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?)

Just let her crack on, she'll be fat and you'll be slim🤷🏻‍♀️
I'm always fighting off lifts which my overweight neighbours try to force upon me, they can't get their heads around the idea that anyone would choose to walk when they could just sit down and get there with no physical effort.
When they see me going out for a run they try to tell me that running is bad for my knees🤣
They are the ones that can barely walk because they are so heavy and their joints are deteriorating from lack of use 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why do you think that? They’re getting paid for a short fare?
Genuine question, not being goady.

Naturally I don’t know the reason for your visit. But it’s worth thinking about your personal safety. Might be best to park a bit away from the house you’re going to so your car can’t be identified by anyone in the property who may not be happy about your visit. Might not be relevant to you of course.

It did strike me as having an air of entitlement about it. Ferry me around and even if at inconvenience to you, make sure I have to make as least effort as I can muster up 🤭

Surely if the colleague had arthritic knees it would have been abundantly obvious from their normal gait.

One would certainly think so ☝🏻😊
For the avoidance of doubt @theduchessofspork I would not expect a person to walk if they had an issue that made it painful or damaging for them to do so!

I have a severe disability affecting my legs but my gait doesn't look any different

Don't worry everyone I gave up driving 15 years ago so I'm not in a position to offer anyone a lift, never mind prank them in the process!
My sincere condolences to all those who have difficulty walking or getting about in any way shape or form🙏

Astounded? 🤣

Have you not done safe community working training 🤔

1. Always park as near as you can to the address to allow quick access if in danger.
2. Always park with the car facing the exit route for fast & safe get away if needed.

There are other points for entering the home you need to be considering too. If you haven't done it, you need to be highlighting it with your employer as a training need.
If you have done it, why did you ignore it?

This makes so much sense.

I imagine whatever line of work someone is in, if they are visiting houses they should always be mindful that something unexpected could happen.

In addition it seems like a lot of people need more training on inclusion, as the myth that you can "see" a disability is clearly holding strong.

I've never heard such rubbish. You're living in the wrong part of town.

But the public highway is just that, public. Individual home owners can't dictate who parks where in the street.

Obviously you can't park on someone's property or block driveways or access but if it's a public road they just have to get over it.

Don't allow these entitled pushy people get away with telling others where they can park.

Absolutely ridiculous!

Yabu because you should be walking between appointments, not driving, and this is why the DNHS is on its KNEES.

You do realise their appointments will be distributed over their whole area - which is probably not small - @HauntedBungalow, and are probably not walkable distances from each other? And if they did walk to them all, they would need much more transit time between appointments, so would not be able to fit in as many appointments in their day - so fewer people would get the care they needed!

Plus they may well need to transport equipment and supplies - they’d need a Sherpa.

I have four visits tomorrow. They will each take approximately an hour. I need to take large scales with me to each one. They are scattered across the 7x7mile square (approximately) that we cover. Unfortunately I have absolutely no say in when or where babies are born so cannot arrange my visits by locality. I could waste an ENORMOUS amount of NHS time walking or running between them and arrive wet and/or sweaty. But it’s not exactly ideal, is it?

(And yet I do walk when it’s reasonably practicable)

Last year I was very overweight thanks to a severe reaction to prednisolone. (I have lost it all again since coming off it, and weirdly people congratulated me, as though stopping swallowing tiny tablets was a personal achievement). I was on the prednisolone due to a condition that was making me so weak I spent any time I wasn't at work in bed. Many people with my condition end up in steroids for years, overweight for all of that time in many cases. It's pants knowing that people judge you as lazy. Weirdly noone thought I was lazy once I was put on alternative meds that made my hair fall out.

I remember people making jokes to me about how they were "more virtuous" as they were using the stairs. Grim.

So I am a social worker, and I must admit I rarely park directly outside someone’s house. I’ve worked with some really dangerous families and I wouldn’t want them to easily know my car (although sometimes it’s unavoidable). I have been threatened, chased, followed and intimidated- I’ve had someone chase me with a shotgun and had death threats to my family.

So, even in the rain, I would park a bit down the street and have a little walk rather than outside someone’s house.

I wonder about the guy I saw vaping in the gym…!

I'm about the most anti smoking and vaping person you'll ever meet, but even I don't think that just because someone does something so obviously unhealthy doesn't mean they can't be healthy in other ways!
I don't always eat the healthiest, and I love my wine, but I still go to the gym. They're not mutually exclusive.

Totally agree. There are a huge proportion of people these days acclimatised to not walking.

We have a new person at work who started on Monday. She has had two warnings about her parking already, one from our neighbouring business and one from our own company because she insists on parking just outside our entrance. Basically she/he is pure lazy. There are spaces 30 yards away.

My wife has joint issues. She can walk, a bit, but the more she walks, the more painful it gets.

Sometimes these things are on a sliding scale and it isn't always obvious. We still have trouble with my Dad not understanding this.

Some people are just very car-centric though. I've heard it called "car brain". I have had colleagues who would insist on taking taxis instead of frequent and convenient public transport, for example.

I think you can’t ever completely know what’s going on for other people, they might have reasons they’d rather not discuss with you.

@Nogaxeh

Some people are just very car-centric though. I've heard it called "car brain". I have had colleagues who would insist on taking taxis instead of frequent and convenient public transport, for example.

I agree. Like those going into gyms (presumably to exercise) who have to take the closest space to the entrance (even if it's a disabled or parent/child space).

The OP is talking about similar small distances and mentions just 3 houses away. It's not worth restarting the car for such a short distance. And for a typical/average worker in average health, walking 3 doors down isn't going to be a genuine issue - after all the house itself could have a long drive you'd have to walk down even if you parked right outside!

Same with car parks. So many people just have to park as close as possible to the entrance of the shop/cinema etc, often making a right song and dance of manoevring into a tight spot, when there are quieter areas of the car park where they could far easily drive into and not risk dents/scratches etc.

I can just about understand it in very bad weather as people will try to avoid getting soaked if they have to walk a minute or two longer, but not in normal weather!

I think "car brain" is a good way of putting it. They're just in the habit of parking as close as possible and don't engage their brain that alternative spaces may actually be better/easier for themselves and others.