Sadly there are people who make you wonder. While still living in AZ hubby and I took the kids to see the rodeo they had folding chairs by the rail for handicapped people, spaces for carts and wheelchairs, etc. A woman came in a cart assisted by someone working the event. She parked her cart long ways to keep it out of the isle and sat in a chair. She told the man someone would be joining her, he said they couldn't reserve a seat there, he hoped the person came before that area was full. We were only a row or two away and it was early so we could hear the conversation. The seats filled in that area by the time the person showed up and they said she'd have to move her cart if she wanted them to put a chair there. Well, she moved it alright! She got up and jerked the cart several times with her hands just enough to make room for another chair. Those of us watching were shocked, the man next to me said "you can't tell me she needs that chair if she can do that!" I had to agree those things weigh alot! Did anyone see the overweight woman on Tyra Banks that is trying to eat herself into one of those carts? She cried because she's still mobile, she wants to get so heavy she can't walk. :eek:

Almost forgot this. Last week I was at the grocery store and saw a man walking to his car with a cane. He was older but not really old, and the poor guy could only take two or three steps at a time and they were more like little shuffles, not steps. He literally was moving an inch at a time. I thought I'd ask him if he wanted a ride to his car but he was parked close and made it to his car before I had my trunk loaded. I remember thinking he needed a cart but probably was one who refused to use it.

Ohhh :( :( :(. That just kills me when I see stuff like this at the store. I'm always struggling to strike a balance btwn offering my help...and not being insulting to them (and most people don't seem to get offended when you offer).

Sometimes, I see older women pushing their carts HOME through some of the bordering neighborhoods on the way home from where our grocery store is, and they're like already 1/4 mile from the store :(, so I offer them a ride. Often times, they don't speak English so it's pretty funny as we try to communicate directions to their house...and we're both sort of laughing at all our hand gestures. :)

It is very difficult to really know what another is going through. I struggle to walk without a limp - because my physical therapists have told me I should. When I do - I pay a price - pain. So others may see me walking slowly, but walking almost normally to my cute little Mini Cooper that now sports a permanent handicap tag. I am sure that a lot of people look at me with disgust and think that I am faking it because I don't use a cane most of the time walk with no limp or only a slight one. What they don't see is the pain that I suffer.

That was so very kind of you to consider asking to help this elder to his vehicle. That's what makes this world a better place - helping others has to start with a kind thought :thumbup:

Ok, I have to add something here. I know there are people who take advantage, and yes, there is a sense of entitlement in the world that is totally frustrating. However, like you, I have been on the other side and would like to remind everyone that sometimes you can't see the disability. I have MS. Somedays you would look and me and never think there was a thing wrong with me. Those are awesome days!! Other days might start out that way, but by an hour or two into it, I may not be able to walk across the room without help. I choose not to use the carts when I shop and am fortunate that I have people I can count on to help me out when I have those times. Three years ago I fell and broke my ankle in 3 places and had no choice but to use a wheelchair then since crutches and MS don't play too nicely together.:rolleyes: It was unbelievable to me how many stores are NOT handicap friendly. While I never wrestled with bras (LOVE that image!!) I did manage to get trapped in a bathroom at Ruby Tuesday's and had to wait for DH to realize I had been in there waaay too long. :D I would only ask that people think about both sides before making a snap judgment. THEN run the woman down when she cusses you out!!:)

I guess I am more open to the idea that just because I can't see it doesn't mean it's not there because of our son. He is ADD and has a non verbal learning disorder. The ADD was not diagnosed till after 5th grade and the learning disorder wasn't till his Soph year after they did further testing. By then I had a terrible time getting him the help he needed in school because the teachers had already formed an opinion that he was a "bad" kid. Others couldn't understand that just because he didn't limp, had good speech etc that there was anything wrong. Why did he need an IEP and special ed classes???? Trust me just because you can't see it or hear it doesn't mean it's not there.

Totally agree with this. I hate to sound like a bumper sticker, but really, you can never know what's really going on in someone's life unless you've walked in their shoes. I'm not saying we should all walk around trying to perfect and not using our judgment to try to assess situations....I just think it's important to remember that we can't know a person's struggles by looking at them.

OMG, That is so funny!!!

YEEHAW, I hear the banjos playing. Just kidden.

I actually shop at Walmart in West Plano. Get this, they sell Sushi. Chattiesmom, I'm sorry people have given you a hard time. Thats not right..

