Quick Thinking at the Mall!

I went to meet my friend, Alicia, at John Harvard's Brew Pub for lunch last Friday.  I drove the fifteen minutes from my house to meet her.  I had no problem parking in an accessible parking space with diagonal stripes to the right of my van.  This space allows the necessary room for the side ramp to come down and for me to roll out.  The picture to the left shows the inside of my wheelchair van.  There is a lock-in system for my Permobile wheelchair, so I just roll in, lock in, and drive using hand controls.  We had a great time, lots of nice talks about our kids and our families.  After lunch, Alicia suggested walking me to the van; I said it was not necessary, but she insisted. 

When we got to the van, some one  had parked next to my van on the diagonal stripes!!! Ohhhhhhhh no!!!
We could get the ramp down but there was no room for the wheelchair. Alicia said she would back-up the car a few feet, looked in, saw there was no seat for the driver, and then she said, "Ohhhhhhhh no!!"
We tried to problem solve and thought maybe a store or the restaurant  would led us a chair for Alicia to sit on, so she could drive the van. But she is smart and fast-thinking.  She grabbed a shopping cart, pushed it up the ramp, turned it on its side, sat on it, and backed the van up the necessary four feet, so then I could get in, after she removed the shopping cart.

What did I learn?
1.  Do not panic, we can find solutions.
2.  Shopping carts have many functions and can be used as chairs, when turned sideways.
3.  It is good to have clever friends!
4. Keep a folding chair in the back of the van for these future problems.
5.  Remind people not to park on the stripes  next to a side entry van!