To think this is actually really entitled parenting?

[GlummyMcGlummerson]

Seen this post from several people this morning outraged at the walking couple

www.facebook.com/672995864/posts/10158029908925865/?d=n

Now I am in no way condoning the disgusting language of the man in question. But the dad showed such an entitled attitude. He didn't tell his DD to slow down even when she was on the heels of the couple. She could have hurt them if they'd been elderley or disabled, and you can't tell from behind. He didn't practice social distancing - even if the couple had moved they'd have been way less than 2m apart from them, unless they threw themselves into a bush. And when his DD fell off the bike, rather than comfort her he spent the time arguing with and blaming the couple while she cried on the floor.

I've taken my kids to paths like this during lockdown and have said if someone is walking ahead we have to walk behind them with the bikes until we can pass them safely or the paths get wider. This is while teaching them to cycle, and just because they have momentum it doesn't mean they shouldn't stop - surely that's part of learning to cycle, knowing when to judge the safety of themselves and others?

I suppose i also hate this trend of social media vigilantism whereby people want to share faces of those who've slighted them, usually with a huge amount of bias and very little context. And the general public seem to lap it up! I am hard of hearing and I hate cyclists coming up behind me when I walk as unless they bellow "excuse me" I simply will not hear them. I wouldn't be pleased if a child bashed into me and then I got yelled at by the parent for not having good hearing and eyes in the back of my head.

The better option was to wait until the reached the fork about 30 yards ahead, or say to his daughter, let's wait until we get a nice long stretch of path to ride on! no 'Off you go', knowing 15 yards ahead she'd meet an obstacle.

It really was all very foreseeable from the father.

99% of people slow up behind obstacles and then establish an amicable and polite way past. Then they get cracking on their bikes again. He chose the opposite way... and we saw the results.

Fine if they heard it lotus and I’m sure they’d have shifted.

But the onus is on the father to supervise his child.

If you smack into a car in front - no matter what they do - it is deemed to be your fault.

It is the same here. I don’t see why I should continually look behind me to check for someone racing up towards me on a bike. Most adults yell out. And if you don’t hear then they don’t bundle into you because you didn’t hear.

The people who have bundled into me have been kids who haven’t yelled, expected me to move/know they were there or haven’t been able to slow or stop in time.

It ruddy well hurts and I’m still sporting a bruise from a few weeks ago.

LMAO @ that name!

looking at you Doreen dear

I agree. If that was my son I would have said ‘x stop the bike please’

I mean honestly. The man was really OTT but the parent was a twat. He could see his daughter panicking and crying out so instead of going to help her he carried on filming?

And what was he gonna do? Run past the couple too? What about social distancing.

So entitled.

It's still doing the rounds. Seen someone else post it on Facebook now. Like the others, on the parent's side

It's still doing the rounds. Seen someone else post it on Facebook now. Like the others, on the parent's side

Yep - once something is posted online you are no longer in control of it! One link might be gone but plenty of people have downloaded the video.

vertical

Thank you - I think

Just made me laugh - I could just imagine someone saying it!

10/10 for the funniest thing I've read today.

I heard someone say it and stole it.

AwrightPlagiarist!!! take a fuckin' day off!

I'm still laughing. It's fab!

And it's so apt for a lot of the drama lately. The tension's driving folks nuts.

All 3 adults in the video were horrible people.

The father is an entitled git who should have stopped his daughter riding into 2 pedestrians who may not have heard him and even if they did, would not have been able to move aside and allow the child to pass while still observing social distance. He should then have apologised and comforted his daughter, not engaged in a row where he actually appears to believe they did something wrong by being a solid mass in his daughter's way.

The walkers are horrible people arguing with the awful father, ignoring the child and then kicking the bike.

None of them are nice people, let's face it.

Vertical 🤣😁🤣

I’m glad someone likes it as much as me!

If there's not a single spot on the whole path which allows a safer passing point, then you wait until the path ends, especially given the current situation

Erm I don't think so. If the path is narrow you have to accept that someone may pass you at less than 2m distance. Are you really saying that if I come up behind you I have to wait behind you until it ends?

