As per many people, I’ve been out at supermarkets and retail parks around 8 times this Christmas. 5 of those in Surrey, one in Wythenshawe, the rest in the Newcastle area.
My DCs are not toddlers any more so I don’t have the same “will the door open wide enough to take out the car seat and plug it into the pram system” dilemna.
However I have huge empathy for the mothers (and on occasion dads) who I do see doing this. There’s a lovely convenience to parking in a bay where you can pull the pram alongside, open the door wide enough, then take out the seat and baby in one go.
So why is it that on all eight occasions, I’ve seen large SUVs with a solo occupant, the majority of them women, pull into a P&C bay, walk out, and then shoot that filthy “I dare you to challenge me” look?
it is honestly fascinating to me to see how often this happens now. These folk are not in any way visually disabled or physically showing any signs of disability, although if they were, there were numerous disabled spaces available in every car park I saw this happen in.
Nope, these were people who just wanted “premium” parking. They were blatant about it. There were no elderly passengers, hidden disabilities or anything else.
Am I going to get the usual Mumsnet gaslighting of “you don’t know what a person is going through” or are we going to accept that people are CFs who want to take anything that is available to someone else in case they feel like they’re the ones missing out?
I am curious to see if the overwhelming consensus on Mumsnet is that because we had to struggle without the spaces, then NO ONE deserves to have them. That we shouldn’t make life more comfortable for mums and dads with newborns and toddlers, because those spaces really should be for everyone.
so let’s see
YABU - Those spaces shouldn’t be for parents. They should be for everyone
YANBU - Those people who selfishly park there are wrong and this is why we can’t have nice things.