Travels With My Placard: Knee Is the New Baby

I was unhappy to see a white sedan in the lone handicap space at the Backroads Casey's on Sunday. No handicap plate. I did not see a placard hanging from the mirror, but it's possible there was a card lying on the dashboard. I don't make it a habit of peering inside a vehicle, lest there be somebody sitting in there giving me the stinkeye right back!

Anyhoo... I parked on the far side of it, giving me a little curb to step over to get on the sidewalk. Not a big deal, because I can hold onto the side of T-Hoe for balance. As I stepped down out of T-Hoe, my right kneecap went a bit wonky as it sometimes is wont to do, making my first few steps more halting than usual as the painful chips inside worked their way back into place.

Two women came out the door, walking towards that white sedan. They seemed about my age. Perhaps a couple years younger. Fit as fiddles, each carrying a cup of coffee. The Gal coming to the passenger side waited on the sidewalk for a minute as I closed T-Hoe's large door out of her way. Then she still stood.

"I'll give you the right-of-way!"

"Thanks. I've got a bad knee, so it takes me a minute."

"You need to get that fixed! It's like when your car has something wrong with it. The longer you drive it, the worse it will get. Have you considered knee replacement?"

[Such an interest in my health, This Gal! And I didn't dare tell her that my car DOES have something wrong with it, that my husband keeps "forgetting" to get fixed.]

"Yes, I've thought about it, but I'm just too afraid of the surgery."

"I had it done. What you need to do is take your pain meds before doing your knee exercises. That will help you get through it."

"My friend had a knee replacement, and said they put a contraption on her leg that bent her knee to exercise it."

"Yes. Have you had a baby?"

"Yes."

"Just think of how painful that was, but you got through it. And think of how great it was afterwards. The pain was over, and you had something to be happy about. Same with the knee replacement."

"Heh, heh! I even did it twice! You've given me something to think about."

The other lady had turned on the car. I assume she was trying to signal her buddy to GET IN so they could leave. Yet while I was inside waiting to be waited on, that white sedan just sat there. Oh, no! Was This Gal going to start talking to me again when I went out? For once, I didn't mind that the cashier was taking his time with another customer. Finally that white sedan left. What a relief.

I know This Gal was just trying to be nice. Or maybe trying to distract me from the fact that they were parked in the handicap space. Perhaps legally. Perhaps not.