I really need to apply for the renewal of my “blue badge” today. I had an email from Norfolk County Council some time ago now, warning me that my current badge expires soon. It’s not something that I ever envisaged myself needing, but now I have had one it is difficult to imagine life without it. It is sometimes embarrassing to use it when you have a hidden illness – I see people staring as I get out of the car, and you can almost hear them thinking “what’s he doing in a disabled parking space? He’s not disabled!”. It’s even worse when I’m in my car (rather than my wife’s), because it’s a sports car – sick people aren’t allowed to have sports cars, didn’t you know? I almost feel obliged to hobble or stagger a little as I get out of the car, just to give some some sort of visual evidence, but as my Parkinson’s progresses then the hobbling and staggering becomes unavoidable in any case.
I print out the application form from the council website, sign and date it, and then set about finding all of the required supporting documentation to prove that I am who I say I am, and that I am entitled to be issued with another blue badge – they already have proof of my identity from my original application, so surely they just need to confirm that I’m still eligible? It’s not worth arguing about, though – if you don’t play the game according to the rules (no matter how ridiculous) then you lose… I locate all of the necessary paperwork, scan it in to my MacBook, and upload them to the council website.
Once that’s done, I walk the dog, split some logs and fill the log basket, light the fire (it’s cold outside, and I’m feeling chilly) and vacuum downstairs before my wife gets home from work.