroying my own nerves, and essentially, ruining everything they touch.
I tried to focus on my shopping. I wanted to have a good day with my friend before my major surgery the next week. As you and your staring crept further from my mind, you pulled the most passive aggressive move I could ever have imagined.
You stopped about ten feet away from me in the lingerie section and you said to your wife and children, “hey, let’s go park in a handicapped spot that we don’t need.”
I could have easily flown off the handle. I could have screamed at you or called you names but instead I asked to speak with you. And then you did the most childish thing I have ever seen a grown man do, you ran away.
When I finally caught up to you, your wife, and children, I spoke in a very calm tone attempting to explain myself, because in the last two years I have used a handicapped-parking pass, no one has ever questioned me. I knew it would happen someday, I just didn’t expect it to happen like this.
As I, a young, disabled, woman politely explained to you my need for a parking pass, you laughed and told me to walk away. And because you couldn’t stop acting like a child, that’s what I did. I left you to look like an ass in front of your family.
I hope your children grow up and learn not to judge people the way you judged me. I hope your wife, or someone, will explain to you how utterly rude and hurtful your actions were. Mostly though, sir, I hope you are never in a situation where, God forbid, a passive aggressive, narcissistic bystander who knows nothing about you, judges you or someone you love.