Exercise might do you good
I am mad. I just spent about 10 minutes circling the parking lot outside of the row of restaurants and shops at the Northgate Mall where the BJs, Chipotle, Peet’s, etc. are. With my daughter in the car, planning to have lunch and then have our nails done at Fingers & Toes. My daughter has cardiac and respiratory health issues that make it difficult for her to walk long distances. And she has a doctor-prescribed handicap placard for the car.
After about our 10th lap around the parking lot, trying to find an open handicap space or at least an open regular space halfway between Chipotle and Fingers & Toes, I started counting the number of designated handicap spaces and the number of spaces that are just as close to the shops but are designated for … online ordering … curbside pickup.
On the Fingers & Toes side of this strip of shops, there are two handicapped spaces at the sidewalk. Compare this to the eight (eight!) spaces reserved for people who are in most cases probably healthy enough to walk a few more feet from the general spaces to get their food, but just don’t want to expend the extra time and/or energy to make that journey. I say “journey” because for someone who doesn’t have the physical capability of walking that far, it is indeed a journey!
It’s a disturbing question. And it’s a surprising question considering the place and time (Marin County, 2015 … are we moving forward or backward?)
Why does the Northgate Mall discriminate against the physically disabled by not providing enough designated spaces for them but rather chooses to accommodate a segment of the population that could probably do well with a little extra exercise? Food for thought.
Effie Fourakis, Corte Madera
