I am not thankful that I have an illness (MS) for which there is no cure, so making the most of bad luck I am thankful for special parking places for the handicapped. In my case there are six in a row on a higher level of the mall. There are also three on the lower level, but if you park on the higher level you have direct access to the grocery department. It is also a direct entrance to the electronics.

And that is all I have to say for being thankful, because there are still members of the public that cannot read or ignore such signs to save their precious time.

We do not have thanksgiving in Switzerland, we just thank the tourists for visiting. The tourists are also thankful for seeing our mountains, enjoying our wonderful scenery and the hotel owners and tourist organisations are thankful for the tourists spending their money in Switzerland.

Today I arrived at the store and discovered there was only one handicapped place free, at the end of the row. This meant walking to the store entrance was a  little further, but we can be thankful that we have a reserved parking place. At the same time a gentleman, also walking with a stick like myself, had parked his car in the row. And then a young lady, quite fit, left the store entrance with a new TV (one of the special wide screen versions) and walked to her car, in the best place for the handicapped at the end of the row next to the exit and lifted her television carefully into the boot of her car. Both myself and the elderly gentleman with the stick, were being a little impolite and staring at the lady who climbed into her car and drove off. At least there was again a parking space free for those, like myself and the gentleman, that rely on it.

He began the conversation with his complaints about the ignorance of the people today and I must say I had to give him a little support. Of course there are always people that care, that realise not everyone is a fit as they are, but if someone is in a hurry, picks up the new expensive heavy TV set and finds a nice handy parking place, they do not care who they are taking it away from. They have no time, they have a parking place where they do not have to push the trolley too far, and they can get home quickly.

It was interesting talking to the gentleman, who was Swiss and mainly complained about the sorry state that Switzerland now has. I did not agree with everything he said, but it is sometimes nice to realise that I am not the only person that gets annoyed about the thoughtlessness of the others. Of course we can contact the police (the store does not do that) and they will come and fine the wrongly parked car. However the gentleman informed me (and I did not know that) that the next motorised police are in a neighbouring area and they only arrive after about a quarter of an hour, so what is the point.

No, I am not going into praise and thankfulness, I have to find my own way. I also have to pay for any official support I need and often the money would be necessary for other daily needs. There are always helpful people and I am often thankful when they ask can I help you, seeing I might have difficulty in loading my car after shopping, but these are usually those have the time. The general public is stressed, they no longer have time, they are short cutting constantly at the cost of others.

I am one of the lucky ones, had a steady job all my life, although was a working mother and wife, but I can afford a reasonable life style and I realise not all can do this. I cannot extend my thankfulness to the people that only think about a quick parking place and their own benefits. Even I help the handicapped if I see someone has difficulty.

RDP Friday: Thankful