To not believe what I just heard.... parent/ child space one sorry!!!!

[Freddiesfling]

Was at my local Aldi lady earlier this week about to drive off when I heard raised voices.... I looked around to see a mother with a child of around 5/6 shouting at an elderly lady who had parked in a parent/ child space ( there were 3/4 other empty p&c spaces free)... the elderly lady calmly told her that she was awaiting a blue badge and all the disabled spaces were full... the mother than shouted " well that's not my fault" and stormed off... the elderly lady then with some difficulty started walking away....
I got out of my car and asked if she was ok.. she said she was but looked upset.. I asked if there was anything I could do/ help with and she said she was ok! I wished her well and went back to my car really shocked that a mother with a school aged child who had already parked on the parent/child spaces would go out of her way to be so vile...

I later heard from a friend that this mother posted what happened on Facebook ... including her shouting at an elderly lady and was practically applauded for it with a lot of likes and even a few comments like she should have scratched the ladies car... my friend reported the status but Facebook said it didn't violate their standards.

I cannot believe that another person could go out of their way to be so argumentative and lack such empathy.

What a vile woman. No need for such disgusting behaviour.

I agree with ops. You are definitely not being unreasonable. I have an 11 month old and literally just use them so I can get him in and out and buggy etc.
I would support them being anywhere in the car park as long as they had the space!
This woman is having an argument for arguments sake. Her poor dd.

I'm sorry but if it was a parent trying to park in a disabled space because there were no p&c spaces left someone would have something to say about it!

It is not about being conveniently located next to the shop it is about having enough space to be able to get out of the car without damaging the car next to you.

There are usually ten times more empty disabled spaces than there are p&c spaces.

If I was childless and with no blue badge yet I had a bad leg for example I would no way be cheeky enough to park in either space and try and justify it.

I recently saw an old couple park in a p&c space and put their blue badge out when there were 6 disable bays behind them that were closer to the store with dropped kerbs etc. I didn't say anything but I wish I was the type who would

Ehar would you have said? "you cant park there. Your spaces are over there". If he had a BB ge can park where he likes regardless of whether the spaces were full or not. Being disabled isn't always about how close you can be to the store (although that is extremely helpful and the point obviously). I do online shopping now but when I used to do my grocery shopping one disabled man pulled out of his space without looking properly and hit a pedestrian he didn't see (they were ok - just a knock). That man would never park in those spaces again. He always used to park in the row behind so he'd see everything more clearly and not have to reverse out. Maybe they was planning ahead and chose a space that was nearest to the trolley park to put back after? Depending how my disabilities affect me will depend on how I go about my day.

I'm going to go against the grain here: why didn't she park in the disabled space?

Because she hadn't yet got her BB.

Butternut p and c spaces and bb spaces are not comparable. You are one of those who doesn't grasp how hard it is to get a bb.

I really wish people wouldn't compare disabled spaces to P and C. Beyond both being in carparks they are not comparable.

One is a legal requirement. With legal restrictions on who can park in them.

The other is a nice gesture provided by places but they are not legally enforacable (and rightly so)

Ds is 7 and disabled. He uses a SN buggy/wheelchair - however because he isn't eligible for a blue badge I wouldn't dream of using a BB space. However I do and will continue to do so use p and c spaces with him. I would love to get a fine given the laws around disability discrimination and reasonable adjustment I don't think they would get very far!

I drive a tiny car (Nissan note) and have twin babies so need to be able to get a car seat or small baby out of either side of my car.
The town I live in has approximately 5 p&c spaces in the entire town and very tight parking..... you figure it out!

I've been known to grab an end spot when one is available and I park really far over in the space to give myself room.

I have, on occasion, called on strangers to help me by unloading the babies from the car while I'm parked in the middle of the road, asked the passer by to stand with the babies in their car seats while I finish parking into the space and then carry on sorting my stuff out once I'm in the parking bay (having to nab a passer by on my way out to watch the babies while I reverse my car half out of my parking bay when I'm done.

You work around these things.

An older person who can't walk can't find themselves a work around. The shouty woman was vile!!!

However I do wish that P&C parking was half at the back of car parks- those of us needing the space could park at the back and those needing the proximity to protect "runners" could hash it out with the lazy bods who simply use the spaces to avoid walking further than the length of themselves!

butternutsquash

Please don't try to compare p&c parking with disabled parking. They are not remotely comparable.

