I see where you're coming from, "Anonymous," and I personally believe the MLK approach is valid in most situations. However, the Malcolm X approach is necessary, at times, by whatever means. First, I am fully aware of the consequences of my uncivil disobedience. Though I have never been to jail for letting air out of a tire or leaving a note on someone's car, I am not afraid to pay the price. Call it righteous indignation, if you will.
As an aside to anyone interested, I would suggest using a dry-erase marker to write on the windows of illegally parked cars, if the permanent colors are not to your taste.
The store manager is usually not the person to approach. If one would like to pursue that route, then contact the store owner or corporate office. The store manager is likely just to make a note of it and nothing more.
FYI, the ADA has no teeth; therefore, the people must use their teeth. We must use our mouths. We must use whatever we can to fight the injustices of this so-called free land. They say freedom ain't free, but why is it that the minorities (that means the Disabled too) have to pay the bulk of the bill?
I appreciate, "Anonymous," that you approach the people you think are not Disabled, and I am amused that you have been "humbled" to find out that they, indeed, had a disability.
You are correct that the people with "invisible" disabilities exist. I have seen them. Early on in my journey through cripdom, I, too, approached these invisible ones, and I, too, became enlightened.
My advice is to base your confrontations on the law and not the sight of a disability. If a person has a placard or a license plate that allows them to park in the spot, then do not attempt to confront them or the store manager. You will only embarrass yourself. You know what they say about assumptions.
Your "friends" with disabilities don't happen to be Black, do they? But I digress. That's great that these "friends" park further out. Most doctors suggest that people do that to help walk/push off those extra pounds.
On a side note, if you really want to help the Disabled, tell your "friends" to stop perpetuating the hierarchical stratification of disability by referring to some people as "more disabled." Those "friends" sound like they are hung up on nondisability. Perhaps they have acquired disabilities, as opposed to congenital disabilities? At any rate, that type of signification does not promote disability pride.
The most important element of accessible parking, next to the proximity of the building, is the access aisle.
The Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibilities Guidelines requires a five-foot access aisle for typical parking spots, and an even larger one for van-accessible parking spots.
The other "pet peeve" I would recommend you taking up is against the people who park over these access aisles, or those who even block the ramps. Those jerk-offs deserve to have their vehicles dinged and scratched by any wheelchair user who has to struggle to get by the illegally parked vehicle just to access a ramp that is clearly marked.
I am glad that our nondisabled brothers and sisters stand beside us in this battle for equal rights, but it must be more than a "pet peeve" or a mere hobby.
If the temporarily-able-bodied want to really help fight for the rights of the Disabled, and if they want to combat the denial and rape of the rights that have already been granted, then it must be a moral duty, an obligation to humanity, and not a "pet peeve."
Oh, we'll take the comraderie of the pet peevers. After all, it takes a village to raise an idiot to understand that the Disabled deserve equal rights too.
