This is the definition of a stupid by-law. Not to mention a discriminatory and insensitive one. At the front of my kid's school, there's a 'school drop off and pick up zone'. Parents can pull up here, wait for their kids to come out, then drive away. There's no posted time limit and as long as you are sitting in the car, it's okay.

Enter, me. My son is autistic and is prone to wandering. He sadly cannot be trusted to simply walk out and come to the car. So I park, get out, walk to the door and get him. No big deal. If I park, as I did today, in the drop-off and pick-up zone, the nice by-law enforcement officer makes me move my car. He explains that the by-law states that you can't get out of the car. 

So here's the insane stupidity of this law. Parents of normal, neurotypical children, who can be trusted to walk from the school to the waiting car, can park there, waiting in their warm vehicles (it's winter) for their kids to join them. It could take 5 minutes. It could take 8 minutes. Because I have to physically get out of the car because my son is autistic, I can not legally do what parents of normal children can do.

Part of me only care so much. Seriously, the walk is not an issue. What burns me is that I, as the parents of a disabled child, cannot legally enjoy the same privilege as the parents of a normal child. I don't give a monkey's cuss about walking a few feet. What I care about is the insensitive double standard that favours the normal child and punishes the disabled one. That's what burns me.

I mentioned this idiocy of this situation to the three by-law officers who were there and they, of course, gave me the classic 'just doing our jobs' response.

For the record, I fought a ticket on this two years ago, and won, but the stupid law remains.

Again, I don't care a bit about walking. And I don't want a sticker on my car that says 'disabled' because neither I nor my autistic son is physically disabled. Just as the people who sit in their cars waiting for their children without being harassed aren't physically disabled. I just don't like the insensitivity of the situation. Put a 5 or 10 minute limit on sitting there, or make it a no parking zone. Just don't discriminate. 

As always, feel free to comment here or follow the comments to this post on Facebook and Google Plus.