To not want to be rushed out of a car park?

[MsMarvel]

Travel around for work, so regularly use public car parks to then work at client sites (hotels, bars etc) always arrive early so never have any issue getting spaces in busy car parks.

Because i work in a public area at a client site, when i get back to my car like to grab my lunch quickly and make some phonecalls before heading home (todays journey is a 2 hour drive home)

Im fed up of people trying to find spaces in car parks seeing me going into my car, amd sitting behind me waiting for me to leave! I normally end up feeling rushed and just leave, but today i decided to sit and eat the steak bake i bought on the way to the car. Woman sits behind me for like 5 mins, then goes past slowly peering into my car giving me proper evils. Should add, engine not on, so not sitting with idling engine.

Aibu to take some time before leaving a parking space??

I had no idea so many people wfc 😂

Perhaps OP was hounded away from Greggs as soon as the change had been given. Has nobody felt the imperceptible pressure from those behind in the queue for you to MOVE NOW!? I have, before the lid is even on my tea properly...

OP planned then to eat her steak bake in the car in peace, only to be harried to MOVE NOW! Again.

Poor OP. :(

Ok Thestrangestthing You do you.

I think if I wfc, I would want out to stretch my legs sometimes, I wouldn't want to sit there to eat my lunch or have my breaks aswell.

I think they do it purely to annoy you. It's all they think about.

And the car was parked. Theres no law to say you cant park and sit in the parked car.

This isn't about law, it's about manners and consideration.

Perhaps OP was hounded away from Greggs as soon as the change had been given. Has nobody felt the imperceptible pressure from those behind in the queue for you to MOVE NOW!? I have, before the lid is even on my tea properly...

Perhaps OP couldn't get a seat in greggs as there were so many people sitting digesting. Not digesting food though, just digesting 😂

I think they do it purely to annoy you. It's all they think about.

Nah, it's generally just that so many people dont think about anyone but themselves. Can't seem to engage the brain. This thread has proved that.

Is there such a thing as 'Gregg's' seating? It's all counter service where I go (services, usually)? I had no idea!

Onionface theres a greggs near me where theres barely room for more than one customer to stand at the counter, absolutely no seats. However its near enough for me to take my steak bake home.

I'd say sit in the passenger seat so they know you're not leaving or tell them you're be a while. BUT I don't think you should have to move. Someone upthread said you should drive away and find somewhere else to park up and eat? Why? If you could park elsewhere then you wouldn't be in a paid car park? Or perhaps they think you could go elsewhere and pay again to park just so someone else can get your space? Ridiculous. Same goes the suggestion of not going back to your car to eat. So you can freeze your arse off on a bench outside and your car can carry on using the space anyway? Again. Silly suggestion.

Just try and let the person know you're not leaving yet and if they insist you do? Find more work to do in the car and take your sweet damned time eating your lunch. Double the time you would have taken.

OK lottiegarbanzo, thanks for the permission. I'll keep being polite and offering people my seat when I'm finished eating, or moving from a parking space, even if I haven't eaten my steak bake yet, to let someone else park. I'll keep living my life in a way that might make other people's days a little less stressful or annoying.

I've never been in Greggs but really want a steak bake now.

I think if I wfc, I would want out to stretch my legs sometimes, I wouldn't want to sit there to eat my lunch or have my breaks aswell. Well, I'm selfish enough to park up, walk me and the dog, return to the car and feed both of us. And that's over and above making calls, answering emails, finishing reports etc.

I even park in specific spaces to grab good enough free WiFi to load reports and send them off to be transcribed.

That's because I am utterly, callously selfish, it seems.

If you could park elsewhere then you wouldn't be in a paid car park

It wasnt a paid car park so doesn't apply.

@thestrangestthing and then what will you do with your steak bake?
Wait until you've found somewhere else to park and eat it, possibly turfing some other kind soul with a steak bake out of their space in the process? Or eat it while you drive, and possibly cause an accident? Or just not eat it at all because you're just so selfless you're happy to not eat so that others can park in order to go and get their own food?

^Look. If you're driving round a car park that's almost full, looking for a space, who doesn't stop if they see someone getting in their car, in the hope that they're coming out?
What would we like them to do if they're not going to be moving off? We'd like them to indicate that. So the empathetic thing to do if we're the one getting in/sitting in our car? Act like we'd like others to. Just let them know the space isn't going to be available. Simple.

And if we're in a car park that's absolutely jampacked full, how do we feel when we're stressed and someone's sitting in their car eating their sandwich or putting their makeup on? Frustrated?
So yes, if the car park is full with a queue outside, it'd be thoughtful to move if you have the option to eat your sandwich or put your makeup on elsewhere.

It's just consideration, and behaving to others as we'd like them to behave to us. That was instilled to me as a child, and I find it really odd that other people don't see life that way.^

Agree with @SaraClara

That's because I am utterly, callously selfish, it seems.

Well if someone is waiting for the space that you have taken just to use free WiFi then, yes, it would seem so.

Do you wfc every day or do you have an office or somewhere else you can go? Do you also make your dog sit with you the whole time you are wfc?

and then what will you do with your steak bake?

Well I would either take it home (I wfh) or I would find somewhere else to park, where people weren't waiting for spaces 🤷‍♀️ not that difficult really.

Re hospital car parks - I know they’re often overcrowded and it can be stressful getting parked.

But surely I can’t be the only person to have had the sort of horrible hospital visit where you need to take a few private minutes to pull yourself together and calm down before you feel capable of driving home safely? And sometimes the only private place is the car because there’s usually people all over the place in hospitals.

I get it’s not ideal for people who want to park, but I really can’t believe it’s worse (both in terms of selfishness and safety) than trying to drive off when you’re too upset to drive safely.

Although, I wouldn't buy a steak bake anymore. They have really went down hill recently. Too fatty, not enough meat.
May have to start using a different type of food for this scenario for me to really be able to imagine myself living it.

This brings back find memories of the time when I was a teenager sitting in the car waiting for my sister and somoene demanded that I move the car because she wanted to park there. And wouldn't believe me when I said that I couldn't because I was only 16 and didn't know how to drive. She just wasn't taking no for an answer.

A classic case of people not being able to comprehend that other people's needs and experiences are different from theirs.