What happens if someone comes the other way? Do both sets of people have to turn round and go back the way they came because they can't pass them?

Some people have a very strange idea of how the 2m "rule" works. It does not mean you can never pass someone at less than 2m, it just means that you get by asap and you don't spend longer than necessary closer than 2m. Some supermarket aisles aren't 2m wide, it's obvious that on occasion you will have to go closer than 2m (and I know you're going to say "no you've got to wait for half an hour while I check all the ingredients for allergies". Nope, I am wearing a face covering and I will walk past.

The only two to come out of that video with much praise are the little girl and the dog...

Never work with adults say the child and dog!

@VerticalHorizon, I agree, the father was in the wrong. Just merely pointing out that the couple could've moved aside briefly if they had wished to do so, I personally think they were being awkward.
I do hope they made sure their dog didn't wander off the official path, lest it caused its owners to stand in some undergrowth or maybe even walk in it.

Are you really saying that if I come up behind you I have to wait behind you until it ends?

If there was no safe passing point then yes I think you should wait, you're entitled to think the opposite. A bit of patience never killed anyone. It's unlikely to be the case though, as the majority of paths will have space to step to one side and allow others to pass.

This is irreverent to the actual situation though, as there's clearly a wider space just in front of them. Had the dad waited just a few moments more they would have been able to pass safely and the situation could have been avoided.

I was at a loss to understand why he had a cam on? She rode into the couple. What if they hadn't heard her. I've taught 2 of 3 kids to cycle and I've taught them to cycle with consideration of others.

Particularly at the moment you should wait! We’re meant to be keeping a distance. As soon as the father starts his grumbling you can see the woman pointing to a clearing just ahead as if to say they were going to step into there and let them pass safely.

@GrimmsFairytales
No path lasts forever. If there's not a single spot on the whole path which allows a safer passing point, then you wait until the path ends, especially given the current situation.

Really? You'd wait right at the end, for the person at the other end to pass? Even if it's a good few hundred metres? Can you see someone else approaching every time? What if someone comes up behind them or behind you?

I'm in no way agreeing with the father's actions, I think he was in the wrong and as others have said, should be teaching his daughter to wait but I don't believe the couple were innocent either. I think they heard and chose not to move. I've watched the video a few times now and can't make out what the man says in response to the father ( although I heard the swearing). Does he say "sorry, I didn't hear you shout"?
I live in a semi rural area with quite a few narrow pavements in my village. If some one was approaching, I'd have to step well into the road to make sure I could pass safely or they'd need to do the same. The alternative is to just cross over, obviously out in the countryside it's not as easy as that.

I think if two sensible couples found themselves approaching each other on a path in the current climate, I think there'd be a mutual moment of awkwardness and apologetic negotiation, accepting the need to breach the 2m spacing for a brief moment, and they'd get the job done.

Now in the case of walking behind someone, especially with a child, the father had a GREAT excuse to use the classic technique of talking loudly to the child and saying 'Don't stand too close to those lovely people' (in a loud but soft voice), which is a way of getting noticed and hoping they'll hear the polite words and negotiate your passage (stop smirking at the back).

All pretty simple, civilised and no mess.

Alternatively, he could have played 'Bat Out Of Hell' on his phone at full blast... and given his approach the appropriate soundtrack it deserved.

VerticalHorizon

Exactly. there's a big difference between people approaching each other, and people walking behind one another.

Regardless of who should have waited for who and if there was enough room to pass or not, this father didn't even attempt to stop his daughter cycling right into two people!

Surely this would be one of the first things that you teach a child - if there is an obstruction in your way, whether it be man, beast or vehicle, you don't cycle straight at it expecting it to move!

Everyone seemed to be on the dads side on this. I'd have been bloody mortified if my child had tried to ram herself through like that. There was absolutely no way they could have moved and kept more than an inch or 2 distance. The man in question did react badly but had a sincere apology been forthcoming then perhaps it would have been different

this father didn't even attempt to stop his daughter cycling right into two people!

Not only did he not stop her, he actually encouraged it. He said keep going when she slowed down / hesitated.