Ask Amy: In-law is riled over handicap parking permit
My husband refused, saying he didn’t feel he had the right to remove something from someone’s vehicle without their permission.
I felt my husband is enabling him to continue this abuse.
I am disappointed and have lost a lot of respect for my husband, who I love dearly, over this.
I’d appreciate your opinion as to whether I am overreacting in this matter.
— Annoyed!
Dear Annoyed!: I can understand why you are so annoyed by your brother-in-law’s choice to use his late-mother’s handicap permit, but I agree with your husband that it is not his place to remove it.
I do believe you are overreacting to this, but I assume that this episode is a placeholder for other in-law annoyances you’ve experienced over the years.
Furthermore, you are blaming the wrong person for this! Your husband is refusing to do something you have told him to do. He is standing up to you, and yes — you don’t like it, but he has the right to discern and make choices based on his own values; and in this case I happen to agree with him.
Now that your brother-in-law has left his car in your driveway for an extended period, you have a legitimate reason to tell him that you’re aware of this and that it bothers you.
In my opinion, he should be deeply embarrassed to be scamming off of a dead woman’s infirmities in this way, when doing so also denies others with legitimate needs the ability to use a parking spot reserved for them.
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