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AIBU?

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Original poster

Hospital Parking Wars

45 replies

Nootka · 24/10/2022 19:10

Long time lurker so I know this is the place where I will get my arse handed to me if people think I was being unreasonable so here goes.......

My partner is in hospital, admitted yesterday and is being kept in. Very worrying at the moment. I visited him today and the car park was manic, I was actually shocked at how busy it was as in the past when I have attended for routine appointments I haven't had an issue, so it must have been the time of day.

After driving round and round to no avail I decided the best think I could do was pull over in an area and wait to see if someone came back to their car. I pulled over to make sure people could get comfortably pass me and waited. After about 15 minutes 3 people were returning to their car which was just near why I was waiting so I was delighted. They were really taking their time, but I wasn't bothered, I wasn't impatient at all, just waited. They didn't look very happy and the driver of the car started pulling out while the man and woman stood next to the bay and it became clear that they were "saving" the bay for a woman who had pulled up beside me to try and swing into the space. I was polite, but I told the woman that I had been waiting for 15 minutes and she was not getting that spot. There wasn't really a way she could unless I moved and she started screaming at me that he 91 year old father was in the hospital. I didn't scream back because I can relate to being worried about an elderly parent, but I was also there because I was worried about someone. But was I the one who was unreasonable?

OP posts:
WingBingo · 24/10/2022 19:12

Just don’t engage. You did the right thing.

miceonabranch · 24/10/2022 19:12

She'd have to wait in line like everyone else.

Chickenpeppers · 24/10/2022 19:14

She should have waited. More importantly, who got the spot? You or her?

Ludo19 · 24/10/2022 19:15

Luck of the draw. You were there first.

HappyHamsters · 24/10/2022 19:16

Both unreasonable, you for telling her she wasnt getting that space and her for shouting. Did you move out the way , who got the parking spot. The fault is with the hospital not having attendants or a queuing system, imagine what its like for the staff

UmbilicusProfundus · 24/10/2022 19:17

You already know YANBU so no need for the faux-naive preamble.

(As YANBU, you might as well enjoy some AIBU-style criticism 😀)

nettytree · 24/10/2022 19:19

I remember waiting for a space at East Surrey hospital when I was pregnant. Due to complications, I had to have weekly scans and blood tests twice a week.. Just as I was about to reverse into a space, someone pulled into it nearly hitting me. I yelled at them about it, but they ignored me. In the maternity unit they commented that my blood pressure was very high and wouldn't let me leave for 4 hours.

Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov · 24/10/2022 19:19

So is it a situation that they all new each other and one set we're leaving to give her the space?

Original poster
Nootka · 24/10/2022 19:19

Chickenpeppers · 24/10/2022 19:14

She should have waited. More importantly, who got the spot? You or her?

Me 😁I am polite, but determined!

OP posts:
Original poster
Nootka · 24/10/2022 19:21

UmbilicusProfundus · 24/10/2022 19:17

You already know YANBU so no need for the faux-naive preamble.

(As YANBU, you might as well enjoy some AIBU-style criticism 😀)

Thank you. I actually wasn't 100 per cent sure if I was, but if people say I am then I am not going to argue 😁

OP posts:
Original poster
Nootka · 24/10/2022 19:22

Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov · 24/10/2022 19:19

So is it a situation that they all new each other and one set we're leaving to give her the space?

I assume so as they were gesturing to her to come forward.

OP posts:
Original poster
Nootka · 24/10/2022 19:25

nettytree · 24/10/2022 19:19

I remember waiting for a space at East Surrey hospital when I was pregnant. Due to complications, I had to have weekly scans and blood tests twice a week.. Just as I was about to reverse into a space, someone pulled into it nearly hitting me. I yelled at them about it, but they ignored me. In the maternity unit they commented that my blood pressure was very high and wouldn't let me leave for 4 hours.

