Colleen Stice, a hardworking mom from Tulsa, OK, recently took her 4-year-old son Rowan to Target during the busy holiday season.
When the pair left the store, Colleen was stunned when she saw a note a complete stranger had left on her car. She was having a good day, until the handwritten note made her cry.
We watched you pull into handicap spot and get out carrying a toddler. You have no right to park in a handicap! It is for handicap people! Shame on you!
But just because the judgmental stranger didn't think Colleen looked like she needed that handicapped spot, that didn't mean her handicapped placard wasn't placed on her car's rearview mirror.
That evening, Colleen angrily took to Facebook to write a public response to the rude stranger. Her post has gone viral with over 2,000 shares:
"Please allow me to tell you what you didn’t see. You didn’t see that Rowan, who turns 4 in two days can’t walk more than a few steps at a time. You didn’t see that he doesn’t understand that flailing, kicking, and trying to hurl himself backward makes it incredibly difficult, painful, and exhausting to carry him. You didn’t see that his wheelchair was at home because due to an accident he’d had, the cushion had to be removed and washed at home. You didn’t see that I had already carried him through two stores that didn’t have carts. You didn’t see that the closest spot available that wasn’t handicapped was so far out that I almost talked myself out of getting the last of Rowan’s Christmas presents just so I didn’t have to carry him that far, or use a handicapped spot."
Colleen also offered some advice for anyone with the urge to shame a stranger about the disabilities he or she may or may not have. "You don’t know me, and you don't know the next person you see parking in a handicapped spot. Don't shame them. They probably don't deserve it. Just be kind."
Never jump to conclusions, because you never know what people may be struggling with — even if it's not so obvious on the surface.
Please SHARE Colleen's powerful message with your friends on Facebook.
