parking woes

I expanded my personal travel zone for this week. I ventured out to the downtown doctor by myself, as well as to a mall.

As I have mentioned before, I have a parking permit for disabled parking spaces. On days when I am by myself, it would make sense for me to use it, but on these two occasions, I didn't. I have the pass to help me for days when I am tired, or wobbly. The thing is, if I feel that way before I go out, I simply don't go out, especially by myself. The idea behind the permit is that while I am going about my business (ie. a doctor's appointment), that nasty fatigue or weird wobbles could sneak up on me, and it would be helpful to have the car nearby. But since I pull up to the location in a good physical state, I feel guilty for using it.

At the mall, it would have been easy to find a designated parking space, but at the hospital, it would have been next to impossible. Parking lot signs were flashing "FULL", side streets surrounding the hospital were full...after driving around the block, I got in to a parking garage, taking a ticket upon entering. I ended up parking at one end of the lot, and walking down the street to enter the hospital.

After my appointment, I had to pay my $6 (for 70 minutes!) at the ONE pay station for the entire lot...nowhere near my car. Luckily, the lot was located at the end of the hospital closest to the doctors office.

Would it be a silly idea to have a form of valet parking available for disability parking permit holders, especially at hospitals?

Emily