Now, imagine those feelings at the end of a particularly long
and tiring day, which involved blood tests, delayed doctor’s appointments,
scans, stale lunch and a badly made coffee. I cried a little on the inside. And
then, like any rational person upon receiving a parking ticket, I went through
the five stages of grief. Denial – ‘No, this couldn’t be happening to us, we
paid for a ticket!’, Anger – ‘Screw London! Don’t these heartless people know I
have cancer?!’ (Not for the first time, I was using my illness to try and get
out of a sticky situation), Bargaining – ‘I’m sure if we phone them up, they’ll
understand!’, Depression – ‘Why oh why God is this happening to me, what did I
ever do wrong?’ and Acceptance – ‘Screw London! And screw UCLH! And screw this
darn parking ticket!!’ (Okay, maybe I was still a little angry...?)
So my nurse suggested I should get a Disabled Badge. For
those of you who are unaware of what that is, it’s a card which gives you certain
perks when driving or parking in certain areas. Of course, you have to be
considered ‘disabled’ to actually own one, and although the thought made me uncomfortable, the rational part of me understood that I should apply for one (a
little background information – the main tumour, which is bigger than the size
of a tennis ball, is located in my left pelvis which means I cannot walk long
distances without hurting).
And so I am now the proud owner of a Disabled Badge. I may not consider myself disabled, but my nurses and doctors sure do. No one would think so, looking at me, and I hide it well,
but much like the dosette box, the card is something I grudgingly have to
accept as part of my life now. And when I’m in a particularly bad mood, I abuse the card and scandalously defraud the government as payback for the
ticket I was given. That always cheers me up.
Lessons of the day:
- Crying upon receiving a parking ticket is perfectly
acceptable. Don’t feel like you need to hold in your emotions at this terrible
time.
- Publically admitting your defraud the government may not be
a good idea. Only time will tell.
- Google NCP car parks before leaving on a journey where you may be stuck with expensive car parking. They are a great alternative to the usually extortionate parking charges in and around London.
