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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Woman shouted at me for parking in a disabled spot

462 replies

AusMumhere · 12/02/2025 09:03

I parked in a disabled spot at the supermarket today. A woman about four cars away shouted at me and said 'that's a wheelie spot'. I shouted back 'I have a permit'. She then yelled 'where's ya walker?'. I said 'not all disabilities are visible'. I hate confrontation of any kind.
Should I have walked away or should I have responded? I'm still in shock that I shouted.

OP posts:
StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 12/02/2025 09:08

Ugh you don't have to justify yourself. Maybe state it's for people with disabilities and leave it at that.

takealettermsjones · 12/02/2025 09:10

A "wheelie spot"? She sounds... strange. If you have a blue badge and you displayed it, then there's no issue. I'd have shouted back too, but probably best to ignore 😆

Coffeeishot · 12/02/2025 09:15

Honestly people need to mind their own, answering back is fine you can respond any way you please but you don't have to justify yourself to nuumpties, you should be able to go on with your day like everybody else.

NippyNinjaCrab · 12/02/2025 09:32

Was she the wheelie spot police?! Wheelie spot 😂 urgh, you were right to defend yourself. I'm sure she will be hounding someone about something else every 5 mins.

K0OLA1D · 12/02/2025 09:35

You weren't unreasonable. She was a dick. It happens all the time.

crappymeal · 12/02/2025 09:35

I was in the bus the other day with my sister who has terminal cancer and struggles to get far and she sat at the front in the 'disabled' seats. Some lady got on at the next stop and started screaming that she shouldn't be sat there and it was for disabled people. I gave her a mouthful back and told her to shut her face. She soon looked like a twat. I don't feel bad and nor should you.

WinterBones · 12/02/2025 09:36

the 'wheelie police' need to fuck off.

Olika · 12/02/2025 09:42

Well I would have told her to F off so I think you handled it well.

therewasafishinthepercolator · 12/02/2025 09:46

You did just fine. She was being wheelie unreasonable.

I'm sorry. So sorry. 😔

EmmaMaria · 12/02/2025 09:47

If you were displaying a blue badge then it was none of her business. If you were not then she should have been politer, but would have been correct. I have just returned from a car park that I have visited frequently recently. There are six disabled spaces and they are routinely taken by people too lazy to walk a few yards to Costcutter. I have a blue badge and can only walk a few yards to anywhere. If I were able to be God for a week, I would make it so that anyone who parked in a disabled space without a blue badge should be striken by a disabling condition for 24 hours.

DeadsoulsAngel · 12/02/2025 09:48

I have a wheelchair and I wouldn’t have confronted you. I’m happy to share with all disabled people. I’m sorry you experienced this op, you handled it much better than I would have 💐

Strictlymad · 12/02/2025 09:51

As long as you have a blue badge you are in the right, if you don’t she was rude but correct. My mother didn’t like masks in covid, she told all shop assistants and dr she was exempt which wasn’t true at all and don’t have the paperwork. This is why people get uppity cuz some try and abuse the system! She shouldn’t have been rude regardless

ImmediateReaction · 12/02/2025 09:52

Do you have a blue badge and was it displayed? If so yanbu

She shouldn't shout but maybe she also has a disability?

If yiu either haven't a badge, don't park there, or if not displayed then display it.

She nay just be a twit or yiu may not have displayed a badge or have one, you don't say.

LoveBluey · 12/02/2025 09:53

I don't know why but 'wheelie spot' really tickled me.
Obviously if you have a blue badge you are perfectly entitled to park there and it's nobody else's business why you have the badge. They are not exclusively for wheelchair users.

Original poster
AusMumhere · 12/02/2025 09:54

ImmediateReaction · 12/02/2025 09:52

Do you have a blue badge and was it displayed? If so yanbu

She shouldn't shout but maybe she also has a disability?

If yiu either haven't a badge, don't park there, or if not displayed then display it.

She nay just be a twit or yiu may not have displayed a badge or have one, you don't say.

My permit was in the windscreen, on the passenger side.
She was shouting from four cars away

OP posts:
Bookworm20 · 12/02/2025 09:54

She was rude yes, but were you displaying your badge? It is a nightmare when someone who uses a wheelchair can't park because they can't actually get out of the car.
However if you were displaying your badge and have mobility issues then of course she was rude as you are as entitled to it as the next person.
I mean i'm assuming you didn't hop out the car and jog happily into the shops.

therewasafishinthepercolator · 12/02/2025 09:56

An elderly couple shouted at me outside our GP surgery for parking in a disabled spot. It wasn't. It was a parent child spot. I politely pointed that out and mentioned the spot they were parked in was also a parent child spot but made it clear I wasn't complaining to them that and showed them where the disabled parking bays were. But they were having none of it. I see them in the village occasionally and they scowl at me. 😀

Coffeeishot · 12/02/2025 10:00

@Bookworm20 It's nothing to do with the woman not seeing the badge she wasn't the "badge police" if the op has a blue badge they can park in a blue badge space, they don't have to prove they are disabled enough to randoms in a car park or on the Internet.

Topseyt123 · 12/02/2025 10:01

If you have a blue badge and displayed it as required then you were right.

You refer to a permit. Is that a blue badge? Had you displayed it? Those are not clear from your post.

If all was present and correct then she was a rude twat and you dealt with it well, although it would probably have been better to have totally ignored her.

ImmediateReaction · 12/02/2025 10:02

AusMumhere · 12/02/2025 09:54

My permit was in the windscreen, on the passenger side.
She was shouting from four cars away

Show quote history

Then she was unreasonable and rude. Ignore her is the best option.

Original poster
AusMumhere · 12/02/2025 10:04

Topseyt123 · 12/02/2025 10:01

If you have a blue badge and displayed it as required then you were right.

You refer to a permit. Is that a blue badge? Had you displayed it? Those are not clear from your post.

If all was present and correct then she was a rude twat and you dealt with it well, although it would probably have been better to have totally ignored her.

Yes. A disabled permit is the same as a blue badge. It was correctly displayed

OP posts:
DalzielOrNoDalzielAndDontPascoe · 12/02/2025 10:04

Who on earth are the wheelie police - are they like those scary characters from Return To Oz?!

It's a horrible state of affairs when disabled people, with a legitimate blue badge, are prevented from freely using it by nasty oafs like her. A blue badge isn't a privilege; it's actually to go some way towards helping people who already have far less privilege.

A wheelchair serves as a practical clear illustration to denote disability on signs, but it does mean that some particularly thick and unpleasant people then believe that everybody is either a wheelchair user or otherwise 100% able bodied.

Original poster
AusMumhere · 12/02/2025 10:04

Coffeeishot · 12/02/2025 10:00

@Bookworm20 It's nothing to do with the woman not seeing the badge she wasn't the "badge police" if the op has a blue badge they can park in a blue badge space, they don't have to prove they are disabled enough to randoms in a car park or on the Internet.

Edited

Thank you

OP posts:
Lyannaa · 12/02/2025 10:06

You don’t need to justify yourself to anyone. Next time just smile and say ‘call the police’.

Dotjones · 12/02/2025 10:06

People shouldn't challenge someone for using a disabled space. She was wrong to confront you and you were within your rights to take her down a peg or two. The usual rules apply though with regard to whether it's wise to get involved in an altercation or if it's best just to ignore them. The sort of person who challenges a person using a disabled space with a permit on display isn't a rational person, they are more likely just looking for any excuse for a fight. Sometimes ignoring them is the safest thing. From personal experience, ignoring them can be quite funny at times because they end up having a public meltdown.