I was going to Walmart the other day to pick up some stuff I probably didn’t need when my parking radar was activated. I always seem to get to Walmart about a minute after everyone else in Des Moines and am relegated to parking across the street or in some cases in Illinois. This particular day my senses were keen and I spotted what I thought was a front row spot. It turned out to be handicapped. Now don’t tell me that you’ve never been tempted to park in one – just for a minute of course. What are the odds the entire handicapped population would show up in those few minutes?

Now I know what you’re thinking, I parked in a handi spot and when I came out I saw some poor crippled person driving around aimlessly because they couldn’t find a spot because some heartless “20 something year old” had taken what was rightfully theirs. I didn’t do that.

What I did do was take another lap around and low and behold while I was at the bottom of the row I saw a car backing out. Could it be?? I strained my neck to check if the spot was legit and gunned the engine. It was, and I was off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another car who had apparently seen the spot open up and it was a race to see who could claim it first. Unfortunetly he had a slight lead coming from another row and just beat me to the spot.

As if losing that spot wasn’t bad enough, I noticed something hanging from the rear view mirror as the driver hobbled into the store. A handicapped parking permit…

Shouldn’t that be a $100 fine?