At the same hospital many many many years ago the same thing happened, but I was in labour. We were waiting for someone to pull out, patiently despite me being in labour. As they pulled out someone pulled in from the other end of the row. My partner blocked him in and only moved once I was settled in the maternity unit 😁

OP posts:
BrieAndChilli · 24/10/2022 19:32

Our local hospital has a barrier and a waiting lane. Barrier only opens when a car leaves so it’s one in and one out.

Ponderingwindow · 24/10/2022 19:38

They specifically timed leaving to give someone that spot. Probably to trade shifts for sitting with someone who is in the hospital. If that person wasn’t arriving, they probably wouldn’t be leaving. YABU.

Clymene · 24/10/2022 19:40

BrieAndChilli · 24/10/2022 19:32

Our local hospital has a barrier and a waiting lane. Barrier only opens when a car leaves so it’s one in and one out.

That doesn't work with disabled bays though.

I feel your pain OP. Waiting for a disabled bay all of last week (surprisingly few for a hospital) and I ended up stalking people coming out with an obvious disability.

Hospital parking is bloody hopeless.

Mouthfulofquiz · 24/10/2022 19:43

You are not unreasonable. You can’t save spaces in a car park can you? Certainly not in a hospital and not when it’s busy like that.

ButIamBatman · 24/10/2022 19:44

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Geranium1984 · 24/10/2022 19:51

Ugh I can sympathise. I'm having regular growth scans at the moment and have been having the same problems with my hospital car park.
I now head straight for the supermarket car park down the road, don't even bother with the hospital one it is too stressful circling around.
I'm really worried where we will park when I'm actually in labour. I guess my husband will drop me off close to the door and I'll go in on my own whilst he finds a spot.

Ponderingwindow · 24/10/2022 19:52

@ButIamBatman

Telling another person to shut up is not ok.

LimpBiskit · 24/10/2022 19:54

Ponderingwindow · 24/10/2022 19:52

@ButIamBatman

Telling another person to shut up is not ok.

Why, your comment was pathetic.

ThisIsNotThePostYourLookingFor · 24/10/2022 19:55

Some people are unbelievably dickish over parking spaces. At the hospital I work at we have a level in a multi-storey for staff only and patients/visitors are constantly parking there😡

Original poster
Nootka · 24/10/2022 21:10

Ponderingwindow · 24/10/2022 19:38

They specifically timed leaving to give someone that spot. Probably to trade shifts for sitting with someone who is in the hospital. If that person wasn’t arriving, they probably wouldn’t be leaving. YABU.

Thanks for your perspective. I don't know if they timed leaving specifically to give someone that spot or whether they were just friends or just total strangers. However, I also had somebody in the hospital as well that I wanted to get to. They were leaving and I had been waiting 15 minutes in the hope someone would leave. This woman had not been waiting at all. As most people have said IANBU I will accept that verdict.

OP posts:
BashfulClam · 24/10/2022 21:20

Our local hospital has free parking and a regular direct bus into the nearest town. Parking in that town is limited and expensive. People park there then catch the bus into the town (takes 7 minutes). It’s a bugger as appointments and visiting are a hassle. I live 3 towns away so I do need to drive. I think you should have to validate your parking at reception with either an appointment letter or details of who you are visiting.

user1471447863 · 24/10/2022 21:41

@BashfulClam that is disgraceful. That is a situation where i'd support ticketed parking & validation at clinics reception/on wards for visiting etc (not that HCP's have enough to do already)

Obki · 24/10/2022 21:46

Ponderingwindow · 24/10/2022 19:38

They specifically timed leaving to give someone that spot. Probably to trade shifts for sitting with someone who is in the hospital. If that person wasn’t arriving, they probably wouldn’t be leaving. YABU.

You really don't know this.

More likely the woman rolled her window down and asked them if they were leaving and then gave the spiel about an elderly relative (as if half the people in the hospital aren't there for the same reason).

The people then felt obliged to help that woman.

Well done for being assertive, OP, and standing your ground. As you can see, some people on MN really hate an assertive woman.