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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say people are totally over reacting about the fuel issue

439 replies

TikTokNutcases · 27/09/2021 22:54

People adamant they can't go to work, so get a train.

Ride a bicycle.

Use the bus.

Talk of closing schools for god sake, whatever next.

It's ridiculous that people rely so heavily on the use of their car that life appears to stop still when they can't drive it.

You don't see this type of hysteria among non drivers, ever.

I don't drive and never have. I've never flapped like this about not being able to go to the supermarket, work etc.

OP posts:
bg21 · 27/09/2021 22:55

private carers can't use public transport !!

Original poster
TikTokNutcases · 27/09/2021 22:56

@bg21

private carers can't use public transport !!
Why not?
OP posts:
APurpleSquirrel · 27/09/2021 22:56

You clearly live in a part of the country where public transport is an option - in many places it isn't.

Lessofallthisunpleasantness · 27/09/2021 22:57

It will all be fine.

UmbilicusProfundus · 27/09/2021 22:58

People have different lives to you, funnily enough. You are a non driver as it suits your lifestyle, or you have adjusted your lifestyle to fit the fact you can’t drive. It’s not that simple to do overnight for a lot of people.

nancy75 · 27/09/2021 22:58

Try getting to work on a bus carrying a scaffolding tower & 35 tins of paint. Be sure to get back to us & let us know how it went.

MissTrip82 · 27/09/2021 22:59

You don’t see this type of hysteria among non-drivers……

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Thread after thread after thread about non-drivers demanding lifts because they can’t move around independently. Thread after thread after thread by non-drivers too anxious to drive on a road.

It’s awesome though that your food and other supplies reach you solely via non-drivers! That’s amazing! Your supermarkets gets its supplies from cyclists alone? Wow.

Great to hear that your ambulance service is also run by non-drivers! Must be so reassuring when you finally hear the bell on your paramedic’s bike whilst you’re grappling with your central crushing chest pain.

chinateapot · 27/09/2021 22:59

I live 8 miles from the nearest train station. Which has one train an hour. And is five miles in the opposite direction from school.
There is a bus route past our house. It goes every 90 minutes.

Once I get to work I’m a GP and usually do two home visits a day. Our patch is 10 miles wide. If I do that by public transport / bike / walking I’d do nothing else that day.

I think you live somewhere very different to me!

NotMyCat · 27/09/2021 23:00

@TikTokNutcases isn't that obvious!? They travel often vast distances with virtually no travel time. I would often do 50 miles as a home carer and be expected to do a 20 min journey in 10 minutes
You run late enough using a car let alone public transport, most of which doesn't go to the houses we covered
Not everywhere has a great transport system, and some people are very rural

Fairyliz · 27/09/2021 23:00

I love the use a train bit of your post.
You do know not everyone lives/works in cities don’t you?
There is this strange green place in the far yonder called the countryside with no trains or indeed buses.

dryasaboner · 27/09/2021 23:00

What a foolish post

Original poster
TikTokNutcases · 27/09/2021 23:00

@UmbilicusProfundus

People have different lives to you, funnily enough. You are a non driver as it suits your lifestyle, or you have adjusted your lifestyle to fit the fact you can’t drive. It’s not that simple to do overnight for a lot of people.
People are carrying on like we're entering an apocalypse. People have survived much worse than not having the use of a car for a few days.
OP posts:
AramintaLee · 27/09/2021 23:01

I think it depends on the situation. It would take me 1.5 hours to walk to work one way. There isn't a direct bus so I'd have to get 3 buses to get there and I've been avoiding public transport since the pandemic. I suppose I could ride a bike only 1/ I don't have one and 2/ I don't feel confident enough on a bike to navigate the busy roads.

Fortunately I'm WFH so it's all good and I have 1/4 tank of petrol (I haven't filled my car up in 2 weeks) but I can appreciate for some people, it's just not possible to go to work without a car.

All this should die down in the next couple of days anyway (hopefully) and we can go back to panicking about lack of loo roll and cat food.

Original poster
TikTokNutcases · 27/09/2021 23:01

@dryasaboner

What a foolish post
I thought exactly the same about the multiple posts from people panicking!
OP posts:
Anordinarymum · 27/09/2021 23:02

My partner works a distance away. He has enough petrol for the outgoing journey only. If he had to rely on public transport he would not get home until 9pm from a 5pm finish, and it would be very expensive. Alternatively I could pick him up and then run out of petrol before we got home.

i am sure it will all work out but nobody's life is the same and people should not make sweeping statements just because it won't affect them personally

Original poster
TikTokNutcases · 27/09/2021 23:03

@Fairyliz

I love the use a train bit of your post. You do know not everyone lives/works in cities don’t you? There is this strange green place in the far yonder called the countryside with no trains or indeed buses.
I lived in rural Lincolnshire for 23 years, there were train stations dotted about.

Where do all of these super rural people live? The arse end of where?

OP posts:
Ichangemynameagain · 27/09/2021 23:03

Aye, but how does the food you eat get from the source to you? Horse and cart?

PheasantsNest · 27/09/2021 23:03

@TikTokNutcases if only public transport in areas outside London were any use. I live in a big city and the public transport is awful. Our buses are every 30 minutes during the day and every hour early morning and late evening.

IvorHughJarrs · 27/09/2021 23:03

I live in an area that a lot of people retire too. I swear they have all filled up their cars just in case!
We don't have a fuel crisis, we have an idiot crisis

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 27/09/2021 23:04

2 of the major bus companies in my city, have announced reduced service due to driver and fuel shortages as well as gridlock on the routes meaning they can't service all stops within the time they have. The routes affected are the hospital hopper which visits all the major hospitals in the city so affecting NHS staff and patients and the routes around the ring road that service all the industrial parks and supermarkets.

So public transport isn't a great option at the moment.

Mischance · 27/09/2021 23:04

A slightly smug post I feel.

My nearest GP is 35 minutes away by car - no public transport.
My nearest town is 10 miles away - no public transport.
My nearest railway station is 40 minutes away - no public transport to get there.
A bus comes to the village once a week.

Lindy2 · 27/09/2021 23:05

I can manage fairly well without a car. I work from home. 1 DC's school is an easy walk. The other DC can get the bus. I enjoy walking and riding my bike. I only need my car for relatively short journeys for things like collecting heavy shopping etc.

DH however is a key worker based in a prison that is situated in the back end of nowhere with not even a sniff of a nearby bus or train. He needs a car to be able to get there and do his job.

CiaoForNiao · 27/09/2021 23:06

TikTokNutcases

bg21

private carers can't use public transport !!

Why not?

Because they are quite often expected to get from one side of town to the other I approx 23 seconds. Despite all the home care agencies near me adverting as "car not required" they all then made it very clear when I applied for a job that I needed to be able to drive.

The last care home I worked in was a 25min walk from the nearest bus stop. The last bus was 12 mins after shift ended. After a 15 hour shift i did not have the energy to run so had to hope I could get a lift. Even if it was only to the bus stop.

I do think some people rely on their car far too much. But public transport isn't always the answer

RubyJam · 27/09/2021 23:06

Do you have three children ? That require to be dropped off to different educational establishments before you have to rush to work ? In a different town ? To pay the bills ?
FFS

Only on here are the self righteous cyclists that can fit 4 on a bike by Magic

That’s not normal life

Selkiesarereal · 27/09/2021 23:06

Islanders Op? Not thought about them? Rural Lincolnshire doesn’t compare at all!