AIBU to tell people off who park in parent & child spaces but have no children with them?

[Ameybee]

This does my head in when I'm struggling to get 2 kids out the car in a normal space yet some idiot without kids is parked in the child space!!

I told a lady off today! I said 'do you know this is a parent & child space?' She said 'yeah' I replied 'so you're just being inconsiderate then?' She thought about it then made up some bullshit about her child being 'down there, in that shop!!' - she had just driven in!!! Clearly lying. So, would you say something to someone!???

At the gym I go to all the p and t spaces are taken up with Ferraris, Landrovers and other large expensive cars who don't want their paintwork damaged. No car seats. This happens everytime I go and when the 5 p and t spaces are full, guess what they go. In the disabled spaces. No car seats, no blue badges.

It is the same sense of entitlement and lack of consideration that makes them use the blue badge spaces. The gym do eff all about it so wonder why they even bother providing them.

Or she may have something really serious or worrying going on in her life at the moment and really didn't notice or just simply couldn't begin to care that someone somewhere had had a baby or toddler and so desperately needs to park a few hundred yards nearer the store.

If its space needed to open doors then park further away, there are always spaces at the far end. Kids need to walk.

Hey ho!

I agree with the op in that its fucking irritating! When ds was in the first carseat that you get in and out of the car, you need to be able to open the door wide enough to get the seat out. I have a 3 door car which means my doors are slightly longer than a car with 5 doors. The logistics mean I need to be able to open the door nearly 2ft. The p&c spaces are great because you have the space to do that. For most people, its convenient. Not a right, no, but something to make life a little easier. When there are none of these spaces available I just park further away so I can open the door and get him out. Of course there aren't any trolley bays around but I carry him to one.
And then of course some nob ends up parking really close to me while I'm in the shop so I can't get him back in again and I'm tempted to ram my door into their car.
No, these spaces didn't used to exist, but they do now as it makes life a bit easier and, you know, we have evolved as a whole to make life more convenient for everyone. Online banking, online shopping, drive thru takeaways. All there to convenience others.

To add never ever would I condone parking in a disabled space.

There is no comparison.

Yes she may have had the weight of the world on her shoulders......What??? We are supposed to calculate every terrible thing that may be going on in someones life before being annoyed at them? Hilarious.

Gosuckeggs - you sound like such a lovely person to be around... NOT!

Or perhaps Nelly just keep quite? Be quietly annoyed and then get on with life?

If someone asks me a reasonable question I wouldn't tell them to fuck off! Unless of course I was doing something wrong and was embarassed I'd been caught out!!

YANBU at all

Absolutely disgusting.

I mean, check this out for some really inconsiderate P&C parking.

Ameybee- you sound like such a nosey irritating person to be around!

Rather be nosy and irritating than aggressive and rude!

The last two times I parked at the back of the car park someone parked next to me before I got back. Some people seem to like parking next to other cars.
I have a small car, but where I live (rural) most people have 4x4s. The spaces are tiny. I have had to get in on the wrong side despite parking in the middle of my space a few times.

The main reason I like using p+c parking is so that I don't have to put my dd in the pushchair/trolley where cars are reversing etc. I don't care where they are in the car park.

I wish people would fuck the fuck off with judging people as non-disabled because they don't "look" disabled. Hello and welcome to 2013 where the world recognises that most disabilities are actually invisible!

How very dare you expect that a facility created for a particular group should be left free to be used by that group! the idea.
In the real world, disabled spots are for people with disabilities.
parent and child spots are for people with small children.
however, OP, you have wandered into the parallel universe of mumsnet where expecting to use the spot created for the convenience of people like you is tantamount to admitting to a taste for live kittens boiled in oil.
you are going to be roasted by people who are otherwise sensible and considerate, excepting this issue.
It's like, a mumsnet rule.

Well done!! you are VERY successfully being nosy and irritating, i think with a bit more practice you could also get a gold star for aggresiveness and rudeness.

The only time I would have said something would be if someone jumped into a p&c space I was about to go in and didn't have children in the car, when DDs were little.

I have given several hard stares to other P&C space abusers though.

I don't see why people give "Oh give them a break, they might be having a bad day" on here as a excuse when any other sort of bad parking is treated with total disdain and abject criticism, in this forum.

Bizarre kind of self-flagellation, given most of us are parents and have benefitted from the odd p&c space at one time or another. Or maybe people have short memories of struggling with babies and toddlers, or were obviously superwomen.

In the real world, disabled spots are for people with disabilities.
parent and child spots are for people with small children

In the real world, disabled spaces are mandatory whereas P&C places are not.

thankyou for a highly entertaining read So much angst over parking. Next time I'm shopping on the bus I might ask the bus driver if he wouldnt mind parking in a P&C space so I dont have to lug shopping and kids half a mile up the hill in case they melt/run away etc. Oh wait. They dont.

Just out of interest, what is the upper age limit perceived to be for p&c spaces? I bet everyone has a different take on that. Where does it all end??

I'm only a casual bystander in all this nowadays thank god. I've done my time re dc/parking.

Notice how the folk tht don't get the point of not using something not meant for them are all so lovely...

You are perfectly reasonable by the way, OP. Don't let the Femail readers who hate other women grind you down.

Ok gosuckeggs -sorry- in reality I'm sure you are not awful to be around and I am not irritating and nosy.... Just completely knackered and pissed off today so decided yes this issue did really piss me off. I'm sure we all have days like this... Normally I'd be quietly irritated! Honestly - I'm actually really nice - I reversed into someone's car yesterday & a man who saw me told me to drive off but I left a note & the lady who the car belongs to rang me and I've sent her a big bunch of flowers and a big cheque for the damage

I asked this pages back but it was ignored

how do you know the person wasn't collecting/dropping off kids??'

people get all uppity with out knowing the facts - and seriously - if you can't park in a normal space and get a child out of the car stay at home !

Ps I've name changed - but I'm still ameybee - the firestarter of this lovely thread !