AIBU- Fellow school mum drives every morning

[Mybumlooksbig]

So..hope this doesn't out me.
We live in a very small close knit area. All kids attend the same school, lots of us live on the same few streets.
Every morning and pick up we ALL walk the kids to school, bar the few who have to rush off to work etc (it's a 5-10 min walk)
One parent on my street... drives! Big 4x4, she has NEVER once walked her DS.
She doesn't work, no where to rush off to. She has no mobility issues etc neither does the child..
Why does this iritate me so much??

Yabu- live and let live
Yanbu- she should be walking

@Thethreecs

I live in Ireland where people drive everywhere, very few people opt for public transport, granted the public transport in the UK is way better than Ireland.

If you say you got a bus people will actually look at you for not driving, they will also ask outright why you haven't driven.

My ndn actually drives her child to the creche on the opposite side of our road. All my neighbours drive to the local shop at the end of the estate, it is a 5 minute walk max.

I try walk most places, yes driving is great to get somewhere faster but walking really gets me in a better frame of mind.

I went to an appointment yesterday with dd, she's in a wheelchair, we have paths, it's a half hour walk, it was sunny but a little chilly and dd loves being pushed along, she gets so excited, when we got there I was questioned by the therapist about having walked, asked why I didn't drive there, eye rolling because I didn't take the car, I felt like shit the whole appointment, I get this a lot with people, so now I don't even mention that I walk as people get so disgusted.

Really? I live in Ireland too and have never comes across people being disapproved of for choosing to walk anywhere, how odd :/ Agree our Public transport is pretty bad though

Lazy and entitled lm assuming like a lot of people. Ruining the environment as she does it. I guess the mystery of why more children are overweight is more clear -the obsession with driving children everywhere

I don't have an issue with the people who drive to school but I do wonder, as they are driving, why they can't leave early enough so they don't have to block driveways and park on the no parking areas that were put in place to allow kids to walk safely. Those I do judge :D

@BiggestJulie

Why not assume her motives were good, and she was trying to raise an important issue?

Because:

1. She specifically says this womans laziness annoys her and that is the only reason given for her annoyance; and
2. If she wanted to make a thread about car usage being an environmental problem, then she'd have done just that - rather than just bitching about someone she doesn't know who may or may not have a valid reason for driving.

I agree, absolutely, that car usage is an issue and that we all need to take whatever steps we can to improve environmental outcomes. But that is not the issue the OP was raising. She was just having a crack at one individual and participating in a thread full of bullshit ableism.

So thats why I won't give her the benefit of the doubt.

Vile comment. You're a disgrace.

Truth hurts. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@LivingDeadGirlUK

I don't have an issue with the people who drive to school but I do wonder, as they are driving, why they can't leave early enough so they don't have to block driveways and park on the no parking areas that were put in place to allow kids to walk safely. Those I do judge :D

Now I do agree with you, it is awful to see how some people park or just stop in a random place. There should always be consideration for the children walking and the surrounding houses.

When I had a vaginal prolapse, every single step I took, I could feel my uterus slipping further and further down. It was horrendous and I avoided walking as much as I could. It wasn't something I'd discuss with the school mums.

@edwinbear I'm sorry you went through that and certainly hope noone gave you any grief about driving.

Because otherwise she wouldn’t be able to show off her big fancy car

I drive

It’s literally a few streets away; perfectly walkable

But ds4 struggles to walk any sort of distance and has to wear great big fuck off orthotic boots. If I drive I can get him to walk from the car into school; if we walk he won’t get out of the buggy

So although in the long term we’ll walk, for now it’s better for him to have a bit of a walk than nothing at all/be in the buggy. But I know people look at me like a fat lazy fucker who puts her kids in unsuitable, heavy, clumpy footwear

You don’t know what the circumstances are. Yabvu

*ds2 age 4

And @BiggestJulie, while we're discussing the importance of giving people the benefit if the doubt - why can we not give the car driving woman in the OP the benefit of the doubt? We are told this is a small village where, according to the OP, everyone bar a very few walk their children to school (the OP says we ALL walk - her emphasis). Given that about 1 in 5 in the UK have a disability, and many more have invisible health conditions, and apparently at the OP's school NO-ONE else drives except workers, I'd have thought it's actually reasonably likely that the driver could have a health condition which is not visible (as do I and many others on this thread).

[quote Mincingfuckdragon]**@orinocosfavoritecake

And I am wondering how many of the responses defending her are from others who deep down know they shouldn’t be hogging the road in their range rovers.

That's an interesting conclusion you've jumped to there. I wonder how many are people like me who have disabilities or invisible health conditions and sympathise with the difficulty of not being able to just pop put the door for a brisk 20 minute walk.

Because I know what it's like to shit my pants because there is no public toilet between home and school and despite good health care and regular physio and exercise I've not yet been able to stop occasional sudden faecal incontinence. And people like you assuming that people like me drive to school because we're lazy and selfish is pure arseholery.[/quote]
@orinocosfavoritecake
I own a 4x4 because I live in a rural location where roads sometimes flood. My total mileage for the last two years has been under 100 miles. Fuck off with your judgements about stuff you don't know

@RocketFire7

I’d report to the school.

good idea...let them give the OP the fuck off face

@Mincingfuckdragon I have never attacked any specific person driving. I have referred only to the GENERAL issue - that cars are a problem.

I have stated that those with disabilities should have exemptions to any regulations or restrictions around driving to school.

I don’t think I need to offer more benefit of the doubt than that.

Absolutely nothing to do with you.

Ds schools would send out reminders to parents to park a few streets so to ease congestion from the school and to consider not driving if they could walk. Also the reminder not to park across drives … all ignored by a number of parents

@Sirzy

And the thought of having to meet everyone to walk as a group like you describe would be enough to push me to drive even if I could walk!

I was thinking that too!

@orinocosfavoritecake

I’m yet to hear of a health reason for having an SUV…

Getting in and out of an SUV would be much easier for someone with certain mobility issues.

@luckylavender

Absolutely nothing to do with you.

Except it is, isn't it? More pollution, more risk to kids, more congestion. The OP is entitled to have an opinion on all those things.

I agree OP, some people are bloody lazy!

Except it is, isn't it?

No, it's actually fuck all to do with OP.

@underneaththeash

I agree OP, some people are bloody lazy!

And how do you know she hasn't got health issues?

I wonder how OP would feel if driving woman came round her house and offered opinions on her recycling and how many children she had and whether she should get solar panels and whether she's buying too many things from the supermarket rather than a refill shop - because all those things will impact on driving woman's environment