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?)

Goodness, where do you live? Round here you're lucky to find one parking space within walking distance of a destination, let alone a choice of three!

How the fuck would you know?

Yes it has taken years for me to get the point of even considering using my stick or chair at work. It feels like a huge mental leap. I can just about hide my symptoms and collapse at home and that's what I have been doing

Please don't get me started on the ones who screech into the disabled bays at the gym! No, they have no disability badge, flounce in as if their lives depended on it.

I know a woman who hails a cab to go 20 metres down the road, some take her, others laugh and drive on.....she just won't walk anywhere....

Does this actually happen or just something you've constructed in your head so you can feel outraged? I mean the way your talking as if you witness it happening all the time. You must spend a lot of time lurking in car parks 😀

Absolutely not constructed in my head, just an observation at the gym honestly. Yes, my DH goes, every time there is some young person who screeches up and parks in the disabled bay, that's why I said it. Different days/evenings/times etc and several, not just one but quite a few.

Oh I wish I had the time to get away and lurk in car parks (wouldnt be my first priority), but I have a very busy life which isn't a bed of roses. I won't bore with the details but very full on.

I didn't think I came across as outraged at all, however yes it is outrageous that young able bodied people are so selfish and park in a disabled bay. 🙄

I do have personal reasons for this but I'm sure any human with an ounce of decency and intelligence will agree with me. You do not park in disabled bays because you're in a rush to go anywhere really, it's just not the decent thing is it?

By the way you're not your.

Exactly. I know someone who was like this. Wouldn't walk anywhere, and always had to park as close as possible to their destination. Obviously, this was part of a bigger picture, alongside overeating. But they're now almost completely immobile and have lost a huge amount of independence because of it.
I also have a friend who drives to her local corner shop, which is 10 houses down the road. I can't get my head around that one!

The one's that annoy me are when I ask directions and they go " oooo it's a long old walk" when reality it's a 10 minute walk. Not long.

That would be quite cuntish if she has arthritic knees though, no?

Why? Do you think people who have disabiltiies shouldn’t be able to access gyms?

This would drive me bonkers. I visit people as part of my work too. Yesterday I went to two flats ten minutes walk apart both of which had no parking so parked in a retail car park halfway between the two and walked for 20 minutes in a loop to get back. I get mileage but am keen to minimise stress on my car by avoiding short journeys.

A friend of mine drives her DH to the pub. They can see it from their house.

Ive often thought it’s weird seeing people dashing down the stairs to a tube, standing three people thick and squashing onto the tube. Then getting off the next stop

Don’t put down people with disabilities! People often under estimate them. Look how many medals Britain has won the para Olympics. they are often capable of much more than some able bodied people.

There are also disabled spaces if they haven’t been taken by the able bodied door hoggers.

Before I had my prolapse surgery, I could walk, but every step I took, I could feel my cervix falling further and further down. It was deeply unpleasant and I’d try to minimise the amount of walking I did. It wasn’t a conversation I had with work colleagues.

I'm surprised how many people who say that they visit people for work and park directly outside our even one says on driveway. I do home visits occasionally and always try to park out of sight of the house as it's my personal car not a pool car and I don't want it being recognised by patients/their families.

wow. £9 a day. That must be around 2 grand a year. Presumably some years ago, so if you add inflation... 😱

I've got a friend who drives to work - her car is on her driveway and is approx 20 steps away to get into. She parks at work, gets the lift up and her desk is right by the door.

I walk to work everyday (30 mins both ways). Who suffers with a bad back and hip? ME! Makes you wonder if it's worth it.

This is totally me by the way. Who are you to judge me for that? I've long since stopped beating myself up for it and decided that it's some odd part of the psychology of getting myself to the gym at all that I'll a) drive rather than walk, and b) park as close to the entrance as I can (which isn't actually very close because my sports centre has rows and rows of disabled and family parking spaces. I suppose at least I'm not one of the many wankers who uses the disabled bays out of laziness rather than need!) .

Seriously though. Having the motivation and discipline to get yourself to exercise at all in any form is hard. What's it to you if other people have their strategies that work for them?

@magicmushrooms
I wonder at people who have to park right next to the door of a gym before heading in for a workout
That'll be me then.
It's nothing to do with my fitness or laziness. It is due ti safety. I park close to the entrance as it is well lit. Gangs of men in their mid 20s hang out nearby and cars are for over pulling up and driving away in the evening. In the day time it's ok,but from 7ish in the evening the vibe changes.

You need to work on your abs!!

• Bowflex 3-minute plank every single day.
• Plus an abs workout at least 3-4 times a week. Try Rebecca Louise's Best Abs or Caroline Girvan's Braced Core and Abs.

Life-changing.

I agree. You should park in front of the house you are visiting.

Yes. Because you have probably over-used your body by all the exercise. Running is really bad for you knees.

You have no idea how fucking patronising that 'Oh, aren't the disabled people wonderful - as a handful of exceptional athletes are exceptional, that means they're all magical beings that might even be as good or better than normal people like us in some particular way?' is, do you?