Things aren't always what they look like.

Their sin, shared by thousands of others, is these two don't look disabled enough, as if there were some magic level when people would stop making judgments quickly and giving them voice even faster. For whatever reason, there are folks who believe that only someone in a wheelchair qualifies for "handicapped" parking.

Severely torn muscles, injured backs, artificial limbs, certain cancers and their exhausting treatments, severe asthma, powerful but episodic seizures, congestive heart failure and a number of other debilitating medical conditions all look the same to the casual observer. But they are genuine, legitimate disabling conditions that allow someone to qualify for handicapped, close-in parking, sometimes while they're recovering and sometimes permanently. Bear in mind, it isn't always the driver who must qualify. A parent with a disabled child, for example, should be able to use the placard when transporting that child. Or someone with a disabled spouse.

No doubt there are people who take advantage. I guess they have to hope they don't get caught. In such a case, the fines are pretty high. Perhaps they should be higher. I'd like to think the sense of shame is even more painful. It should be.

But it's troubling to hear what a man who suffers daily with post-polio syndrome has to go through in order to keep his ability to do his own shopping, run his own errands, simply be independent. And the fact that mouthy strangers would accost a young woman based on their own split-second glimpse into her life is outrageous.

Those parking stalls are not a perk. They're a necessity. But someone who qualifies shouldn't have to justify himself to the self-appointed parking police, no matter how good they think their intentions are.

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Deseret Morning News staff writer Lois M. Collins may be reached by e-mail at lois@desnews.com