What Are The Qualifications For Handicap Parking?

So for everyone who doesn't know yet, I have been sick. If you read my earlier blog, you would know that my blood tests took forever to get the results back. They thought for awhile that I had Lupus but I don't. I have Sjogren's Syndrome. The name sounds a lot more complex than it really is. It's a disease where my immune system attacks the glands for my tear ducts and my salivary glands. So basically my eyes dry out and my mouth gets dry very easily. Of course, some people with this disease also have joint pain, fatigue and other similar Lupus symptoms. I'm that lucky person.

So after I was diagnosed I began positive thinking. What are the benefits of finding out that I have Sjogren's? Besides the whole "not dying" thing, my mind immediately thought of handicap parking. In my defense I go to Wal-Mart A LOT and usually on the weekend because I go to school during the week. I have found that on the weekend a little bell goes off in trailer parks everywhere and everyone loads up in their trucks to go to Wal-Mart; a day excursion if you will. Other people go but it seems like these particular people stay all day and hog up the parking spaces. So I end up having to park in the last parking spot of the lot and walking across pavement that literally feels like a mirror reflecting the sun's beams directly into my eyeballs. (I mean, this could be dangerous for a girl whose eyes dry out quickly, right?) After I finally make it to the front of the parking lot, I see an oasis of parking spots-ALL HANDICAP. There must be hundreds of them. This always perturbs me because usually only ONE is being used. All those spots go to waste. Are the qualifications that rigid that only a few people are allowed permits a year? But why would Wal-Mart make all those spots if only a few people ever park there???

After coming home from the doctor and learning of my Sjogren's I decided to seize my opportunity to try and get a handicap parking permit. I got really excited - a little too excited according to Vincent. I went to the Texas Department of Transportation and this is what I found:

Disabled Parking Permits

Q:
Am I eligible for a permit?
A:
A person's medical condition must meet the legal definition of a disability to qualify. “Disability” means a condition in which a person has:

• visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses,


• visual acuity of more than 20/200 but with a limited field of vision in which the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle of 20 degrees or less, or


• mobility problems that substantially impair a person's ability to move around; these problems can be caused by:

paralysis,
lung disease,
cardiac deficiency,
wheelchair confinement,
arthritis,
foot disorder, or
other medical condition causing a person to use a brace, cane crutch or other assistive device.

So it doesn't exactly have Sjogren's but I think I could use the "arthritis" card since my joints hurt. I'm definitely going to have a chat with my doctor on the next visit and see what I can work out. For all those judging me right now..................I'll wave at you as you park in the very last parking spot while I have front row Joe at the Ranger games, Cowboy games, concerts, and yes even Wal-Mart. :)