To have let this women know her lights were on

[gigbroken]

I parked up in Tesco park and in the car next to me was a women eating a sandwich but her car headlights were on. When I come back out after doing my shopping she was still there with the lights still on. I assumed she'd forgotten to turn them off and motioned for her to roll down the window and I told her that her lights were on and they might drain her battery.

She responded by telling me to 'f off and mind your own business'. Was I wrong? I just thought I'd want someone to tell me. It's really not that serious

I told her that her lights were on and they might drain her battery.

She has eyes, and she knows how her car works, she knows her lights were on OP, unless she was in a VERY old car, the headlights would switch on/off automatically when the engine is off, she obviously had the ignition on listening to the radio/heater on while eating her sandwich.. so would have been very aware her lights were also on.

My car is 13 years old, and while I don't have automatic headlight (sensors) I keep mine on all the time this time of year and they go off when the engine is turned off, if I'm sat there having a break, and someone came up condescendingly telling me "I might drain my battery" it would rub me up the wrong way too to be honest, not to that response, but still.

She was rude, but anything could have happened to her in the last few hours, or be happening in her life, so if you feel the need next time, just ask if they know their lights are on? No need to infer they are too stupid to know they are using their battery reserve for a short time.

You did it with good intentions so I wouldn’t worry.
I wouldn’t have said anything myself, but her reaction was way over the top.

Someone came over to me and told me my back windscreen wipers were still moving one day while I was sat in the car. I didn’t really care or notice, but I get that he was trying to be helpful.

Oh FFS (you not her).

I probably would not have knocked but she was rude.

You never know, even though she was very rude, you may have helped this lady. I've found that when the going gets tough, kind gestures and (well-intended) attention from strangers have helped transform my day. And if she's just a rude so-and-so that's fine as well, she won't think of it and you don't need to either. Don't let it discourage you from paying attention to others. You noticing and being kind to strangers can make a huge difference if someone is going through a tough time.

What?!
Why would she be "hanging on by a thread"?

I have fairly often eaten a bought sandwich in my car whilst parked in a supermarket carpark, and I have perfectly normal mental health. It's simply because I might need to go somewhere and then also do my shopping and it happens to coincide with a mealtime and I'm hungry. Nothing weird about that.

As regards the lights, I wouldn't have said anything because she would have known her lights were on and many modern cars' lights do various things when the car is parked.
However the woman was extraordinarily rude, but unfortunately many people are these days.

Tut tut. In true 'Elf' style, I would have reminded her that there's room for everyone on the nice list.

She was rude but it does come across as rather patronising to tell someone sat in their own car that they’ve left their lights on. It’s not as though she was walking away.

I love the fact that there are people who think eating a supermarket sandwich in your car is such an unusual activity that you'd have to be having some kind of mental breakdown to do it 😂

Is this what people think?
I bought a wrap from Boots yesterday. I was really hungry and wanted to go for a run shortly after I got home ie. I wanted to eat it ASAP.
I can't drive and eat a wrap so I sat in the car park in my car and ate 1/2 of it.

I have done my fair share of sobbing in car parks (horrible divorce), but if someone had approached me I definitely would not have told them to fuck off, just told them I was having a bad day.

Sitting with the headlights on for 1/2 hr shouldn't flatten the battery.

If she was parked when OP had done her shopping and not about to drive off it could be slot longer than 15 minutes. I had to jump start a mother's car at GSs school when she did the same.

It depends, old battery and maybe a frost the night before and battery might not cope.

I agree. Strange responses!

op you were being kind. She was rude!

Honestly, she sounds like a twat. You were trying to do a kind thing.

I think I'd just assume she had "problems" and try and forget about it.

You reminded me of my husband seeing a man drop a big brown envelope. DH picked it up and it wasn't sealed and you could see bundles if 10 and 20 pound notes. DH went after him and said excuse me, man aggressively told him to piss off. We stood there not sure what to do. Sheepish man came back and asked for his envelope. No apology, no thank you.

Well… Tbf it’s Tesco’s not Waitrose.

the poor wee lamb is clearly borderline unhinged

In my car the lights don't go off if the engine is off until you open the door.

She should have said 'oh thank you'
She is just a nasty piece of work. Move on. You cannot change them.

You are a good egg op, she was incredibly rude.

I bloody hate these fucking idiots who sit in their car facing the opposite direction, so their blinding you as your driving along.

really rude of her but modern cars can have the lights on for quite a bit longer without risk compared to older cars. Maybe she felt you were implying she was stupid?

Yep, the usual attempt at a friendly gesture ends in being told to f off, then (semi) piled on on MN. Britain in 2026. What a moral wasteland it's become.

I think the ‘hanging on by a thread’ comments are just in relation to the fact it’s probably a very rare moment of peace and quiet. And it is frustrating when that’s disturbed. I don’t need to be slavishly grateful for other people’s unhelpful information, I really don’t!

Thank you, I thought I was going mad at some of the responses.

Seriously people, learn to switch your headlights off! Just because something is automatic it doesn't mean it's beneficial, or cannot be disabled.

And while you're at it, also learn to use the manual setting more generally. The automatic sensors are too slow to dip them early enough half of the time. This is why we all complain about glare at night and there are so many accidents due to said glare.

I think the "they might drain your battery" was a bit much tbh. I don't think a battery is going to drain while she's sitting in the car, even for an hour. Unless its particularly shit. I think you were over the top to bother her with it tbh. I wouldn't have told you to eff off or anything, but it would probably have annoyed me