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.

Omg yes! I was so annoyed when I saw this earlier on. The dad is an entitled prick and I felt sorry for the little girl

Posting it on FB too.

I was about to say yabu, they should have moved but actually you’re right

I wouldn’t have heard them either (I’m deaf) and after watching the video, they clearly couldn’t have gone anywhere

I would have told my dc to stop, get off the bike and wait

The couple reacted poorly, but I agree, the parent is at fault here. Cyclists of any age need to be taught that they don’t have the right to pass on your bicycle. Sometimes you have to stop, maybe even get off the bike, and pass slower path users as a pedestrian.

That post came up on my FB newsfeed this morning too. I looked at it, rolled my eyes, and scrolled on.

The girls father was in the wrong here IMO

I also agree that she clearly shouldn't have been cycling down that path when she wasn't more bike confident and thus able to stop.

If it was my dd who had crashed into the couple like that, I'd be apologising profusely, not arguing that she'd said excuse me. The couple are clearly unpleasant pieces of work, but the dad arguing that they should have moved isn't covering himself in glory either IMHO.

God I am so glad you said this! I’ve been thinking exactly the same thing as you. Seen so many people share it outraged at the couple, but the dad was just as wrong

No they should have moved out of the way! Ignorant c*s! They clearly aren't disabled or hard of hearing!

YY @stuckindoors77 I've spent lockdown teaching my DD to ride without stabilisers and we've only just now started going on country/woodland paths. I wanted her to be ready and able and aware of safety because they can be pretty treacherous paths!

So glad the dog was ok.

Instead of ineffectually shouting excuse me which I don't think they really heard? He should have put his phone down and grabbed his daughters bike and they should have waited until they could cycle past safely or pushed the bike past people.

I wouldn't take my child cycling on such a narrow path if they are not in control of their brakes and especially not during this time.

Where were they supposed to go? I don't think walkers should be expected to jump into a hedge to keep 2 m away from a child who should have stopped when they didn't move not barge into them. Entitled parenting.

I'm hearing impaired - I might not have heard her behind me. There's certainly nowhere to move to.

Why didn't parent ask the child to stop? The abusive man is also a dick but the filming man created the whole fiasco.

No they should have moved out of the way! Ignorant cs! They clearly aren't disabled or hard of hearing

But where to exactly?! Where could they move which would ensure they were 2m apart from the dad and little girl?

I also don’t like Facebook vigilantism but it’s hard to be sympathetic to the couple in that scenario. That poor kid was clearly frightened and said excuse me many times.

I didn't hear her say "Excuse me" once. He father said it twice, but that's no reason for the child to try to barge her way through.

@Ilovechinese If you're concentrating on a conversation with someone you may not be aware of what's going on behind you. You don't know if they're hard of hearing anyway. They have as much right to use the path as the child, it's not like they were taking up more than their fair share of space, and had nowhere to go!

No they should have moved out of the way! Ignorant c*s!

Why should they have moved? Because child and her dad couldn't be patient and wait for a larger space to safely pass. And where the heck do you expect them to go on such a narrow path, into a bush?

Dad should have asked her to stop or facilitated her stopping rather than filming her crash into the couple but the couple were massive bellends for not stopping. They clearly weren’t hard of hearing, they were just ignorant pricks.

Neither the father nor the daughter should have assumed the couple heard them: for all they knew, they were deaf.

I walk along a path similar to that one. There are lots of people, kids shouting dogs barking etc. If the couple were having a conversation they would probably not have noticed someone shouting.
The dad should put his phone away and interact with his daughter and stopped her barging through.

Bloody idiot, poor child.

I had similar last week, walking the dog. I didn't get out of the way when shouted at partly because there was nowhere other than into a lake to go and partly because that path is specifically not for cyclists. Bloody great signs saying so at every entrance.

The dad shouted that there was nowhere else to teach his small kids to ride their bikes... around an open lake, alongside many quiet dead end roads, during lockdown!!!

I think sometimes people anticipate resistance if unfair treatment and react to something that hasn't actually happened!

Yanbu, the dad is being an arsehole. What if the couple were deaf? Good friends of mine are and have run into similar problems with similar thickos.

It's not the kids fault, she's only a little girl. Yerman should teach his child how to cycle properly in a safe place. A narrow lane like that is not safe. If she can't use brakes she doesn't cycle.

I’m relieved to all this post because I thought exactly the same thing! I was wondering why he wasn’t helping his little girl slow down, she obviously couldn’t figure out how to stop. Instead he just let her cycle into the couple and fall over!

I hear the dad say 'excuse me' twice. Don't see the couple look round so they may not have realised the little girl was there. Either way, saying 'excuse me' doesn't mean everyone has to leap out of your way. Especially, as PPs have pointed out, when you've got nowhere to go. The Dad should have told her to stop. She just cycles into the back of both of them. And if she's that unconfident on her bike then places with lots of space might have been better to take her. Similarly no need for the other bloke to get sweary or kick her bike. A prime example of everyone being wound up too tight at the moment. Nobody comes out smelling of roses.