Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To get infuriated by people mis using parent and child spaces?

632 replies

nothingbyhalves · 23/11/2013 15:45

It's all in the title really. A woman just told me she had parked in one because she had a dog in her car. Aibu to think she is inconsiderate?

OP posts:
DuckToWater · 26/11/2013 14:07

Sorry, but that really is taking things too far.

Yes because you must shop NOW... you can't possibly come back later when it is quieter or go elsewhere...

I consider it "taking it too far" to go into shops that are that busy. If the aren't parking spaces within a few minutes I don't bother. Plenty of other alternatives.

swanningby · 26/11/2013 14:09

Eh, yes. Sometimes people do have to shop now. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to go home and come back out again when it's quieter. Lucky you.

DuckToWater · 26/11/2013 14:11

Yes, usually parents of young children, hence the need for the spaces... Hmm

Sirzy · 26/11/2013 14:15

Not everyone has the time to go home and come back later or the have travelled a distance to where they are. if the car park was full and the only space free was a parent and child space too right I would park in it.

swanningby · 26/11/2013 14:15

Really, people without children have nothing else to do except drive up and down to the supermarket several times a day Confused. What about the ones that work full time during the week? Or the ones that live a considerable drive from the shops? Or the ones that are doing shopping for elderly relatives or neighbours? Just to give a few examples.

ZombieMonkeyButler · 26/11/2013 14:19

What's all this about "comfort spaces"? Never seen those - although I would happily use them, if available.

My family car is approximately 4 inches narrower than the average parking space in our local town! If the person next to me has parked a little over their line, I stand no chance whatsoever!

Whistleblower0 · 26/11/2013 14:24

I really do wonder how some of you frothing about this non issue cope in everday life.
I despair of my own sex sometimes [embarrassed]

BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 26/11/2013 14:27

why oh why am I still reading this?!

We must have ridiculously large car parks here, I have never seen one so full that someone had no option but to park in a p&c space.

DuckToWater · 26/11/2013 14:33

There is online shopping of course...and there are not many people who live so far away from the shops that it's a real trek to get there by car. I live in a rural area and it's still only a 5 minute drive to both Sainsbury's or Tesco, ten minutes to Waitrose or Lidl. If you don't have a car then it's another matter...but then you won't have the parking issue, presumably...

I don't think there is much frothing. I am very amused by people who seek to protest by misusing the spaces and call parents correctly using them 'entitled'. Yeah, well done.

And of course we can't possibly talk about trivial issues and then cope with everyday life Hmm

swanningby · 26/11/2013 14:39

Yes, there's also online shopping for parents who don't wish to expose their children to the dangers of the car park. And are you seriously saying that no one lives any great distance from a decent supermarket?

swanningby · 26/11/2013 14:41

Beyond I have been in car parks several times where they were packed, every time a car moved out another car was sitting with it's indicator on waiting to move in and eventually, someone pulls out, there's no car ahead of me and its a P&T space.

EthelredOnAGoodDay · 26/11/2013 14:45

I agree entirely with what Duck just said.
I'm not bothered about the proximity to the shop, it's the amount of room that's important to me because getting my ginormous 8 month old out of the back is no mean feat in regular spaces. I don't bring him out in his seat and I don't think he will dissolve in the rain, but my back is knackered and contorting myself to get him out of a tiny space is a total PITA.
In addition, I just do not get the 'you're so entitled' argument. I have seen these threads so many times and it never fails to piss me off. If you choose to park in them when you've no kids with you, then I think you're being a bit of a cock. I wouldn't complain or say anything, but I'd think you were a selfish sod and also wonder about the logic of those sneeringly asking why should parents get special treatment, why do parents HAVE to park so close and accusing those using the P&T spaces correctly of being entitled, and yet being entitled enough themselves to park in a space reserved, albeit without any legal status, for people with small kids.

swanningby · 26/11/2013 14:49

But you could also argue that its 'entitled' of some parents to expect spaces to be kept free for them even in situations where someone else has been looking for a space for ages and a P&T space is the only one that comes available. That's not someone being lazy or begrudging but someone who is faced with a choice of parking there or going home without their shopping.

musicismylife · 26/11/2013 14:59

So, you have had unprotected sex and you want to be acknowledged for that?

Grin
EthelredOnAGoodDay · 26/11/2013 15:00

In my experience, and I know this is not always the case, nine times out of ten, there will be free regular spaces available, unless it's Christmas or whatever. Unless it's a tiny car park it's unlikely that you're not going to be able to find any spaces at all. I'm sure someone will now come along and list car parks where there are 20 P&T spaces and 10 standard spaces, but that's not my experience. When I'm not with the children, I park somewhere else. If I can't get parked, I wait until a regular space is available. I don't view other parents using the spaces as entitled. That's just a bizarre attitude.

DuckToWater · 26/11/2013 15:02

I refuse to believe when shops are open 24 hours or 6.30am to 10.30pm daily, that most people can't organise themselves to go when it is quieter. If the shop carpark is that full 24/7 then there is something wrong somewhere.

swanningby · 26/11/2013 15:02

I don't view parents using the spaces as entitled. I view parents expecting shoppers to go home from a packed car park without their shopping in order to leave the space for a parent as entitled. There's a big difference.

And you have obviously never been to any of the shopping centres or supermarkets around my area on a Saturday afternoon. They're usually mobbed and it's often very difficult to find a space.

waltermittymissus · 26/11/2013 15:03

Lol at parents being entitled for using parent spaces.

And people going out of their way to park in them? Seriously? While you're shopping, you really need to see if they're selling a life!

moominleigh94 · 26/11/2013 15:04

DuckToWater I'm not sure you can really call yourself rural if you're 5 mins away from the nearest supermarket. When I'm not at uni, my family are 45 minutes from nearest Tesco, an hour from nearest Asda and two hours from nearest Sainsbos!

swanningby · 26/11/2013 15:05

You can refuse to believe it all you like Duck but that's the way it is. People who work full time often need to shop on Saturdays when places are very busy, and it certainly doesn't suit a lot of people to be heading out to the supermarket at 10 o'clock at night just because they don't have small children.

Sirzy · 26/11/2013 15:50

So duck what you are basically saying is that people should go shopping and go home if they discover the only space is a P and C space? must be great to have such a quiet life that that is even something you can consider doing.

Strangly most people don't have time to waste like that

Whistleblower0 · 26/11/2013 15:54

Duck are you having a laugh? Maybe you have too much time on your hands if you seriously think this is an option. Me, i actually have a life!

Arabesque1 · 26/11/2013 16:12

Don't be daft DucktoWater. Following your logic why don't parents just shop at awkward times or keep to-ing and fro-ing to the supermarket until a space by the door becomes available? Because it wouldn't be practical, that's why, just like it wouldn't be for people without small children.

EthelredOnAGoodDay · 26/11/2013 16:42

Or why not just wait a few minutes until a space becomes available? No to-ing and fro-ing required, and no parking in p&t spaces (without children) either. That's what I do whether I am with the kids and waiting for a p&t space, or on my own and looking for a standard space. It's not beyond the wit of man really is it.

I live in a village on the outskirts of a city, but family all live in market towns or busy tourist destinations. So we have most bases covered in terms of experience of various size and layouts of supermarket car parks. However, as I said in my earlier post, I have very little experience of these car parks that are reportedly so busy that you just cannot get into any standard spaces, so your only options are to park in a p&t one or go home and totally abandon your shopping trip...(other than at Christmas, which is not really representative of the year as a whole....)

Arabesque1 · 26/11/2013 16:45

I think the example given, and it's one I've often experienced, is where you and a number of other cars are all circling the car park looking for spaces and as soon as one becomes free there's another car waiting for it. In that situation you could be driving around for ten minutes trying to find a space and if someone backs out of a P&T space the question is should the person take it or keep driving around and around or give up and go home.
In my opinion the person should take it. They've tried their best to get another space but demand is outstripping supply.