to leave a note on the car that parked in the parent & child spaces but did not have any kids..

[lovecamping]

so sunday lunchtime at the supermarket, i was with the kids in the car whilst dh gets some milk. a car parks next to us and a couple get out but had not kids or even car seats. i was so so when dh got back, i left a note 'where is your child?, dont you know how to read?'

that was bad of me was it?? what also inflamed was that 10 mins later, there was a porsche and another car also parked in the spaces. i saw all the people and none of them had kids.... WTF is wrong with people???

they took all the spaces, then as we're leaving, a woman comes along with NO children and parks where we left...

b***ds

No, I didn't mean jjm was angry, sorry if it read that way.
But skimmed the thread and lots of people do seem to get so very worked up.

Can I just ask in the spirit of genuine enquiry .....why does it matter? Yes, they are being a little inconsiderate but there we are. That's human nature. No parent has any right to a parking space just because they are a parent. If the shop doesn't choose to enforce it it isn't up to anyone else to do so.

I hate the damned things. Everyone gets so uppity about them.

The other day I parked in one, sans kids,cos I had a headache.
I figured it was the kids gave me the headache so I qualified!

I just think it would be good, in a general spirit of helpfulness and consideration, if people without small children (or other accessibility requirements) didn't use them. (BTW, I do not regard 'having a bloody huge car and being unable to park it' as a special accessibility requirement.)

Of course having small children is not as difficult as having a disability, but it can make life a bit more complicated and difficult at times. Why not show a bit of consideration?

I think anyone with a disability/caring for someone with a disability has an absolute moral entitlement to use P+T spaces, and shops should enforce this.

policywonk "I just think it would be good, in a general spirit of helpfulness and consideration, if people without small children (or other accessibility requirements) didn't use them"
Well put pw.
Although I still don't actually care very much, i do see your point.
And now, for someone who professes to be "not interested" I've wasted far too much time on this thread

It would be good pw. Without a doubt. It would be good if everyone held doors open for other people, if everyone smiled and was friendly, if no-one dropped litter. But trying to force people to do such things is quite a different matter. And once you start to legislate for basic good manners and generosity of spirit you have partly missed the point IMO. iyswim.

Really should not read any P&T parking threads. Although this was made me laugh.

at NMC's tale of the ignorant witches at the supermarket.

our local asda has started ticketing people who park in the disabled bays or P&t. TBH I don;t know how they get away with ticketing people in the P&T bays as they are not a legal requirement.

but when the asda was built they wanted to charge for parking, but the council said no because the town is a parish and we pay extra in our council tax.

I have to say that I did a double take when I read the OP. pmsl!!

with you on that anniemac. Having a car makes life so easy. It was truly amazing not to have to rush for the one wheelchair accessible bus an hour, squabble with a woman with a buggy who has taken the one space on the bus. Get off half a mile from the shops and push dd in her wheelchair up the biggest hill in the galaxy and then do itin reverse hoping not to miss the one bus back.
I just got in and drove. Amazing. I'm still all boggly at how convenient it is. Even parking at the furthest part of the car park would have been stupendously easy compared to normal.
But I did buy too much stuff cos I could
And global warming is now my fault. Did feel very embaressed and felt like everyone was looking at me too.

And tomorrow we can drive to her hospital appointment rather than push her 2 miles there and 2 miles back cos there's no accessible buses do that route.
Although maybe I am being a bit wussy driving only 2 miles

I don't get why people get so worked up about P&T spaces.

But NMC stop feeling guilty. Seriously. There are people out there who deserve cars and you are one of them.

And yes, drive the 2 miles

love this old chestnut. never fails to ignite.

i sit on both sides of the fence, depending on what point i am at in my monthly cycle.

i can't see the problem with leaving a note though. unless it was OTT and scary "I know where you live..."

Babies (especially when in car seats) are heavy and awkward to carry; toddlers have less common sense than the average bath sponge and are liable to run into the road without warning; little kids (4-ish) can be dreamy and unaware and are very much at risk in car parks; getting any small child in and out of trolley seats requires a little extra space; getting babies in and out of car seats requires enough space to open the car door fully.

I'd say all of these things come under the heading 'accessibility requirement'.

I'm not saying it's the same thing as having a disability, or that it requires as much consideration from others.

modern parents are a bit wussy though.

I'm fat and need a bit of room to get out of the car. I think there should be special places for fat people. Helps make their lives easier.

IT's self-inflicted but so is having kids.

P&T spaces are nice but your life doesn't end because somebody in a sports car decided to park in tehre.

well i only park in p+t spaces now as we had a very annoying situation,ds was in his infant carrier on my travel system,i came back to my car (in the POURING rain) to 2 IDIOTS parked on either side of me actually touching my mirrors on both sides,i couldnt get my son in the car,
i had to end up dismantling my poor little car to squeeze him in from the boot! and again a couple of weeks later the same thing happened,luckily my mum was with me so i could drive the car out and then put him in it,

Today I was walking along a narrow pavement when a car came up and parked on the pavement. When the man got out I said "we'll just squeeze past shall we?" to which he weakly replied there was nowhere else to park. That was bollocks - there was just nowhere else so immediately next to house he was visiting - there was plenty of space further up the road. But I just said "the pavement is for pedestrians". Luckily he didn't then punch my lights out.

Many people are just very selfish about where they park and as nobody ever seems to get prosecuted for it, parking on the pavement is becoming the done thing.

ps I was with ds - so wasn't using the royal "we".

pavement parking drives me nuts. Wheelchairs are heavier than buggies and having to take them down the kerb, round the arsehole and back up is a pain in the back.

Bit surprised at people saying the P&T spaces should be a long way away from the store, so lazy drivers don't park there. The reason they're right by the door is so you don't have to negotiate a var park with a trolley and assorted children - you can get them in the car without them walking in front of traffic ...

LOL at cadelaide's headache.

I feel the same about the spaces. How on earth do people cope when they are in a car park that doesn't have P&C spaces!!!