To think I wasn’t in the wrong to challenge someone parking across park gates

[GinDaddy]

My first ever AIBU and would love commenters thoughts, tell me I’m wrong:

As per previous posts, I live in Surrey, and yesterday drove my daughter and I to a different park than usual. We parked up a few cars length down from the entrance, on a legal stretch of parking, no issues here.

Walk across the road to the park gates and tried to walk into the park....but couldn’t, because a big white [vehicle made by Land Rover] is parked across the gates itself, leaving a very narrow sliver by some bushes where you could walk around the back of the car into the road, then dart in alongside a bush.

I stood looking at the car and smiling, while trying to initially work out this route. The two ladies inside the car then frowned at me and the driver wound down the window:

“Um, we’re really cold today and we want to watch our children play, so you’ll just have to walk around the car”.

“... into the road and through a bush” I replied, but by this time she’d quickly wound her window up and resumed chatting with her friend.

I tried to continue talking and she looked over and saw this but shook her head and gestured, and then carried on talking.

I’m a motorist who appreciates that we sometimes have small grey areas open to interpretation on the road, but AIBU to think this is just selfish? The actual pathway to the park gate was blocked - there admittedly was a small area of a person’s width in size which my daughter and I squeezed through, but potentially anyone of a slightly different build would have struggled.

Additionally - should I have confronted or questioned this more? I was left with few options tbh - I tried to politely reply and actually address it, but when someone winds their window up and passively agreessively blocks your conversation... I stood well back from the car and smiled throughout the 10 seconds I was granted an audience, as I’m well aware entitled folk like this would use any excuse to blame a 6’2” male for being “confrontational”.

I’m really frustrated here as I feel it goes against the entire principle of municipal areas, when someone plonks their car across the whole entrance and says “walk round me, endanger your kid, because I want to be warm”.

That’s hilariously rude and they knew it. Of course it’s not safe or ok but they didn’t care.

YANBU but this sort of selfish twattishness really gets my goat. I have no answers unfortunately but this sort of entitlement seems to be becoming the norm.

YANBU. They are being totally cheeky, effectively saying that their comfort is more important than other people being easily able to access the park.

Here is a picture of the park gates - the car was parked fully across the drive strip, but right up to the gates and positioned to the left, thereby meaning you had to walk out into the road and over the bushes to get to the path and the gates

Every time I see this sort of behaviour locally, I photograph the vehicle and send by email to the parking enforcement agency.
The behaviour of three people is at best entitled, and at worst, dangerous.
What if an emergency vehicle needed to attend?
What if a person with mobility issues/wheelchair-reliant wanted to get in?
Selfish bastards.

This sounds like something that would happen in a comedy show lol. No, YANBU, they were being rude and, frankly, very weird.

Are you sure you didn't interrupt a covert operation??

Would it have been possible to lift your DD onto their car bonnet and slide yourself across it? I love it when CFs are left dumbfounded by people refusing to be put out by their actions

So could a pushchair or a prom get past?

Common problem with vehicles parking across pathways I'm afraid. Based on how you've described it, it would be, say, impossible to get a pushchair through and I guess there is a reasonable chance that people with pushchairs might like to use the park.

There is a path near our local school which is heavily used as the safe walking route into school. 9 Times out of 10 a vehicle is parked across it so that young children have to walk across the car park to get into school. School continually ask people not to, but they pay no heed. Unfortunately if people are selfish enough to park there in the first place , they are likely to be to entitled to move.

You were quite restrained not to have scratched it with the buggy as you pushed passed.

Ugh awful entitled monsters. You should have taken photos of the car, registration, them and told them you were sending them to the council and to expect a fine. Don't know if the council would have actually done anything but it would be worth it just to stand up to them a bit. Also, white 4wd...why? If you need a 4wd you don't need a white car you'd be cleaning it constantly. Flashy arsehats.

Very sweet and amicable of you to just oblige them. I would have tapped on her window and stared into her car until she responded or the ranger arrived.

I would have taken a picture of the parked car before squeezing past, ensuring I banged their car as much as possible in the process... Would have been a shame if your keys were hanging out of your pocket as you squeezed past

They were taking a risk their car got scratched . . .Next time maybe lead with 'I'm worried we'll scratch your car as we try to squeeze into the park'

Oh Dear OP unfortunately you came across certain entitled twats of the highest order, displaying their twattish entitled behaviour to the max - the only person in their entitled eyes who would be in the wrong is you for disrupting some of their twattish time. Have I mentioned entitled and twat enough?

There are 3 other entrances to that park. Ok it was rude, but it's not a long walk to another gate.

But agree it’s always easy to say these things in hindsight. I never really considered that as a male you have to be restrained for fear of intimidating. I think there will be opportunities to teach your daughter to make a stand but equally important to learn that sometimes it’s not worth ruining your weekend over. My husband is a good one for ignoring arrogance and I think there is a dignity in not being the lazy rangerover driver that does that blocks off parents and children.

My go to in the face of this rudeness is to exaggeratedly scratch up against their car with the sharpest bit of my bag (or keys!) while I try to squeeze past.

I would have tapped on her window and stared into her car until she responded or the ranger arrived. - the what? the Ranger? Are you in Yellowstone?

The fact that there are 3 other entrances to the park is irrelevant. If people can't get in, or out, (esp with kids) it is a danger. I would def have started to take photos (I have done this with badly parked cars/vans) and make out like I'm on the phone. They think it's the Police and move.

Or I've been known to drag the pushchair past a car parked nice and safe on the pavement, taking a wing mirror with me in the attempt to keep my child safe.

That gate doesn’t look like it’s used much, there’s grass the other side and it’s closed. Doesn’t make it ok but is it an unusual entrance?

Really weird of them totally wrong and selfish, I wish I had a pram so I could unfortunately scrape their car on my way passed

Or bash their wing mirror accidentally on purpose

Next time you see them, photos of the car, then lift child onto bonnet to walk over, squeeze pram past making sure you get the paintwork.

I would, I am sure, have found it impossible to get by without scratching their car.