Popping to the shop - which makes more sense?

[aperolspritzbasicbitch]

Am I going insane??

Two adults.

One is cycling in to the local high street for a coffee with child. Coffee spot literally across the street from M&S.

One is driving in to the same town centre to drop off a child at the library, will not be getting out of the car, but because of the layout of the road will have to drive past the back of the same M&S.

one adult suggests to the other that they pop in and pick up some rolls and cold cuts for lunch, as they will be feet away from the shop, bikes already chained up.

the cycling adult says they think the other adult should do it, they are driving right past it. Driving adult explains they have no intention of getting out of the car, so it would add on a car parking space faff/fee.

they’ve reached an impasse, as both adults think it makes more sense for the other to go.

thoughts please?

Yes, faff as in struggle to get in the car park, struggle to find a spot, pay and then struggle to get out.

Moment has passed now anyone, and nothing special was had for lunch

Clearly need a diagram of this impenetrable car park to help decide!

Not impenetrable, just busy on a Saturday.

Driver should do it (unless car park is expensive) as it's easier to get the shopping home, and they won't have a child with them. It's usually much easier to pop in and out of a shop without a child, and cheaper (although I'm a soft touch, so that might explain that)

Has nobody suggested the OP should LTB? Can’t believe what MN is coming to!

Or, driver also picks up new spade and starts digging foundations for a patio.

What if someone steals the bike when they're in M&S?

They chain the bikes up.

Driver manages to run errands with the children all the time, and it’s never than big of a deal. They aren’t toddlers.

Either could have done it, but in what world is it a hardship to park a car in a car park and get out? You're not even having to detour. Assuming you're not going to drip feed that you're a wheelchair user or you're driving a HGV.

Round us there are definitely supermarket car parks where due to the road layout, at busy times you have to queue to get in and out, and spaces are also sometimes hard to come by. Come to think of it, one such is right by our library! OP are you in south west Surrey by any chance!?

Obviously the moment has passed but I’d have said driver. They are nearby and it’s easier for them to pop in and drive home than for the cyclist with child in tow plus it getting warm and sweaty on the ride back.

Either could have done it, so the one who wanted it most should have got it. That turned out to be neither of you!

Just wondering because it’s something I’ve seen come up a couple of times - do people not run errands when they have their children?!

This is Mumsnet. The one who identifies as male is wrong. Now what's the question? Ltb.

If the M&S has a free car park like a normal supermarket the person in the car should. If it’s a typical town centre shop and you’d have to park else where and pay and then walk to the M&S the person with the bikes should go.

100% the driver. You can park up there and drop the child off if it's close by then pop in.
'Parking is a faff' is a lazy excuse imo.

Lazier than not walk the couple of feet across the high street from where you already are?

Cycled into town (and back) vs driver refusing to get out of the car. One is objectively lazier than the other.

🤣🤣 Ok.

You’re obviously the driver. I think it’s easier for a driver to carry shopping home than cyclist. Depends how difficult parking in the area is though.

This! Did no one have lunch in the end?..

Of course lunch was had.

It was just something that was already at home rather than fresh rolls and nicer filling.

If this was my town, it would definitely be easier for the cyclist because parking is ridiculous here- busy and expensive, especially on a Saturday.

Our M&S doesn’t have its own car park so you really can’t ’pop in’ unless you’re already on foot. If I wanted to ‘pop in’ as a driver, I would spend probably ten minutes looking for a space on a street or a car park, would pay £2.50 and then walk 5-10 minutes to the store. By which time the cyclist could have been in, out and on their way home.

Similar to here.

the car park directly between the library and M&S was rammed, took me the driver ages to even get to and from the drop off point for other child, let alone find an actual parking spot.

It’s not a massive deal by all means, no fall out happened, I’m just trying to understand people’s point of view.

I would have sent my child (that I was dropping at the library) into M&S with the shopping list. Drop them outside, drive around the block, pick them up outside and then ultimately drop them off at the library as requested.

If the child is old enough to be dropped somewhere, they’re old enough to go into the shop by themselves. You (the driver) don’t have to get out of the car or find a parking space then.

Cyclist could do shopping and meet the driver to hand over shopping. It sounds like it's easy enough and not too much bother either way, not sure why there is an issue unless it's just the peri hormones making a mountain out of a molehill. Also other shops are available if the M&S is hard to park at. This is a text book first world problem.