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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Asking directions....it's miles away ( except it's not.)

20 replies

malificent7 · 27/06/2019 12:44

Asked someone where to find reception today....he offered to drive me there as ' it is miles away! ' except it is just round the corner. No wonder we have an obesity crisis if people think everything is ' miles away! '

OP posts:

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime · 27/06/2019 15:04

Someone once said that if we parked as far from the supermarket as we could instead of trying to get as close to it as we could (not with small children obvs), and walked across the carpark to the entrance and back with the trolley full of shopping, and then took the trolley back to the entrance and went back to the car, we'd be getting more exercise in a day than some people take in a week.

S1naidSucks · 27/06/2019 15:07

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime, you’d actually get in and out of the shop and car park quicker too, as you wouldn’t be wasting time looking for a space closer to the door.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 27/06/2019 15:08

I heard that too Asking and it made me wonder. I always have parked as far form the doors as possible. That really isn't a long way! And I say that as a person who limps and has a permanently gammy/painful hip/leg and back.

Oneminuteandthenallgone · 27/06/2019 15:09

Is this the obligatory smug thread of the day?

No AIBU? Just quick mutual gloat about how fit and great you all are?

Didntwanttochangemyname · 27/06/2019 15:09

Are these the same people who think 10k steps a day is 'impossible'? I really wonder who these people are, even with an office job, throw in a lunch time walk and you can do it no bother. I'm with you OP!

Piffle11 · 27/06/2019 15:10

Went to our local hospital for an appointment: woman on the reception said that it was 'a bit of a trek' to the dept I wanted. She suggested I got back in my car and drove around to the other entrance, as the dept I needed was next door. I said as I was early I'd walk it … yes it was a bit 'up here round there' along the corridors, but it took me 4 minutes. It would have taken me longer to get back to the car and drive round.

needsomesleepy · 27/06/2019 15:10

Perception maybe?

I think things are far away, but DH can't walk far so I'm always thinking in his ability rather than actual distance.

HalfDeadHousePlant · 27/06/2019 15:11

Gosh - if it really is 'just round the corner' how on earth did you not know that?
Obesity crisis? I'm not getting the connection unless this is yet another attempt to start the fat-bashing?

S1naidSucks · 27/06/2019 15:11

No AIBU? Just quick mutual gloat about how fit and great you all are?

Nope. I’m a fat fuck, but I’d be fatter if I didn’t walk. 🤷‍♀️

notatwork · 27/06/2019 15:17

I fid that asking directions in London always gets me sent to the tube for a couple of stops, when above ground it's sometimes only minutes to walk.
I just wander around with a street map like a tourist now, rather than going down into the tube.
I think that people mean well but answer based on their interpretation ('if I was going to X from my house i'd get the tube as it's 3 miles') rather from where you actually ask the question.

michaelbaubles · 27/06/2019 15:19

I don't think "a quick lunch time walk" makes 10k steps easy to do! I've walked into town and back twice in a day and not even hit 10k steps, I've been on longish (well, long with small DC) countryside walks and not hit it - I think it's quite hard to get to if you have kids in tow and can't charge along.

runoutofnamechanges · 27/06/2019 16:01

I fid that asking directions in London always gets me sent to the tube for a couple of stops, when above ground it's sometimes only minutes to walk.

Unless you're a black cab driver most Londoners aren't walking A to Z's. All well and good if you ask me for directions in my neighbourhood but if you stop me outside the Royal Courts of Justice and ask me how to get to the Old Bailey, even though I know it's nearby, I don't know the route because I've never done it. I have been to both and know the nearest tube stations though so I can get you there that way. The chances of finding a local in Central London who knows the area well enough to give walking directions are pretty slim.

A DF worked in Oxford Circus for 5 years before he realised that Leicester Square was 5 minutes walk away. He'd been there plenty of times before but only on weekends so he had no idea where is was in relation to his office.

notatwork · 27/06/2019 16:11

Exactly so Runout. It isn't people trying to lead me astray, they are just trying to help but have a disorted 'tubemap' view in their head.

Kings Cross to Wellcome Collection or Harley Street for example: they're both straight up Euston Road but in years gone by I've been all over the network to get to Regents park station!

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 27/06/2019 16:17

I park as far away from the supermarket entrance as possible. Apart from anything else, it’s usually quieter. I get irritated by people driving sloooowly, gazing up the aisle to see where the nearest space is.

Do people really have so little exercise in general? Apart from those who aren’t able to of course. I’ve done three classes this morning.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 27/06/2019 16:19

No AIBU? Just quick mutual gloat about how fit and great you all are And I am a fat waddling duck. I'd be fatter, but far less likely to waddle, if I didn't walk.

DH is also a fat waddling drake, Fucked knees and ankles. But he walks too...

But neither of us has any idea how far apart things are on street level in London. The only drawback of relying on the tube - tourists that we are

Nottobesoldseparately · 27/06/2019 16:21

I had the same recently in Whitby. Was led to believe the 2 cottages we had booked were miles apart. And indeed looked to be on the map

The walk took less than 2 minutes with me in heels going uphill.

However, in the car (dropping off luggage and to park up) due to the one way streets etc took us about 15 minutes to navigate.

People forget that sometimes walking is quicker when they are used to being in the car.

Fatted · 27/06/2019 16:22

I do get annoyed by the supermarket ones who try to cram in to the smallest space possible just to be nearer the door. I prefer to park further away so my car doesn't get damaged by idiots bashing it with their doors.

I'd be worried if someone offered me a ride in their car instead of walking that they'd be trying to mug me!

bluebellation · 27/06/2019 16:25

Just back from a weekend in London and walked practically everywhere - Google maps is your friend! We did over 25000 steps both days. And the advantage is, you get to see all sorts of things you wouldn't see from the tube.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 27/06/2019 16:27

Shows what a rural duck I am. I don't think I've been to London since Google Maps was invented

Bloody hell! Looking at that date (2005) I was under estimating the time. I haven't been since THE LAST CENTURY!!!

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime · 27/06/2019 17:36

Oneminuteandthenallgone, for the record, I wasn't being smug about being fit and healthy, because I'm not. As in, my health is bad and as a result it is impossible for me to be fit. I was just amused by the idea of taking a car to go literally round a corner (presumably of the same building?) and went from there to "how much exercise would that person get in a day?" and something that I heard said about shopping expeditions.

If you can find me anywhere that I said I personally park at the far end of the supermarket car-park I will be very, very surprised. It might be a wistful ambition; it certainly wasn't a boast.

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