To be astounded at colleagues' reluctance to walk?

[FlannelTinyTowel]

I recently worked with a colleague I've not worked with before. Part of our job involves going to people's homes. I was driving, with colleague directing a whole other thread as she was more familiar with the routes and locations (she usually drives).

At one point, she told me the house we were going to was on the right, so I pulled over and parked between the parked cars on the right.

She told me it was a bit further down the road, as if I had pulled over too soon and should drive on a bit. Actually waited for me to restart the engine and drive on.

Turns out we were just THREE houses along from the correct one. It would have taken far longer to pull out (from the right) on the quite busy road, drive approx. 20 metres to the next space, then pull over and park again, than to walk this v v short distance.

I was gobsmacked at this.

There were a few other similar incidents/comments in the same day.

I should add - colleague doesn't have any disabilities that make walking harder (pretty sure of this due to other aspects of the job including having to walk on occasion), and it was a pleasant day, not cold or raining.

AIBU to be astounded by her reluctance to walk? (And a despairing at this planet-destroying mindset?)

Were you parked in front of someone else's house? Maybe she just thought you ought to park in front of the house of the person you were visiting?

Yes you’re absolutely right but there are a lot of people out there nowadays like it. If they can’t park right there, they freak out.

Edited

Some people are just lazy

I wonder at people who have to park right next to the door of a gym before heading in for a workout.

I think that points more to a lack of manners honestly.

If someone is ferrying you around, you acknowledge that they are the ones doing the legwork of transporting you both and whatever they think is appropriate with regards to parking is accepted. A passenger being so cheeky as to expect the driver to pull out and re-park just cos they can't be bothered walking a few metres is super cheeky.

Maybe she doesn't like walking, does it matter

Maybe she thinks it's polite to park outside the house your visiting.

This is what I think too. Obviously you're allowed to park anywhere on the street but a lot of streets seem to have a "don't park outside other peoples houses" etiquette.

My parents' road is like that and the few times there's ever been a car parked outside they've been horrified. They know technically they're allowed to but to them it's bad manners like queue jumping is.

Perhaps colleague didn't want you to cause issues for the person you were visiting with their neighbours?

Usually I would aim to park directly in front of the house. But there's no need to if you're already parked 3 houses down. It wasn't clear in front of us, we were between parked cars, so it's not like I just randomly parked 3 houses away on an empty road.

She had basically said "it's one of these houses on the right" next to a row of houses, so I parked in a convenient spot.

It's a great opportunity to have some fun OP! Deliberately park far away so they have to walk, I would😊
Edit- EVEN better, make out you're offering a lift, then when they show up tell them it's only a couple of miles & you decided to walk after all, then march off double quick!

I will add - various other comments during the day made it clear she doesn't want to walk to the car at all, nothing about it being polite to park directly in front of the house or anything.

Perhaps I have just got used to living on a street where it's 50.50 whether you get a space on the same street at all...

Could it have been more of a parking issue, residents moaning (because they think they own the road).

An ex colleague used to get a taxi to the tube station from home ane one from the tube station to work, you could see the entrance to the tube from the entrance of work. They must have been spending a fortune on transport. No disabilities, she just couldn’t be bothered and was very open about it. She had a very good sense of humour, when our toilets were broken and it meant walking to the other office upstairs we offered to set up a rota to push her there in her desk chair.

And if you can't ? Should you just forget the appointment and drive away or would you just park where you could even if it was a whole 20 meters away?

Yanbu. Our office is near a nice cafe. 10 minute walk down a wide, safe road in a business park.
Some of my colleagues drive that distance. It's shocking really. No wonder the NHS is breaking.

That's not what I said at all

I visit people's houses for work and I will always park on the driveway or as close as possible just out of consideration for other residents. If that's not possible then of course I'd just park elsewhere and walk.

@Simonjt

I bet her name was absolute MUD amongst the drivers.

Back when I was a junior in my job, I used to park 15 minutes walk away from the office to avoid the hefty carpark fees next door. I was literally the only person that worked there that did this and they were all shocked at the Christmas party when it came up. Every single person all parked in the £9 per day car park next to the office except for me.

You can't park closer than at least 5 minutes walk from our place
They'd never cope 🤣

It always shocks me when I meet people who think like this.

I have a friend the same. I normally park wherever I know will cause me and everyone else less hassle, even if it's a short walk. She'll circle a car park 3 times to get a space closest to the shops.

I'm usually the person who will walk a mile rather than pay for parking, and always used to spend my lunch break going for a walk when I worked in an office - but this one I sort of understand - if you only have a short lunch break then by the time you've ordered and eaten you won't have time for a 20 min walk as well. Plus if it's raining it's understandable people won't want to sit in damp clothes for another 4 hours.

Sometimes people don't think of the whole picture - a bf once laughed at me for parking in the closest space possible to the gym because 'You're literally going to the gym to exercise but you're too lazy to walk an extra 10 feet?' but it was because I usually went on my own, in the night and felt safer being able to get to my car immediately rather than crossing the dark carpark (where often groups of young men lurked around outside mcdonalds - yep of course a maccies next to the gym!) at 11pm....

But sometimes it is just laziness!

YANBU. I am disabled and literally can no longer walk at all without falling, but for all the years I could walk at all I would have walked that distance willingly even though it would genuinely hurt and be tiring. If she’s not disabled it’s just rude to make you move, too.

And this is why there are so many unhealthy and/or overweight people around. It’s a mindset thing - completely mad and completely lazy. Yanbu.

If you are a social worker or carer or job like that, quite frankly its hard enough in those jobs, I want as little effort involved in the travel as possible.

If you think thats bad you wait till you experience parents on a school run.

I swear some of them would drive their kids right up to their desk if they could.