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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To have a word? (Parent and child parking).

325 replies

OptimisticIntrovert · 21/12/2018 13:15

I've just pulled into a parent and child space (with my baby who is sleeping so waiting for him to wake up before i go into the supermarket).

A woman pulled into the space next to me- no kids in the car- and went in to the shop. She's not back yet.

AIBU to accost her when she comes back and tell her that it's not fair?

Most answers wins!

OP posts:
TidyDancer · 21/12/2018 13:45

This comes up all the time on this site. The spaces are a marketing tactic, not a legal right and honestly if you confronted anyone over this you'd make yourself look a fool.

Santaispackinghissleigh · 21/12/2018 13:45

As I turned to park in a P&C space a man came via the no entry way and parked in it. I reminded him as he walked away dc - free, that he had driven the wrong way in and parked in a space designated for parents with dc. He smirked and asked was I going to fine him? Told him he was ignorant and immoral and hoped he had a shit Christmas!!
Would have preferred to have mowed him down tbh.
Confess I looked for him in store to give him a scowl but didn't... In future I intend to screen shot reg and report to customer service desk that the car alarm is going off - and watch them scurry back to their car! (hopefully!)

Ethel80 · 21/12/2018 13:46

@themoomoo you do need more space to be able to get a child in and out. Standard parking spaces are too narrow in some places for modern cars. I'd rather parents had wider spaces than bash my car trying to get their child in and out.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 21/12/2018 13:46

DH just had an argument with a woman at Asda. He had parked in a p+c space because all the blue badge spaces were full and he has a disability which means he cannot walk far. The woman called him all the names under the sun for not moving so she could have the space for herself and her teenage daughter - "they are p+c spaces and not disabled spaces" seemed to be the thrust of her argument. He tried to explain that he had a blue badge and needed to park near to the store, she went and got security to try to move him. Security (obviously) told her she was wrong and a teenager being with you isn't a good reason to have a p+c space anyway. I think they bring out the worst in people.

DoraDont · 21/12/2018 13:48

I've challenged several people using parent and child spaces when they don't have young children in the car. Actually, the last one did technically contain a child but he was at least fifteen and sitting in the front passenger seat and the dad was a cocky twat who really didn't give a fuck.

None of them have ever said, 'oh yeah, sorry about that, I made a mistake', so personally I wouldn't bother. It achieves very little.

Anotherdayanotherdollar · 21/12/2018 13:49

themoomoo

Yeah, you can do that. But if for some reason you already have the baby out of the car and in the carseat, you can't always fit the baby and seat back in and you also can't plonk a baby in a seat down in the middle of the car park to move your own car!

SilverApples · 21/12/2018 13:49

I know why the spaces are near the store, but I also think that parents should be supervising their children. Coping with traffic is a life skill too many children don’t have now.

Sparklingbrook · 21/12/2018 13:50

I have never challenged anyone in a car park, I think it's a risky thing to do. Not got time for it either.

People who use the spaces when they shouldn't aren't the type of people who will want an extended discussion on the error of their ways I would think.

feelliketomhanks · 21/12/2018 13:51

If you challenged me I'd like to think I'd say all sorts of things like get tae fuck.

More likely, I'd end up sitting in my car in tears and going home without my shopping and spend days and days worrying about how awful a person I was for using a space I needed because I couldn't walk.

today is a good day - on a bad pain day I am vulnerable and likely to go into an anxiety spiral if someone had a go at me.

ilovesooty · 21/12/2018 13:54

How nice that your child woke up so quickly and you didn't need to extend your use of the space any further.

SauvingnonBlanketyBlanc · 21/12/2018 13:54

I think the oldest the child can be is 12 for a p n c space

DioVelazquez · 21/12/2018 13:56

Where I live, P&C spaces don't exist, but everyone manages just fine getting in and out of cars in car parks. Seems like they create more angst than they're worth tbh.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 21/12/2018 13:57

None of your beeswax OP.

Original poster
OptimisticIntrovert · 21/12/2018 13:57

Wow this really was only a tongue-in-cheek sort of post. I am aware they're not a legal requirement, believe it or not. Anyway I did bow to the will of the majority and did not have a word with the lady ~who jogged past me on her way out of the shop~.

I was only lightheartedly tempted and unlikely to have actually caused a punch up with a stranger over it. Agree with pp who said people like her are unlikely to apologise.

Cheers MaxiBondi, it is a while since anyone's called me "this much of an idiot", it did give me a chuckle.

OP posts:
Original poster
OptimisticIntrovert · 21/12/2018 13:59

Handy, eh, @Ilovesooty ?
Almost as if I knew it might happen...

OP posts:
GreatDuckCookery6211 · 21/12/2018 13:59

Are you still shopping? Confused

WilburforceRaven · 21/12/2018 14:00

I'd laugh at you and drive off.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 21/12/2018 14:00

Grin well you know what they say, little amuses the innocent, and far less the fool.

Original poster
OptimisticIntrovert · 21/12/2018 14:00

No don't worry @greatduckcookery all finished now.

OP posts:
Original poster
OptimisticIntrovert · 21/12/2018 14:02

@ILoveMaxiBondi, must be such a fool that I don't even understand that...
It's a simple world in my head...

OP posts:
ethelfleda · 21/12/2018 14:05

Don’t be that person. It’s just a space ffs.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 21/12/2018 14:05
Grin
ethelfleda · 21/12/2018 14:13

I think they bring out the worst in people

Agreed. Territorial pissings.

FuzzyCustard · 21/12/2018 14:15

Yesterday I parked in a P&C Space and then did my shopping. My children are all grown up and gone.

However by DH has a blue badge and all the disabled spaces were full.

Can't get worked up about it.

MrMeSeeks · 21/12/2018 14:18

What a nice life it must be.
I some days manage to rush for the bus, on on others its painful to walk.
You have no idea about her.