“You Can’t Use Your Grandma’s Pass”: Man Assumes Young Amputee Isn't Disabled When She Parks in Handicap Spot
"And through the glass he's telling me, 'Miss, you can't park there, you can't use your grandma's pass and park in handicap."
Published May 17 2024, 5:20 p.m. ET
"I can't believe someone just did this to me," a young woman by the name of Allison E. Lang (@allisonelang) states at the top of a viral TikTok that's garnered over 624,000 views on the popular social media platform.
As her story progresses, it's not difficult to see why it received such a warm reception.
"So I'm parking at Walmart and I park in the accessible stall and I hang my pass and this middle-aged man comes up to my window and knocks on my window," she states after demonstrating how she hung her pass up in her vehicle.
Allison goes on to say that she was shocked to be approached by a strange man in this way, which is why she was initially reluctant to roll down her window and speak with him further: "I don't roll my window down 'cause it scared the s--- out of me."
The TikToker continues: "And through the glass he's telling me, 'Miss, you can't park there, you can't use your grandma's pass and park in handicap." She makes a face toward the camera, upset that she would be accused of lying about having a disability just so she could use a handicap spot.
Unfortunately for the presumptuous man, he was about to learn a lesson in why it's so dangerous to go around assuming that everyone is out to just gobble up premium parking spots for themselves, and why being a Mr. Citizen's Arrest (gross) is usually a bad idea.
In other words: maybe he should just mind his own f------ business?
But if he did, we wouldn't have gotten to hear about the way she completely shut him down like something you'd see out of a movie.
"So I fling my door open and I show him this," Allison says before turning her camera around, focusing on her prosthetic leg, which rests inside of a sneaker. "Umm excuse me sir I have one leg," she told the man.
Allison goes on with her story, remarking: "And then he's like, oh my God, I'm so sorry, I didn't know."
Instead of just apologizing and going on his merry way, the man decides to stick around and utter a comment that seems like a way for him to try and save face, but from the facial reaction she makes, he only made things much worse.
"You look too young to be disabled!" she recalls his saying before gasping into the camera.
"First of all, sir, not every disability is visible," she remarks as another text overlay pops up on the screen that reads "and disability doesn't have an age."
The TikToker went on to say: "And there's invisible disabilities, so, don't judge."
Her PSA didn't stop there, however, as she added to her response that she issued to the gentleman in her TikTok clip: "Second of all sir, I’ve been disabled my whole life … was I too young to be disabled at birth?"
She continued in her caption: "Disability doesn’t have an age — anyone can become disabled at any age."
Allison also added a little suggestion to the man who felt the need to knock on her window and stick his nose in her business in an attempt to shame her: "Please stop approaching people in parking lots and calling them liars. When I wear pants you cant see my disability."
As it turns out, there were other TikTokers who said that they've witnessed this same type of discrimination for having an invisible disabilities: "Someone told my friend you don’t look handicapped and she replied you don’t look like my doctor!" one person wrote.
Allison seemed to enjoy that response, even going so far as to tell the person that they would probably utilize a similar type of reply in the future if anyone ever tried telling her that she doesn't look like she has a disability: "That is an amazing reply!! I never know what to say so I’m definitely adding this to my list. Thank you."
Similarly, another person suggested: "Next time you say 'and you don’t look ignorant — but here we are.'"
"People really gotta mind their own business sometimes. This has happened to my mom before," another person said.
As it turns out there were other folks who've also been accused of "abusing" their grandparents' disabled parking tags like Allison was: "I’m 29, chronically ill for 10 years and I’ve gotten the 'you’re abusing your grandparent’s placard' comment. What did I do to the older woman who said that? Lifted my shirt to show my two feeding tubes."