To the misinformed man at the Zehrs on Malden Road in LaSalle the morning of Sunday, December 21,

You watched my 48-year old mother park her car in an accessible parking spot in front of the store and proceeded to follow her in to the produce section and verbally harass her in front of countless shoppers. Throwing around accusations you presumably made simply by judging her appearance (as I highly doubt you had with you a copy of her very extensive medical history), you berated her by snarking, You don't look handicapped! four separate times. Had you taken a second to inspect the front of her vehicle in the parking lot when you began this witch hunt, you would have seen a valid accessible parking permit displayed in her windshield. Perhaps you did see her permit and were still shocked to discover that she looked like a fairly typical middle-aged woman. You're right she DOESN'T look handicapped.

Perhaps you are unaware that accessible parking permits are not limited to elderly persons or persons with disabilities who use assistive devices like wheelchairs or canes. In fact, any one of any age can apply for an accessible parking permit. In order to receive a permit, one's healthcare practitioner must approve that he or she is eligible. As I doubt you were privy to the discussion my mother had with her family doctor nearly a decade ago about her medical conditions and this application process, it is highly inappropriate for you to comment on her use of accessible parking spaces.

Did you know my mother has experienced a series of serious back injuries for which she has had corrective surgeries? The answer to that is NO, you did not, and you certainly did not ascertain that information from looking at her. Did you know that the success of those corrective surgeries has been very limited, making it difficult for her to walk far distances and stand for any longer than necessary? Again, NO you did not.

As I know nothing about you, I won't sit here and pretend to understand your motives and reasonings like you pretended to understand my mother's health. Perhaps you have a family member with a severe physical disability and you have had to battle for accessible parking spaces your whole life. Perhaps, like members of our family, you have grown sick of people abusing the accessible spaces by parking there without permit and leaving those truly in need of their utility out of luck. If this is the case, I completely understand where you are coming from. As a family, we too have seen these abuses and personally, I have been tempted to get vocal about them in the past. However, what I have never done and what you so wrongly did this morning is verbally harass someone in a very public space over something you know absolutely nothing about.

Judging a person's eligibility to park in accessible spaces by their age, shape, size, gait, clothing, or speech is discriminatory and ignorant. Lambasting them to the point of tears in front of complete strangers is abusive. For whatever reason, you decided to become the champion of accessible parking today and thought publicly shaming my mother was but one small step in your all-important fight. If, like our family, you continue to be upset by the misuse of accessible parking spaces, I suggest you try to address the problem at a different level. Personally attacking each individual you see won't get you very far in fixing this problem.

If you are still confused by accessible spaces, I suggest you visit the Service Ontario website https:/ / www.ontario.ca/ Accessible parking permit.

Sincerely,
A concerned (and fed up) daughter

I was excited to get out to do some Christmas shopping finally after not being to mobile, only to have my Christmas spirit crushed by a very rude, and disrespectful store manager at a major local toy store on Howard Ave. Upon cashing out 2 items we had purchased did not ring up correctly, so I had my child run to get the tag on the shelf to show the cashier. Ther had to be about at least 10 boxes of the same item in front of the tag. Then, I had to make my way back to where the item was with a store employee to also show him when he finally calls over the store manager. She rudely explained that the "sku" number did not match, who can ever read those tinny numbers nor know what they mean, I calmy explained that the description matched and that since all items were infront of the tag that they should honour the price. She finally says" that the store is over-shopped" and that things get put in the wrong spot. Okay....I can se the odd item, but not 10!!!! She finally says rudely, "just give to her" and a very sarcastic "have a good holidays", with my child next to me I politely wished her a Merry Christmas and a thank you. I make my way back to the register where my husband is waiting to pay and the manager come back up and yells infront of all the customers "Miss what is the matter now!!!" Your lack of customer service and rudeness will not be forgotten!!!!! Your head office has been contacted. Whatever happened to the "customer is always right?" You know that your store is busy at thus time of year, plan appropriately and keep it organized.

On Friday, December 19th at 7:30 am my son was driving me into work. As we were driving down Pillette road a person in a silver Chrysler 300 decided the speed limit was too slow for him and was going to pass us...he passed us alright just missing our front bumper. Now sir or ma'am if you were late for work, drunk, trying to find a loved one....whatever the case may be...you were unsafe and I teaching a new driver was able to give him the life lesson of ...

DON'T BE THAT GUY!!!


SHAME ON YOU FOR ALMOST CAUSING AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE YOU ARE IN A HURRY

Earlier today my husband and Myself and my son were making our way through the parking lot, I spotted a parking spot and made my way to it no cars in sight. As I was half way in I heard some irrate honking and turned to see a very unhappy woman yelling at me. I realized she must have been waiting from the other side and mouthed sorry to her and proceeded to move out of the spot. As I was in reverse she honked annoyingly again and sped off behind me. Although I may have made a mistake of taking the spot she may or may not have been waiting for we both had children in our cars and there was no need for the anger that occurred in those few minutes. I see too much of this impatience and rudeness from too many people, especially through the holidays. This time of year is about family and happiness not greed and being miserable. To the woman in the parking lot, I hope your day is better, and your holidays as well.

Just to give everyone a heads up I just received a phone call this morning (December 19) telling me that my Windows was broken and to go to my computer and they would walk me through how to fix it. When I told them I knew it was a scam and laughed at them they turned really nasty. Their response was a filled with many F words. That's when I hung up. The number they are calling from is 765-555-0160. Just a heads up

I was on Huron line today going north and at cabana they have now opened the new "through route" there was a transport in front of me and pillons all around and with the construction and transport I failed to see that the light had turned red! There was a red car c going thru from cabana that had to slam on their brakes and I swerved around them! I would like to apologize and am so glad that neither of us were hurt! I was extremely shaken up as I'm sure you were! That could have been a fatal accident and I am so sorry! Thank god we were both paying attention and and be to avoid a collision!

My sincerest apology!

Dec 16 ! Quality turf atv + plow stolen off lot .... Just an update. Was taken approximately 7:10pm Last night (16th). Possible suspect driving 2005 +/ - GMC Beige in colour. ( Video surveillance )

Well, although the weather outside was gloomy, I still managed to get my 91 year old Mom out to the Mall Christmas shopping all the way from Leamington! .funny how many people don't make the time for their loved ones, especially if they are in a nursing home..as is mine!! You can imagine the excitement and thrill to be able to share another Christmas with her .she's not as spry as she used to be but she was certainly excited thank heavens for Leamington Transit and our delightful driver Bill who made this day very special. The only frustration was when Mom wanted to go into some of the beautiful home decor shops .I counted several that were impenetrable with a wheelchair! I understand that displays are important, but what about the customers who are in wheelchairs? Your store was not easily accessible and for that..you lost quite a few sales today. May I suggest that you clear your aisles and make it accessible for ALL ? I am certain that strollers can't make it in either .Despite these challenging stores, Mom and I still managed to have some fun today. Merry Christmas everyone and take out a shut in for some quality time!