Called a "c*nt" in front of his kid over a P&C spot...

[SorryIParkedWrong]

Hi all,
Need a sanity check on an interaction I had yesterday that's still bothering me.
I used a Parent & Child spot yesterday at a quiet retail park. I know, technically wrong, but I was doing a massive haul for a house move and needed the boot space, and loads of other P&C spots were free so I wasn't leaving anyone without.
The issue happened when I got back to my car after shopping. I was in the driver's seat, engine on, and was just about to reverse out and leave.
A car pulled into the P&C space next to me. A woman got out with her young child and. She came right up to my window, which was cracked open, and said in a really aggressive tone, "You shouldn't be parked there."
Not wanting any drama or to explain my point to an emotionally enraged individual, I just said, "Ok," and put the car fully in reverse to leave. That's when she and the dad who appeared completely kicked off. Standing right by my car door, she launched into an absolute tirade.
She was shouting all sorts - "cunt," "fucking little shit," "look at your shit car," "fucking shit driving." All while her own young child stood there watching the whole thing.
I briefly stopped reversing, said through the window "I hope you have a lovely rest of your day," and then started to move again. She and her husband just kept going with the abuse, so I stopped the car again because I was just in disbelief. I looked at her and started laughing at the sheer absurdity and the level of her rage.
I know I shouldn't have used the spot. But AIBU to think her reaction was completely unhinged? Does my minor error give someone the right to hurl that level of personal, nasty abuse at a stranger, especially in front of their own child?
It honestly felt like she was just projecting all her life's problems onto me over a parking space. What do you think?

yeah I think their behaviour is awful and police should’ve been called .

I don’t know the law/rules on this as I don’t drive yet (learning) but even if you shouldn’t have parked there it’s massively disproportionate for a couple to gang up on you in this way.

They sound disgusting. Shame on the man especially speaking so aggressively and abusively to a woman on her own like that.

Wonder if they’d have done that to a burly tough looking young-ish man?

If there were loads of other P&C spots I don't see an issue with this.

It does grind my gears at peak times though when it's busy and people without children park there, but mostly because there are usually very few disabled parking spots and the P&C spots by us are also close to the entrance and my DC is autistic and a runner.

People are ridiculously precious about P&C spaces. They are a nice to have, it's annoying when someone uses one that you had your eye on and you have your eye on it but it doesn't justify the kind of rage that it seems to create.

I don't blame you for laughing at them. That kind of ludicrous over reacting anger at something so minor totally invites laughing at them.

Good point.

Maybe the p&c spaces should have a pay and display system just for them. So therefore only the most incapable of getting a pushchair and a dc out of a car would use them if they had to pay?

Completely agree with you, the amount who people who think that their life is more important is stupid and out of control. All of them should actually get a life, they get in their car, drive some where, do shopping, drive back, drive somewhere else, drive back. What about walking somewhere? Or engage with your neighbours or community group. Nope no chance because it is them who are entitled, selfish, and don't give a flying doo dah about anyone else.

So it's not okay to park in a P&C space but it is OK to use the very extreme of profanities in front of a very young, impressionable child.

1 relates to a total stranger you'll never see again in your life.
1 relates to the person you supposedly love more than life itself.

SMH

You can’t break rules but then feel entitled for civility?

Personally I think P&C spaces are a load of nonsense. Having a child is a lifestyle choice and to expect special car parking spaces just because you have a child is in my view entitled. No one chooses to be disabled so disabled people are perfectly entitled to their own car parking spaces.

Two wrongs don't make a right! You shouldn't have parked there and their reaction was unbalanced! Suffice to say you've probably learnt from this and hopefully you'll use a ordinary parking space in future.

Perhaps they thought they were communicating on your level?

At 37 weeks I had someone park super close and couldn’t get back into my car - please use P&C places!

Exactly! I was just thinking to myself that we are a sad lot if all we can do is come on here and moan, (including me, clearly!) Seriously, I do sometimes wonder about the people who moan on here over nothing much. They get so incensed over very little. It must be hard to be them.

Totally unhinged. I would have answered the same.

i am going to start a fight now. I have with a passion those P&C spots. I do park in there. Inly disable spaces should be at the front of the parking close to the shop door.
disable people need to be at the front for accessibility and mobility to and from the shop.

p&c spots needs to be wider for accessibility. They DO NOT need to be at the front.

when those p and c spots are further from the door i respect them. When they are close to the door, i do not care.

now let’s the fight begin 😆

This is the other way round.
A business manages their parking area. They've decided to attract parents by dedicating a few spaces for their use.

Lifestyle choice or not, using the spaces without the cause is like stealing the discount coupons from a fellow shopper

10.30 pm myself and Ds (36 years old) parked in one near to the door of the 24hour Asda, I was gobsmacked when someone challenged me, (there were plenty of spaces) DS pointed out that I was his mother and he was my child, therefore we were entitled!
The person who challenged us didn't have a child with them so I was a bit puzzled.
We wouldn't have parked there during the daytime but it was late evening!!

Not sure about which old days are being referred to, but in my old days, say the 1990s, cars were significantly narrower within the same size parking bays, far fewer car parks were operating on the limits of capacity, and there were no mandatory child seats to load kids and buckle up.

(And those weren't better old days, because those with those smaller structure cars and no car seats loads more children died in car crashes).

If someone has a reason to park in a parent and child space , they might not be following the rules strictly but it doesn't bother me. If they just find it more convenient , then they are behaving like lazy inconsiderate cunts. But might still be lovely people otherwise I suppose.

Yanbu, sometimes you just need more space. If it was a disability space I would kind of try to understand the anger. There should be small spaces and bigger spaces with no defined use( on top of PC and disability spaces)
Plus - you were driving away from the spot, leaving it vacant again. Handing a go a you just kept you there longer.

The other woman was deranged but really it's unsurprising these days.

A house haul? What that had to do with parking in a p&c in a retail park I've no idea, not least as p&c spaces are same length as the others.

Yep, with all due respect @Sirzy if it’s hard to get one the applicant doesn’t need one!

I'm not pregnant and this happened to me too

Um, one is selfish and a moral delima, the other is theft. Errgh

This is an extremely naive view.

There really needs to be an "everyone's unreasonable" option.

P&C spaces are brilliant and I support having them but they are not mandatory and legally you can use them although in some places the car park owner could issue a fine.

How far do the op’s want to take this, I would never use a p&c spot with dgc at 11 but I would be entitled to.
Quite frankly a person struggling with a bulky item needs the spot more than someone with a nt, physically abled 11 year old.

My ds is 40, no p&c spots existed when he was small and prams were a lot bigger but we still managed to shop just fine, get on public transport and didn’t have online shopping.

You're all ridiculous.