Why aren't people understanding it's illegal to park in a disabled space if you don't have a badge? It's not illegal to park in a parent & child space if you don't have a child with you. It's not that hard a concept to grasp.

The spaces aren't even comparable. When I was younger I don't think p&c spaces existed but my mum managed to take all 6 of us shopping with her.

This woman is just a bully. I bet if it'd been anyone who looked like they could handle themselves she wouldn't have said a word.

Absolutely what I thought. I once saw an elderly lady being screamed at by a young guy because she was taking a bit longer to park. He called her an old cunt repeatedly at the top of his voice. I saw red and told him he was disgusting and how would he feel if that was someone saying that to his nan. And to get in his car and fuck off. To my surprise he shut his dirty gob and did. Bullies I hate them

When I take my elderly mother shopping I park in P and C and dont give it a thought. We are P and C and she struggles to walk far. If someone wants to have a go, bring it on!

Away I honestly can't see how the space they chose to park in was better. They were literally next to each other except the disabled bays were closer to the store, closer to the trolleys (as they are immediately outside the front not down the side somewhere) with the exact same visibility. I think they are just saw the hatched markings and assumed it was a disabled bay.

Just because they have the right to park anywhere doesn't mean they should. If there had been no disabled bays I would of course expect the next best space for them to be a p&c. As it was I then had to circle round looking for an end space when they are had plenty of spaces specifically designed and set aside for their needs.

Why are people so hateful of p&c spaces? They are so useful for me but I can't wait until the kids are older and I don't need them. Agree if spaces were in general a bit bigger the need for them would go away. As it stands it's a PITA to get the children out anywhere else and I'm not driving a huge 4×4

Shouting at her is rude but tbh, parking in a p&c space without a child is also rude, unless you genuinely need the extra space to get a wheelchair out of a car, for example.
I think it's important that parents are able to get car seats in and out of cars and have somewhere safe to stand small children.

P&C spaces are so helpful when you have two young babies with you, the extra space and closeness to the shop makes life that little bit easier, yes I can manage in a normal space, but it's a struggle, so a bigger space is always the first option. Once they're older and able to get out of the car themselves, I wouldn't think of parking in p&c.

Also, their closeness to the store is important. When you're food shopping on your own and need to run into the store entrance to get a twin trolley, the fact that I can keep the car in my eye line is important to me.

Obviously other people with mobility issues etc should be able to use them too, but yesterday I saw a young couple park in one and then a middle aged man in a brand new Jaguar, who I assume picked the space so his precious car didn't get scratched

Peng, it's not 'illegal' on private land. It's a bit of a grey area as operators of off-street/privately owned car parks do not have to recognise the Blue Badge scheme. But many choose to do so to meet their obligations under the Equality Act. But if they do provide spaces, they are at risk of a claim under the Equality Act if they do not discourage abuse of the ‘disabled’ spaces ie private invoice charges as per their parking t&cs.

Oh god. The people who police parking spaces. They should buy safety jackets and take a clip board, it's totally deranged. So one of those nuggets having a go at an elderly lady comes as no surprise to me.

*Pengggwn

I think this is sad. Having to 'nab' strangers to watch your children is more than should be expected and in some circumstances could be a risk to your children (as well as being a little entitled). Decent parent and child parking isn't such a luxury, is it?*

It doesn't happen often, maybe twice in the 8.5 months they have been alive but I don't see how it's a risk to have my babies in my eye line for all of about 10 seconds while I pull my car forward, that's a bit dramatic.

Also I'm not sure how it's entitled either, it's a request, not a demand, and I would never ask someone who looked like they were in a rush. To be honest I think the couple times I've had to ask people it's tended to be ladies sauntering through the car park looking like they were in no hurry- in fact I had to ask at the doctors surgery about 4 weeks ago and it was (I presume) a mother and daughter and grandchild combo who were perfectly happy to help. I'm not talking about demanding someone give me 20 minutes of their time while I run and do a full Asda shop- round here people tend to be happy to help out (I have a lot of people opening doors for me or clearing signs out the way if pavements look a bit cluttered as they take pity on the twin pram and realise help may be appreciated).

In an ideal world perhaps P&C parking would be more readily available but it's not so I figure it out.

I wouldn't have had a go at her myself, but if I had had a small baby or been shopping shortly after giving birth - when I could barely walk - I would probably have pointed out that the supermarket reserves those spaces for parents with children. It's simple fact

So the fact the elderly lady also had a disability bad enough to qualify for a blue badge wouldn't have mattered to you?