Awww thank you -- For the most part I am able to get around ok. I have learned to deal with my injury. I just shared some of my minor inconveniences because I can only imagine the frustrations for those who are truly incapicated and do their grocery shopping alone. Can you imagine being limited to products on the first two shelves -- shoot, some of the best stuff is hiden on the top shelf :D

Our Wallyworld doesn't sell Sushi, but Kroger has a Sushi Chef :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I've been on both sides of the fence too - I've delt with rude cart riders and now my husband has to ride a cart in large stores like Walmart. He is not allowed to do that much walking due to a severe heart and lung problem. But trust me, he looks perfectly fine - no outward signs of impairment at all. He's only 60 so he doesn't even look old and decrepit! :rolleyes: When he needs something off the shelf - he just gets off the cart and gets it. That is not a problem for him and he is allowed to do that much physical exertion. Believe me though, he gets so many disgusted looks from people who probably think he is perfectly fine. Often I walk beside him in the cart and we talk so that people know we are together. I think they are more tolerant because they realize he would be walking with me, if he could.

If he does not use the cart, he has to use oxygen, and that really bothers him because people do stare a lot if you have a hose up your nose! LOL!

When he first started using the cart, he was so tired of people acting like he shouldn't be using it, that he wore his oxygen while in the cart. Then people just looked so pitifully at him - and he did look pretty pitiful - that he doesn't do that anymore!

Anyway, I agree that there are rude people on both sides of the fence and it is difficult to know what to do or how to react.

opps, didnt mean to quote the poster above me

How dare that lady! I am sorry but that is a pet peeve of mine, one that really makes my blood boil, and I know I shouldn't worry about other people but I get so mad. I'm sorry but "morbidly obese"people like the lady you mentioned, NEED TO WALK. Get your butt up and WALK, if there is no medical reason why you are that overweight, then the reason you got to that weight in the first place is because you are LAZY! I am a tad bit over weight myself, about 15 lbs, but you don't see me complaining at JCPenney that they don't have a pair of jeans that fit my fat ass and acting like they owe me something because I AM overweight. I know this sounds shallow and hurtful to some, but its just my opinion. I had an uncle that was just soooo lazy he could barely even walk from one of the house to the other without huffing and puffing because he was morbidly obese, and that just made me sick. There was no reason for his weight gain, just laziness and fast food all the time.

The lady on Tyra was crying because she wasn't as heavy as she wanted to be. She wants to ride the cart! I can't remember if she was or wanted to be 500 pounds, I'd have to ask our daughter who saw the entire show.
I can't imagine why you would want to be in that state. Sounds like some serious counceling is needed for her. That being said I come from a heavy family, sometimes weight gain is not as easy to control when you have medical issues that cause you to gain treated by drugs that cause you to gain. Especially when you have the family fat gene to start with. I know what it's like to be heavy and treated like crap because of it. So I am careful how I treat heavy people as well. Believe me most heavy people are pretty sad, lonely and depressed before anyone says anything to them or about them that they can hear.

I have been called fat before by ex boyfriends ( I have a wonderful husband now ) and it cut like a knife. I do not think anyone should ever put anyone down because of your looks. That is just cruel. I keep comments like that to myself, there is no reason to be vocal about how someone else looks. BUT, I was overweight because I was lazy. I lost a little weight because I eat better now and exercise but it took hard work. I can see how people are sad and depressed, believe me, I was when I was just 40 lbs overweight. But when laziness is the determining factor is just makes me mad when they act like that lady. yah know??

Once again it goes to not judging the book by the cover. We don't know who is heavy due to conditions beyond their control and who isn't.

:thumbup::goodpost:

I know I am guilty of that at times when it comes to overweight people and I need to work on it. I never thought about it that way. I think my problem is I assume its to laziness because that is why I was overweight...and my uncle as well.. i've never really known anyone overweight due to medical issues.. but i know its possible

I think most of us are guilty of it now and then. I know I sure have been. I think that's why we're all called human.:) We're all a work in progress!

I am so offended by this thread, I am thinking of leaving yorkie talk. I was a trainer and one of the most fit people on the planet. I almost died in a mountain climbing accident and live on 37 drugs a day to stay alive and have massive body damage due to the medicines they used to save my life.
If you look at me...I would fit the description so scornfully posted by the yorkie talk community. I live on 600 calories a day and work 3 jobs. I will never be able to live without drugs again...and will never be able to leave my wheelchair or the carts at Walmart. Yet, I mentor women, raise great kids and serve the community.

The amount of prejudice in this thread is cruel. I am the first to say that many people abuse the carts and see their disabilties as an avenue for entitlement....that is equally wrong. People in carts need to be aware and considerate just as if they were pushing a cart through the store--which I would give ANYTHING to do!

Oh to be free to do what i want without first taking drugs and dealing with mind altering pain. Hope you all enjoyed this rant. It was painful beyond words for me.

