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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Leaving someone stranded at 1am at night

449 replies

dranaksjd · 30/08/2016 15:32

Honest opinions wanted here.

Here's the scenario. My friend (she's 26) foudn herself having to return home much later than she expected. This meant she had to get the last train home from Birmingham city centre.

There was a mix up on the departure board which meant she got on the wrong train and ended up in a tiny train station in a village quite far from any major city.

She was clearly distressed as she got off the train and a couple overheard her conversation to her friend. She explain she had only £10
On her, no bank card on her and no idea where she was and no charge on her phone to call anyone to see if they could pick her up.

The couple said they would take her to the main train station in the nearest city which was 10 minutes drive away.

So she got in the car. They dropped her off at that train station at 1am.

She then found a pub willing to let her charge her phone and then when the pub closed she returned to the train station at 2 am. It was at 4am before she realised she could do an emergency transaction using her natwest online banking app.
She comes across as someone who would be comfortably well off so I'm guessing the couple thought she had money but she had explained she did not have her card on her.

She then paid a lot of money for a taxi home.

Now obviously it was nice of the couple to give her a lift the the main train station, but it didn't actually help her much. And they left her at 1am with no cash on her, outside a train station which was boarded up and closed.

That doesn't sit well with me and isn't something I would do. Or am I being unreasonable? Obviously it was unwise of her to travel back at that time but she was not expecting that morning when she left the house to be travelling at that time.

Honest opinions wanted here. And I'm genuinely not the person this post is about.

Just genuinely interested in what others opinion is.

OP posts:
BadLad · 31/08/2016 01:20

What a crock of ...

Pudding?

EttaJ · 31/08/2016 01:21

badlad ha yes. Spotted (the) Dick in fact.

ephemeralfairy · 31/08/2016 02:13

That's a placemat that is [niche joke]

Leaving someone stranded at 1am at night
KoalaDownUnder · 31/08/2016 02:39

this is the imaginary 1am service to FuckWitVille calling at NicePeopleTown, Trumpton, Narnia and Smallville. NicePeopleTown is your next stop?

Just when you think you're sick of mumsnet...GrinGrinGrin

BoomBoomsCousin · 31/08/2016 05:08

If she was really drunk I would not have left her at a train station, because that is pretty vulnerable. I'd have taken her to the closest open police station. But if she was just a sober, regular seeming 26 year old I would probably just have offered her the use of my phone to finish the call to her friend who could arrange her rescue. If I was kind enough to drive her to a station in a larger town I would expect her to speak up if she needed something else. I wouldn't be offering all sorts of things when I didn't know what her resources were. I don't think a 26 year old woman is particularly vulnerable out at night, it will just be uncomfortable and inconvenient.

As it was they didn't even leave her stranded. She was just too ditzy to think of her banking app until many hours later.

MiscellaneousAssortment · 31/08/2016 06:10

What kind of puddling?

Blancmange? Summer pudding?
Spotted dick? Or a fool?

Grin
MidnightVelvettheSixth · 31/08/2016 07:12

Something dense!

AbyssinianBanana · 31/08/2016 07:20

Not to spoil things but why does everyone assume she was carrying a charger and that's a plot hole?! She obviously borrowed one off someone at the pub, otherwise she would've plugged it in at bigcity station. And these days, most people have them fancy portable doohickeys that have enough charge in them for 2-3 phones. Mine comes with a little cable that is compatible with 3 different plug types.

miserablesod · 31/08/2016 07:28

I did similar when i was 18, got on the last train which happened to be the wrong train to a diserted station out in the sticks somewhere. I then waited for a few hours on a deserted platform for the first train back. Chalked it up to experience and took more notice of what i was doing in future and never got the last train again just incase.

FrancisCrawford · 31/08/2016 07:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BoomBoomsCousin · 31/08/2016 07:44

Francis - could you post a link to where you've read that the police will provide a free taxi service. Since no one on this thread has said that I presume you've seen it on some official site?

Noodlesg · 31/08/2016 07:52

Just asked my husband who is a police officer, he's wiping tears of laughter from his eyes as we speak.

BadLad · 31/08/2016 07:56

Francis is taking the piss out of this post

FFS my 16 year old step daughter would know that in a situation like this the police have a duty of care to you as a vulnerable person. Give them a ring (free call) and they will see you safely home. End of drama.

DesolateWaist · 31/08/2016 07:58

I think there were comments to say that you could sit in the foyer of a police station until morning but nothing to say that they will run you home and doff their caps while they do so.

BoomBoomsCousin · 31/08/2016 08:07

A 16 year old might be considered a bit more vulnerable, but still I would read "see you safely home" as "call your parents to come pick you up from the police station" not "give you a free ride to your door"!

purpleshortcake · 31/08/2016 08:45

OP if the correct last train home had been cancelled then actually she would have been in a pickle anyway with no way of getting home from the main station. If anyone finds themselves in this scenario again (eg if a train is late and a connection is missed) then definitely worth talking to the platform guard. I recently missed a connection due to a cancelled train and approached the platform guy to advise on best way to get to my destination as I was going to miss the start of a meeting.

He immediately booked a taxi for me to take me straight to my destination. The fare was £25 and was paid for by the train company. It was the middle of the day and I could have paid the fare myself so was pleasantly surprised.

FrancisCrawford · 31/08/2016 08:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TallulahTheTiger · 31/08/2016 09:43

I've been told the Guards have this duty of care in NI- although this was by a drunken uni housemate who was trying to clamber into a police car while mumbling this..Confused

Munstermonchgirl · 31/08/2016 09:46

Can fruit cake be classified as a pudding?

Coconutty · 31/08/2016 09:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FrancisCrawford · 31/08/2016 10:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

littleprincesssara · 31/08/2016 10:06

I had Eton Mess for the first time the other day, so Eton Mess for pudding?

Spaghettidog · 31/08/2016 10:08

last time I looked, the Gardai were Irish. While they work with PSNI on things like cross border raids, I don't think giving lifts home to people in Northern Ireland is part of their jurisdiction

Grin Perhaps Brexit will mean that the Gardai now have to take on lifts for drunk/disorganised stranded people in the entire island....

FrancisCrawford · 31/08/2016 10:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FrancisCrawford · 31/08/2016 10:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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