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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to have expected a slightly more empathetic response from this Range Rover driver?

136 replies

TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 04/07/2014 16:29

It's pouring with rain.

The (shiny new) Range Rover is parked bang in the middle of 2 spaces outside my house with the engine running.

I park across the road, then tap on her window & say "you realise you're parked across 2 spaces?"

Super-groomed blonde perma-tanned woman driver responds "this is a public road & I've just paid £500 to tax my car"

OP posts:
LucyStafford · 04/07/2014 19:12

Would you have been as annoyed if she drove a clapped out micra?
Doubt it somehow.

massagegirl · 04/07/2014 19:14

Can't bear 4x4. Lots where I live. No need. Status symbols. Normally badly driven and parked. In normally very n

massagegirl · 04/07/2014 19:15

Very non judgemental but 4x4 inner city drive me mental.

Original poster
TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 04/07/2014 19:17

Well, a micra in the same spot wouldn't have taken up nearly as much space but yes, if the driver was in the car I'd have done the same thing.

OP posts:
MrsCakesPremonition · 04/07/2014 19:20

But driving a Range Rover means you can go anywhere doesn't it? doesn't it?

Icimoi · 04/07/2014 19:20

She has a point - until you pay her road tax you haven't really got a leg to stand on.

What on earth? Since when did people who pay more road tax have licence to park inconsiderately?

Icimoi · 04/07/2014 19:31

She shouldn't have parked across 2 spaces obviously but all you had to do was cross the road to your house.

That's not really the point though, is it? What about the next person to turn up who can't park at all? What if RR driver does it again the next day and there are no alternative spaces? Is RR driver still entitled to claim she must stay there because she's just paid her road tax?

SirChenjin · 04/07/2014 19:36

Paying your road tax does not give you the right to park inconsiderately - we all pay our road tax, and if we all parked like twunts there would be at least 50% fewer parking spaces in this country.

picnicbasketcase · 04/07/2014 19:39

It's lovely how people think you're unreasonable to expect a more polite response. Like how dare you expect anyone who's crap at parking in an unnecessarily massive vehicle to have anything other than a bad attitude Grin

FindoGask · 04/07/2014 19:42

I agree with you about the inconsiderate parking OP, but I'm not sure what you hoped to achieve by pointing it out to her. People very rarely react well to being told off. It's only really worth bothering, in my view, if it's something either serious or immediately sortable.

Tabby1963 · 04/07/2014 20:01

I opened this thread because of the mention of the mention of a 4x4, I got one in January this year and would have it's babies love it Grin.

OP, it is unfair to label certain cars/drivers as inconsiderate because we all have the capacity to drive or park selfishly, no matter whether we drive a banger or a totr car, no matter whether we self-tan or are coiffured to the eyeballs or are total scruffs.

Your comment definitely put her back up and made her feel defensive, hence the sarky reply. Next time say "excuse me, d'you mind budging up your total adorable car a bit so I can get my car in" then flash a big smile. It'll totally disarm her Wink.

Still, after more than six months are the rest of the family not permitted to eat or drink in my car. That's definitely a record lol I've had them standing outside eating their sandwiches when we stop off at a service station... in the rain.

Tabby1963 · 04/07/2014 20:02

Oh, and not a single strand of hay will be touching the interior either!

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 04/07/2014 20:19

Picnic - the point being, crap parking is crap parking, no matter the size or type of the vehicle or however the driver looks. You can park crappily in a small car or a large car, but still expect to be spoken to in a reasonable manner.

The OP focussed more on what the vehicle was (as though that was more offensive) and how the driver looked (as though that was more offensive).

OP was trying to make the point that the driver of the vehicle was more annoying (because she was perma-tanned, ultra-groomed and driving a RR) than if she had been driving a smaller car and had been pale and scruffier.

That's what I got from it, anyway.

And yet again - the hay was just an example of what else a large car MIGHT be used for. Agreed, not everyone carries flippin' hay - it was an example. People may use their large cars for ALL SORTS OF THINGS, that none of us know anything about. Therefore, who is qualified to judge what is a "stupid-sized car". You know nothing about the owner or their life. Therefore, it is not for you to judge who is driving ad "unnecessarily large vehicle". It is simply not your place to pass opinion on that. None of your business.

FindoGask · 04/07/2014 20:21

oh jeez Evans - don't tell me you've never passed opinion on something that isn't your business?

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 04/07/2014 20:23

Oh, Jeez Findo - I may have silently thought it to myself, in a moment of mild annoyance, but I haven't started a goady thread on it, expecting everyone to agree with me. Smile

Original poster
TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 04/07/2014 20:24

The OP focussed more on what the vehicle was (as though that was more offensive) and how the driver looked (as though that was more offensive)

Well, no, that wasn't the intention. It was more about how she behaved so stereotypically.

Badly parked
Big expensive car
Super-groomed
Rich, entitled & arrogant

Bingo

OP posts:
WoodliceCollection · 04/07/2014 20:24

"Also really bored of the anti 4x4 brigade."

Oh we're terribly sorry. You just go ahead an use up all the fossil fuel you feel like, your bikes and buggies are clearly more important than anyone else's health or future.

picnicbasketcase · 04/07/2014 20:30

I didn't start a thread about it either. And I do think a lot of vehicles people drive are unnecessarily large for the tasks they are used for, yes.

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 04/07/2014 20:30

Well, no, that wasn't the intention. It was more about how she behaved so stereotypically.

Badly parked
Big expensive car
Super-groomed
Rich, entitled & arrogant
Bingo

And there we have it, I rest my case M'Lud
You've just completely fallen into everything I've outlined.
Well Done Grin

Psst - You can't stereotype everyone

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 04/07/2014 20:33

Woodlice - can I ask if you are using your own self-generated power to be able to log on the internet this evening?

Or are you using up the earth's resources to do so?

Original poster
TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 04/07/2014 20:34

There are a lot of her about, Evans. What's your point?

OP posts:
bigdog888 · 04/07/2014 20:40

Seeing as you keep avoiding the question about marked spaces I assume that they're not. So she was probably parked quite legally. As far as I'm concerned she should've politely suggested that you toddle off and play a game of hide and go fuck yourself.

FindoGask · 04/07/2014 20:41

"I may have silently thought it to myself, in a moment of mild annoyance"

Your pants are surely ablaze with the fire of a thousand suns.

PS, if you don't like a thread, it doesn't make it automatically "goady". Everyone gets annoyed when people are scathing about their demographic. I'm covered in tattoos, so you can imagine how much fun Mumsnet is for me, sometimes! But people have opinions and they like to talk about them. I very much doubt you're any different.

Pagwatch · 04/07/2014 20:43

We have a range rover and a mini.
Sometimes Im considerate and practical, other days I'm an entitled cow.
The good thing about the mini is I don't have to worry about my hair but I can't be rude to people. It's pros and cons really.

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 04/07/2014 20:44

Have you actually read any of the points above "TheOneWiththeNicestSmile", as if you have, I think you will see the points are clear. You were just angsty because the lady in question drove a car you didn't approve of, and had the appearance of someone of whom you didn't approve either. You haven't answered any of the other questions directed at you about how you would have handled the situation under other circumstances.

If you had posted your OP with simply "A car parked badly and I challenged them in such-and-such a way" I think you may have had a little more sympathy from some quarters. You made a huge point of the size of the car and how the driver looked. And then (from what you said in your OP) challenged the driver pretty confrontationally, instead of asking nicely. And this got some people puzzling (me, anyway)