First off all, the people on this thread don't agree with people who don't need the carts using them , so that people LIKE YOURSELF can use them! I am horribly sorry that you are wheelchair bound and have to take prescriptions to survive. I would not wish that on my own worst enemy. I do not see how you find this thread offensive??? We are advocating for people that NEED to use them. Not teenagers that use them for the hell of it or overweight people that are just plain too lazy to walk! If I may ask, HOW do you find this offensive? And if you didn't notice , alot of the people that posted have disabilities as well, and need to use the carts themselves.

Yeah, I have to agree with you on this one. The whole thread was about people who use them when they don't need them. We also touched on how sometimes the disability isn't necessary obvious. I don't see how it offended so much. I'm not offended, and sometimes I need one. That's just the life we're dealt. Nobody asks for it, but it happens.

I am sorry you were offended by this thread. I, too am offended by many threads, and the moment I am offended, I quit reading and move on to a more pleasant thread. I am also offended by rude cart riders and/or pushers at stores.

I, too, was a very active person, the love of my life was raising and training my miniature horses. That love was robbed from me by a life threatening accident. Although I do not take a plethora of drugs daily, I will NEVER EVER live another day without pain. Pain sucks. :( , but I chose to endure the pain rather than take the horrible mind altering drugs. I do not judge anyone, in my own recovery I have learned that I am responsible for me and the way I feel. Others can only offend me if I allow it to happen.

I have gained weight and because I am not able to maintain the activity level that I once enjoyed gaining weight is easy, losing the extra lbs. isn't. I am one of those who has a permanent handicap tag on my car, and I find it necessary to ride carts at times - at other times I walk. Often when park in a handicap space and/or I ride a cart, people are less than polite because I have NO outward signs of a handicap, other than the surgery scars. For all practical purposes I appear to be a normal healthy person. Few of us go through life unscathed by adversity.

This really makes me sad, there is no call for that at all.....

I have learned to hold my head up high and keep on going. I honestly don't think that most people intend to be rude, but when you haven't been there done that it is hard to understand. It is so easy to judge on appearances, but you just never know.....

Lioncross -- I am so sorry you feel offended by the thread, but I think if you read carefully, you will see that nowhere is anyone saying anything against those that truly need to use a cart and are courteous. My complaint was about a person who drove her van into me as I was against a curb, then cussed me for getting in her way -- she happened to be a cart user and at least one of her reasons was being so very large -- which is actually a handicap when at that extreme. I am chunky myself, and would not say anything against someone just for being overweight.

I think everyone is really just saying the same as you did when you said, "I am the first to say that many people abuse the carts and see their disabilties as an avenue for entitlement....that is equally wrong. " And also adding that many are just down right rude -- they were probably rude when they were slim and healthy too. But maybe not, maybe their disability has soured them on life and that is pretty sad too. But being on the receiving end can be unnerving and this is just a place to vent.

I know that many, many of the disabilities that require a person to use a cart are unseen. Some may even be able to walk fine for short distances and appear healthy but need a cart for anything as tiring as a Super Walmart trek. I understand and appreciate what they have to go through. I too, have a chronic pain problem and am at the absolute topside of pain meds and still be able to drive. I could use more but am unwilling to give up my mobility. So, believe me, I do have empathy for what you are saying. But I am willing to bet that when you do use the cart, you are not rude to others. Just hearing what you do, it is easy to see you have made it a point to still be a gracious human being despite the pain and suffering you deal with daily. So, in no way was anything said in this thread meant for you, I hope you believe that! It is just the way of it that a truly good person as yourself, would worry that others might be talking about them because they are so conscious of other people's feelings, and the ones that were rude and obtrusive probably would not even see themselves in the posts.

Toxic people are always so frustrating. It is scary to realize these same people who can't steer a shopping cart are driving around in their cars. I try to use them as examples of how NOT to be.

Many disabilities are not always obvious, and we need to respect everyone. I finally convinced my girlfriend to try using one of those motorized carts in the store because her legs and feet were so painful she could not stand or walk more than a few steps. (diabetes) I told her she had every right to use one. That's what they are there for. She finally got up the erve to try it, and a very rude person came up to her and said she should get off and let someone who REALLY needed it use it. She was crushed and felt very guilty.

We are not to judge other people's disabilities or determine which person needs it most. If they are permanently disabled and need something to help them around, they should find a way to have their own.

As a disabled person myself, I try to understand the ignorance of people who make rude comments as they just don't know better. Have you seen the movie "Idiocracy"??? They buy their electrolytes at WalMart, don't you know? LOL

I'm so sorry this thread was taken the wrong way by some. I truly don't believe anyone meant any harm. I thought we were sticking up for those in need.

:goodpost: