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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

to lose it at this angry woman who criticised my parking.

422 replies

bobbypercy1 · 22/07/2013 14:48

So i was in town this morning with the Q7 (or the panzer tank as I call it) and i pulled up to a space. I reversed in a few times but i was always a bit squint. Eventually i left the car squint but still in the bay. I let out my kids and just while i locked the car this woman came over.

she said i should go back and straighten the car out because it was squint. I told her that if she had a q7 i would like to see her park it in such a tight space. She thought i was suggesting that she didn't have a big car because she was poor. i wasn't suggesting that at all. so she went into a long rant about me being disrespectful. i was shocked .

but i didn't shout too much cause i had two kids with me.

aibu to be annoyed at her.

OP posts:
merrymouse · 23/07/2013 12:11

Manoeuvring slowly and carefully in a clear stretch of road is not dangerous (assuming no other breach of regulations particular to that road). Parking within a parking bay is not dangerous.

If she parked dangerously or illegally or was on the phone or driving without due care and attention she should be prosecuted or fined.

If you think anything she has mentioned should be illegal, I suggest you lobby your MP. However, I doubt you will have much luck.

missmarplestmarymead · 23/07/2013 12:42

It is proof that she is not competent at handling the car, even if she was having her several attempts in an isolated spot, witnessed by nobody.

If she displays that same level of incompetence on the road or in a crowded supermarket car park, she will be a danger.

Some MPs are interested in exploring the fact that should be a restriction on the size or engine capacity that a newly qualified driver can drive. Seems reasonable.

The OP may not be newly qualified, she may just be incompetent at handling her vehicle. There is no remedy for that, other than the fact that her own conscience might tell her that she and her car are not matched. However, I think that will be unlikely.

ComposHat · 23/07/2013 12:55

I agree missmar that engine/vehicle size should be restricted upon passing a test - maybe be nothing bigger than a 1.4 for the first few years after passing.

I also agree thst if you can't complete a relatively simple manoeuvre at dlow speed, ten you are not in control of yhe vehicle and shouldn't be driving it.

The turn in the road/reverse park/reverse around the corner are thete to test your ability to keep close control of your car at dlow speed whilst being aware of what is around you.

if you can't do any if them safely and quickly in the car you're driving, you aren't in proper control of it.

kinkyfuckery · 23/07/2013 13:02

MrsKeithRichards Tue 23-Jul-13 08:14:15

Dundee has an ikea

Eh?

Crumbledwalnuts · 23/07/2013 13:04

You're wrong, you should park properly. Just because you've got a big car is no excuse. Learn to park considerately so that others can open their doors or don't drive it.

fluckered · 23/07/2013 13:15

don't care what you drive. am more annoyed at the opinion that as long as you are between the lines your fine. so if you are over to one side BUT inbetween the lines its still a selfish way to park not allowing anyone else parking beside you to get out.

as it is, it was parallel parking and taking the OP at face value I am assuming it was a very slight "squint". but just because you are within the lines don't make it impossible for anyone else to park around you. that's just selfish.

she was bu to rant at you. though what exactly did you say for her to think you were having a dig at her finances?

SirChenjin · 23/07/2013 13:35

The nearest Ikea to Aberdeen is Edinburgh - not sure about it being Stavenger timewise. All that checking in, hanging about until take off, getting out of the airport etc...can you do that in the 2.5/3 hours it takes you to get to Loanhead from Aberdeen? Would be worth a race just to see Grin

sleeplessbunny · 23/07/2013 13:53

YABU for having a Q7
YABVU for driving a car you cannot park
YABVVU for telling us all that you have a Q7 bags of money and no sense
YABVVVU for justifying your purchase of said car with the reasons "3 kids and 7 seats". You are by no means alone with these requirements.
and she WBU to rant at you, unless you were so badly parked you were blocking the road or access to other parked cars. which i sort of suspect you were

EeTraceyluv · 23/07/2013 14:15

Is it white?

Noseynoonoo · 23/07/2013 14:41

Being within the the lines is not the aim. Surely we should be central and parallel to the lines. If not we could have someone park against the line and then the next person parks against the same line. Both are within the line but now the doors cannot be opened. There needs to be space to open the doors and for a body to get in between.

It just comes down to simple consideration for others. I drive a small-ish quite unfashionable car. We can afford a bigger more fashionable car but I'd prefer a car with good visibility that I can park and get me and the DCs in and out of.

Crumbledwalnuts · 23/07/2013 14:50

I'm a note writer (nerd I suppose that means really). If that woman had been me you would have come back to a note on your windscreen saying Can't Park Properly? Or Won't Park Properly?

SirChenjin · 23/07/2013 16:29

EeTraceyluv - I'm willing to bet it's black with tinted windows

EatingAllTheCrumpets · 23/07/2013 16:56

You could get a smaller 7 seated with 4wd. But that's beside the point. It's your car, your choice. You could drive a gold plated Bugatti for all I care!!

YABU to not be able to park properly. A car not in the bay squarely causes problems for other people, especially in a parallel park situation. You need to practise more. The Q7, like most large cars and higher end vehicles are very sophisticated when it comes to park assist. I suggest you practice.

I would (and do) pass comment to those who park badly when it causes issues to me or others. Sometimes I'm not very polite about it either Grin

EeTraceyluv · 23/07/2013 18:22

Naa, white is the colour for people who say 'I've got a q7 but I like, neeeeeed it' Grin

SHarri13 · 23/07/2013 18:35

Calling it 'the q7' is very, very, very unreasonable.

PeriodFeatures · 23/07/2013 19:18

I can just imagine the confrontation. 'oooo poor me having to drive my panzer tank as i call it'

Surely other people can see through this veiled show offery knobbery?

I used to quite like those cars but I don't anymore now i associate them with showy off twats who can't drive

PeriodFeatures · 23/07/2013 19:30

THIS THREAD>>>SPONSERED BY AUDI>>>

SirChenjin · 23/07/2013 19:40

Grin Tracey

Wuldric · 23/07/2013 19:43

OP you have fallen victim to another MN Rule, which is right up there with fruitshoots, which is Thou Shalt Not Drive an SUV. It does not matter whether said SUV is a model of fuel economy and doesn't have bull-bars. You shall still be judged as selfish and gas-guzzling and a nanosecond away from running over a child you cannot see whilst attempting to park.

What you should have done is fib a little bit in the OP. You should have disguised the Q7 as a Fiat 600. There may have been many more comments about learning to park. But you would not have broken one of the MN Commandments and you might even have scored some of the sympathy you were looking for.

SelectAUserName · 23/07/2013 20:23

This thread makes me want to break into an Audi showroom, get into the biggest fuck-offiest Q7 in the place, take it to the nearest car park and park it sideways across three spaces.

Some sanctimonious judgy perfect fuckers on here, to be sure.

Glittertwins · 23/07/2013 20:28

You forgot to bling it up with the wheels and sports kit ;)

SirChenjin · 23/07/2013 20:38

And the tinted windows - don't forget the tinted windows. And you must make sure you drive it fast up the bumper of the person who dares to slow down the Q7 (that's a Q7 Audi, dontcha know Wink)

Ilovemyself · 23/07/2013 20:46

OP. do you keep the standard tyres on in the snow? And if you can't park it on a sunny day what chance do you have of driving well in the snow?

Glittertwins · 23/07/2013 20:48

4wd doesn't necessarily help in the snow on a hill. It just means all wheels rotate uselessly whilst going nowhere. At least we provided my dad with a cheap laugh!

PleasePudding · 23/07/2013 21:10

I thought the OP said parallel parking - in which case it makes hardly any difference to anyone else in the whole world - as cars going by would avoid the white line. I mainly drive a battered old peugeout hatchback and learnt to drive on Dartmoor so am necessarily shit hot at reversing. Even though my car is tiny and I can park well I still sometimes leave my car squint on a dodgy parallel park - surely most of us have done when under pressure and it won't affect anyone.

There is a ridiculous amount of harshness here. And maybe the op refers to it as the Q7 as that is what she thinks of it as, like I think of my car as either blue car or white car and that is how I refer to them to insurance companies and mechanics.

OP YANBU some people positively shake with excitement when they see a something to disapprove of. What a pain in the arse this woman was. The fact that you have an SUV is neither here nor there but, considering where you live, is pretty sensible if you can afford it.

And people should not complain/judge excessively about petrol consumption unless they are maximally efficient on everything, never eat hot-housed food etc.