Grandmother has a bad habit of not taking her cane with her unless she's having a really bad day (even though it's almost impossible to predict when she's going to have a flare and a decent day turn into a really bad one), so days she doesn't have it, I'm more likely to park in the handicap spot. But she doesn't look 81, so we still get nasty looks and comments. And like the other commenter, I've had problems when having to park long enough to pick her up from somewhere too.

OTOH, the lady who stays with my aunt during the day tries to take grandmother's van when she does any shopping/other errands, because it's got a handicap parking placard. And I know more than enough about her health history. She doesn't need the parking space. One of the many things about her that pisses me off.