I left an note…

[Whiskytangofoxtrot12345]

Basically, I feel like a petty “Karen”.

Our local supermarket has a limited amount of toddler parking. They are always full, normally parked in with people that don’t have kids, have teenagers with them, etc.

I have 2 children under 2. I really struggle if I can’t get parked in those spaces (have to leave trolley behind car with child in while I get the other one out and it’s a busy car park, i leave and go back later).

Went today and there was one space left. Saw numerous people coming and going, childless. So I left a note on one of the cars explaining why these spaces are important to me and if they could please respect that.

You’re supposed to be fined for parking in them unwarranted but it’s not policed.

AIBU…I feel awful now and regret doing it.

I just don’t see why I should struggle because people are lazy and want to park as closely as possible to the entrance.

@Skyla2005

You had enough time on your hands to write the note so you would have managed fine parking a bit further away I'm sure

That's what I don't get. Why spend time writing notes. Just get in the shop, get out and get home when you have DC with you.

Glad people reacted to Karen and props to you for your response. It is hugely unreasonable for people to use the special spaces - used to find this when taking my mother around and finding people using the disabled spaces when they were not entitled.

I would have had sympathy, however if you are the awful kind of person that uses the derogatory term “Karen” then that says more about you than people parking badly.

@Doidontimmm

I would have had sympathy, however if you are the awful kind of person that uses the derogatory term “Karen” then that says more about you than people parking badly.

Read the thread! OP has been criticised by countless others and has apologised more than once. FFS. Climb down off your lofty moral perch and dehitch your bosom.

@Lemonlady22

I park in parent and child spaces if I go to my local Aldi because the disabled spaces are further away than they are...its ridiculous! (blue badge holder)

Yep. Me too. There’s 3 Blue Badge spaces, then about 15 Parent & Chid, then the remaining 6 or 7 Blue Badge spaces at my Aldi. I park in the P&C spaces fairly regularly, as it also means I can wheel the trolley along without having to bump up and down kerbs. The P&C spaces seem slightly wider too (and my disability means I need to get the car door completely wide open.) When people have been arseholes to me for it, I offer them use of my crutch/stick, and also have thought about offering to put them into the same level of pain I’m in. (But I don’t, because I’m not the same level of arsehole as them.) Until shops properly cater access for disabled people, I can’t get worked up about parent/child spaces. My limitations aren’t a lifestyle choice/voluntary. I would suggest that all spaces are made wider, then those other children, pets, or just temporary need for more space, would find it easier - and I’m sure those shops would be popular!

I once did the same but was a lot less polite. All I had was a napkin. On the outside I wrote “selfish arse” and on the inside “you really are a selfish arse aren’t you?”. Lone man on his own, parked in one of only three parent and child bays. Sometimes you just have to say it how it is 🤷🏻‍♀️

@HollaHolla I think this would absolutely be worth to raise with the shops . I would like to know why p&c spaces are actually more accessible than blue badges

To be honest, with two kids both in the trolley I would park further away where there's less cars, if you have preschoolers walking I would put them both into the car and tell one to climb across.

Oh and asda says kids up to 12 btw

[quote SchrodingersImmigrant]@HollaHolla I think this would absolutely be worth to raise with the shops . I would like to know why p&c spaces are actually more accessible than blue badges[/quote]
Thanks. I’ve tried to before, but it’s privately run - not by the shops there (Aldi/Iceland/Home Bargains). I have never managed to get a response, and have been fined for staying more than the 90 min limit, when I needed to visit all three stores; I’m a bit slow with my movements. The palaver to get the appeal heard was enough.....

Go to the shops. They hire these companies so I would tell them because it reflects poorly on them. At least they will respond. That's just ridiculous if they didn't wave the fine.

NewlyGranny

“It's not about how close those spaces are to the shop, though, is it? It's about the hatched areas between bays that let you open a car door widely enough to lift a baby or toddler in and strap them safely in their carseat, or to help a child with their seatbelt when they've graduated to a booster seat!”

Agree, although children too big for a trolley would need a safe pavement/walkway to to store

@Whatelsecouldibecalled

Boils my blood people using these spaces that don’t have kids. I have said on numerous occasions to people in a very worried tone….’excuse me..you seem to have left your child in the supermarket’. Then they look confused. Or dutifully embarrassed. If confused I go on to point out that perhaps they weren’t aware they were parked in a child and parent parking or did they knowingly deprive an actual parent with a child of the space?

But then. I’m an arsehole

Haha I tried that once and I got told to go fuck myself. Some people are just so unbelievably pleasant

Report to Customer Services. They will announce over the tannoy and shame them.

I don’t think there was anything wrong with leaving a note but as I have twins I am confused about why you have to leave one in the trolley and can’t put both in the car at the same time.

*I am very sorry you were inconvenienced and appreciate it is frustrating. However, it is not illegal to park in those spaces it is a courtesy. If you cant cope taking two children through a carp park, maybe you shouldn't have had kids...ducks for the flaylng.

@peeweemermaid *
Wow - you're nasty. Bad day?

Who the F cares if " people managed before" they had these spaces. 🏅People used to manage without a lot of stuff. So what? . My eldest is 26 and those spaces were there before he was a baby - so we're talking a time anyway.

What we're discussing is COURTESY. And these are courtesy spaces after all. And lots of posters who would be up on their high horses otherwise, over rudeness elsewhere in life, are giving it the big one about not managing your own kids or entitled or making a fuss or if you can write a note blah blah

Dear god if you haven't got got young kids don't park there. ( not talking to you, people with disabilities to take into consideration)
It's COURTESY ( and who the F cares if they are there to attract customers - HELLO SUPERMARKETS )

OP - you wrote the note - OWN IT.

@bongbigboobingbongbing I don’t care if others have already said it, I am entitled to post my opinion and hopefully OP will take heed, anyone can say sorry, let’s hope it hits home.

Ok then. Top marks for being morally superior to OP.

@Whiskytangofoxtrot12345

Wouldn’t they have a blue badge though?

You don't need to show a blue badge in a P&C space though. I've used them in the past without my badge

@WorraLiberty

YABU for using the shitty sexist term 'Karen'.

And also YABU to think the driver will give a shit that you can't park without using a P&C space.

This 👆👆👆

YANBU.

And yes I know it’s a nice to have and we aren’t entitled to them etc etc. But there have been occasions where I’ve gone to tesco in a bit of a hurry, I’m exhausted and my kids are crying about something or other, and if there is a p&c space available, it does make my day that bit easier.

@daytriptovulcan

Despicable misogynistic term! Leave "Karen " alone.

👆👆👆👆👆 this

@NotTodaySatanNotToday

OP has apologised over and over. catch up.

People only think about themselves OP 😕 it's infuriating