Disabled man slams ‘arrogant’ teen who made blue badge out of McDonald’s bag
A man has slammed youths for ‘taking the p**s’ after they parked in a disabled bay using a badge drawn on a scrap of McDonald’s bag paper.
Dez Richardson – a legitimate blue badge holder – watched two giggling teens pull into the car park at Tesco in Stockport with only the makeshift permit on display.
Although he admits they may have had invisible disabilities, he said their manner and the shoddiness of the DIY badge convinced him they were pranksters.
Dez, 38, from Mossley, Greater Manchester, said: ‘I was parking in Tesco car park and this fella pulled in next to me – he was probably about 19 or 20 and had his lass with him who was about the same age.
‘They got out laughing and chuckling to themselves and I noticed something out of the corner of my eye on the dash as I walked around to my wife’s side of the car.
‘I thought “that’s not a blue badge” so I had a look and saw what it was – I just thought “you are kidding me”.
‘You’ve got almost an entirely empty car park but you’ve chosen to go out of your way to behave like this – what does it actually achieve other than show-boating your own selfishness?
‘It wouldn’t have been as bad if nothing was there but it was the fact that he went out of his way to draw a fake badge just to take the p**s, that’s just taking time to be intentionally obnoxious.’
The dad of two, who works as a HGV driver, vented about the incident on social media, hoping it would get back to the ‘selfish’ driver and make him think twice about doing it again.
But instead he ended up defending himself against commenters who insisted he shouldn’t ‘make assumptions’ despite the ‘Maccies bag permit’.
Dez is a legitimate blue badge holder because he suffers from painful damage to his spine and knees that reduces his mobility and is very conscious that it may not always be obvious what someone’s disability is.
He said: ‘I’m well aware and respectful of invisible disabilities but he was clearly an energetic young lad and I just thought there’s no way – you just can’t believe the audacity of it.
‘My understanding is that if you have a blue badge you use it and if you don’t have one you don’t use a bay.
‘What that behaviour exhibited was just a complete arrogant entitlement – you don’t go out of your way to draw something like that and pretend to be something you’re not.
‘I’m a blue badge holder myself and earlier that same day I had a woman challenge me over mine because I don’t look obviously disabled.
‘The circumstances were completely different because I am a legitimate badge holder and this guy had just clearly gone out of his way to mock everyone that is.’
Dez hopes that by raising awareness of the issue, the young man might recognise how his actions can inconvenience and upset others.
Tesco were contacted for comment.