The Parking Attendant From Hell

  Well, that was one of the worst customer service experiences of my life.

  Family member has a handicapped parking permit. We came to Kaiser for her dialysis lessons today, and were actually on time. Unfortunately, the Cadillac Kaiser clinic is always horribly congested, especially after 8 AM. We expected it would take some time to park, but we weren't expecting to run into the parking attendant from hell, who made us park at the furthest end of the parking lot from the elevators.

  When I asked him why we couldn't park closer to the elevators even if we didn't park in the handicapped spot, I was told that they were using the spaces for employees (they're clearly marked "Patient Parking"). He then insisted there were only 4 handicapped slots for the entire parking garage (there are 2 per floor, and 4 floors). Finally, he told my family member that the closer parking spots were for "real" handicapped people, that a lot of people cheat the system, and he was going to "keep [his] eye on [her] and watch [her] walk to the elevators." The implication being, of course, that she doesn't need a handicapped permit, and he's going to revel in watching her get her comeuppance.

  We're easygoing people, but that was beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior. We complained to his manager, and I hope that he receives an attitude adjustment. Bad day or not, there's no reason to take it out on other people, and to accuse them of lying. As I pointed out to his manager, just because someone's handicap isn't readily visible doesn't mean that it isn't there. She had knee surgery 20 years ago, and her knee has never recovered.

  The worst part? My family member stopped me from getting his name, so that we could be sure that the right person was disciplined.

  Not an auspicious start to a Wednesday.

  Also, today is street cleaning, and I think I left my car on the street. Damn it.