To shout at someone parking parent & child space with NO CHILD IN CAR

[ElleBing]

Right, sorry for the incoming rant but I am STILL furious about this...

Pulled up in supermarket carpark yesterday with DS and 6 month old niece in back of car. It's pouring with rain so I pull into the parent/child bay looking for a space. There's one in sight so I drive towards it only to be beaten by a big, fat BMW driving against the one-way system! "Oh well" I think and go to drive off UNTIL a couple with no kid get out of the car. I did get angry straight away. Why the fuck should the LOs get soaked because they're too lazy to park elsewhere? I wound my window down and said "you do know you're supposed to have a child to park in parent and child?" the woman leaned in really aggressively telling me that her son was inside the supermarket with his grandma (wtf?) So I let it go...

Half an hour later, I'm pushing LOs round in trolley when I see that couple, with no kid. She knew I'd seen but I didn't say anything. Next thing I know, I'm looking at the baking potatoes and the deranged cunt is shoving her mobile phone in my face showing me a picture of her DS. "THAT'S MY SON!" I was like "And? I've got a picture of my disabled MIL on MY phone. Doesn't mean I'd park in a disabled space without her in the car!" The she started trying to intimidate me (she was a lot bigger than me) by towering over me repeatedly saying "DON'T question ME" Who the fuck does she think she is? I could feel myself getting to boiling point so I very calmly told her to fuck off (don't think LOs heard!) and walked off.

I am STILL angry about this today. AIBU? If I'd been caught out doing something like that, I'd think "fair enough" and move on, NOT start verbally attacking the person who caught me out. I felt like telling her that she could use the extra walk from the normal spaces to shift some fat off her arse but that would just be puerile, wouldn't it?

imoscarsmum - you would happily bash someone else's car with your car door if you can't get in a P&C/T space (which is what it boils down to, because in a regular space there is only just the amount of space required to get your tyres within the white lines, so pretty bloody difficult not to park close to someone else) simply because you drive a company car - this really doesn't gel with your statements about respect.

riven, hush now, remember that being old or disabled means you should never go out

My DH was terribly indignant when someone told him off for parking in P & C. After all, he has 4 DC. He was halfway round the supermarket before he realised that none of them were with him.

Chipping No - you misunderstand, I wouldn't bash someone's door just because I couldn't get a P&C space! (perhaps bash was a bad choice of word)
What I was trying to say was that actually, car park spaces in general give me enough space to get myself in and out easily. If I have DD with me, I'd much rather park in a P&C for convenience but if I can't I generally find with a bit of manoevering , I can also get DD in and out OK of normal spaces (think of a 7 point turn rather than a 3 for comparison, IYSWIM).

However, this all depends on other drivers being able to park properly in the first place. If everyone parks as they should, in standard spaces no one should have a problem. On several occasions though I have returned to my car to find some idiot who is either too stupid or too lazy to park correctly have parked up without applying common sense. They have either parked closer than necessary to me or parked at an angle etc etc (for example in a tighter than average space, is it sensible to park so one of your doors is very close up against the other car's driver door. Perhaps it makes more sense, if you absolutely must, to have your passenger door closer to their passenger door).
It's these instances where I have no sympathy for other cars and if, in order to get DD into the car, I have to push my door into the other car door I will do. I don't bang or do it violently.

If I am driving and park in a 'standard' space (whether DD is with me or not) if I notice a car seat in the car next to me, I will try to give a bit more space on the side of the car seat.
I could go on ad infinitum but I hope that explains it. If people find parking difficult perhaps they shouldn't drive.

"And I have to admit, that as a company car driver, if I have to park in a standard space and some idiot parks too close to me (especially when it's obvious I have a car seat in the back), I have no qualms about bashing the other car door with mine. A bit of common sense is needed. If I'm out and about I try not to park too close to anyone, as everyone needs space."

People who refuse to park in the MIDDLE of the white lines piss me off more than P&C space stealers. So much so that my friend bought me a pack of pre-printed stickers to keep in our car for this situation. They read: "Thanks for parking so close to my car. Why don't you leave me a fucking tin opener so I can get out next time?"

imoscarsmum - around here, if I park in a 'regular' space, in the middle and the other person does as well, I cannot get the LO's in & out of the car without the doors touching the other car. We have a regular car, not a big one. So I guess it depends where you are. However, if you are there first and someone parks next to you, or should I say, carelessly abandons their car in a haphazard way, then yes, they take the risk of getting their car bumped.

What really annoys me is when I am parked in the space (nicely ) and some tit lets their door bang against my car, simply because they can't be arsed holding their door and being careful....

One day I had to climb in the boot of the car (fortunately a station wagon) and over the seats into the drivers seat and back the car out, then put the LO's in, the cars each side had both parked so close to my car not even Flat Stan could have got in any of the doors!! Fortunately there was another woman with her kids near my car who kept an eye on the girls in the trolley whilst I did this manouvre!!

Lots of people drive that shouldn't!!