Lazy/horrible people

justback83

I brought my two sisters and niece, who is severely disabled, into a restaurant in Clontarf during the week. We parked in one of the many, many spots available (all disabled spots were taken). I had the disabled cert on my dashboard. We had parked in a space with the space to our left empty and the space facing that space empty - ie the spaces at my 9 and 11 o'clock were empty as well as at least 20 other spaces in the car park.

So, we had pulled the chair out of the boot and while we were constructing it, a man and woman pulled up to park in the space adjacent to ours. I had the passenger door opened as we had to take my niece from her seat on that side so they could not park there. They watched us finish constructing the chair, struggle to get my niece into it and close the door then moved their car into the space - it was literally less than a metres distance! We obviously needed the space to be able to get my niece from the car to her chair. He didn't seem to give a rats!

I was completely flabbergasted at how selfish the two of them had been. They sat there and watched us struggling then pulled in to the space, making it much more difficult to manage when we left the restaurant. I had to bite my tongue so hard as I thought I would end up getting upset and didn't want to add stress to the situation as they had travelled from Donegal that morning for my niece's appointment in the Remedial Hospital.

:mad::mad::mad:

CiDeRmAn

It always stinks that people don't give a fiddlers when there's an obvious need on another's behalf, to make that persons life easier.
But that's it.
They won't give you and yours a second thought.
That said.
There's a lot to be said for making a scene.
Make a show of them, make them realise just how ignorant their behaviour is and make it plain that it's unacceptable.
Maybe then they'll think next time, or at the very least be fearful that they will be made a fool of in public.

Johnboy1951

While I have no idea why they should have waited until their chosen parking spot was available, I see nothing at all to complain about.

justback83

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

While I have no idea why they should have waited until their chosen parking spot was available, I see nothing at all to complain about.

Perhaps they could have appreciated that we needed that extra space beside the passenger door of the car to get my disabled niece in and out of??

looksee

Not speaking as a mod, just throwing in a viewpoint. I can fully sympathise with the OP, coping with everyday things that wouldn't even be given a thought for most people can become a major issue for carers and of course for the people being cared for. Sometimes you just have to vent a bit.

The OP was parked in a normal parking spot, and yes, they did need the extra space to get the passenger out of the car, and it was totally unnecessary for the other car to hover, waiting to take that particular space when there were others available. Its a bit difficult to see why someone would wait for a space when there were plenty of others free, but there is no accounting for how people's minds work. However that space would undoubtedly have been filled by someone completely unaware of the difficulties, while the party were in the restaurant. So the end result would have been the same, it would be difficult to get the passenger back into the car.

I can fully understand the OP's exasperation, even if it was not entirely justified.

minktrapper

Lazy/horrible people.

No scarcity of them in this country.

Johnboy1951

looksee wrote: »

Not speaking as a mod, just throwing in a viewpoint. I can fully sympathise with the OP, coping with everyday things that wouldn't even be given a thought for most people can become a major issue for carers and of course for the people being cared for. Sometimes you just have to vent a bit.

The OP was parked in a normal parking spot, and yes, they did need the extra space to get the passenger out of the car, and it was totally unnecessary for the other car to hover, waiting to take that particular space when there were others available. Its a bit difficult to see why someone would wait for a space when there were plenty of others free, but there is no accounting for how people's minds work. However that space would undoubtedly have been filled by someone completely unaware of the difficulties, while the party were in the restaurant. So the end result would have been the same, it would be difficult to get the passenger back into the car.

I can fully understand the OP's exasperation, even if it was not entirely justified.

While I fully agree with everything else, I cannot agree with the emboldened line above.

We don't KNOW why, nor if those others also had needs that were best covered by that parking spot.

All is apparent is that the other spaces available did not suit them, for some unknown reason.

CiDeRmAn

I suppose is that these weren't people who knew no better, but they saw a person who needed assistance and, in order to make their own lives that bit easier, they took a decision that would make that persons life that bit harder.
It's probably symptomatic of a broader lack of a common sense of humanity and community rather than something deliberately aimed at those who need a little extra support.

jobbridge4life

It was horrible behaviour. Some people are so unthinking and uncaring. You were right to bite your tongue as hard as it was to do saying something to people like that would probably only have resulted in them attacking you.

mocha please!

jobbridge4life wrote: »

It was horrible behaviour. Some people are so unthinking and uncaring. You were right to bite your tongue as hard as it was to do saying something to people like that would probably only have resulted in them attacking you.

But they didn't actually do anything wrong ...

Maybe they planned to be in and out very quickly, so purposely took the space thinking that at least they'd be out of the way by the time the others came back.

Maybe they just didn't cop on, they might have seen a space, then chatted amongst themselves without actually concentrating on what the people in the next space were doing. After all, they were parking in a regular parking space next to a regular parking space - not a disabled parking space.

I really can't imagine that they did it out of horribleness, and it's a bit unfair to say so.

Laziness? Maybe ... or maybe one of their party had a disability (hidden or otherwise) that made it more difficult for them to walk a long distance into the restaurant. After all, the OP mentions that all the disabled spaces were taken - perhaps the occupant(s) of the other car had a disabled badge, too, and would otherwise have parked there if they could - not all disabilities require construction of a wheelchair, but instead, proximity to the premises is the important thing.

justback83

mocha please! wrote: »

But they didn't actually do anything wrong ...

Maybe they planned to be in and out very quickly, so purposely took the space thinking that at least they'd be out of the way by the time the others came back.

Maybe they just didn't cop on, they might have seen a space, then chatted amongst themselves without actually concentrating on what the people in the next space were doing. After all, they were parking in a regular parking space next to a regular parking space - not a disabled parking space.

I really can't imagine that they did it out of horribleness, and it's a bit unfair to say so.

Laziness? Maybe ... or maybe one of their party had a disability (hidden or otherwise) that made it more difficult for them to walk a long distance into the restaurant. After all, the OP mentions that all the disabled spaces were taken - perhaps the occupant(s) of the other car had a disabled badge, too, and would otherwise have parked there if they could - not all disabilities require construction of a wheelchair, but instead, proximity to the premises is the important thing.

They did not have a disabled badge on their car, I made sure to check in case I was holding them up - I checked while they were sitting there looking at us.

They didn't appear to have any physical disabilities that the couple of feet would have effected.

I also forgot to mention that the male driver of the car looked at my niece and asked her if she was "an impatient little girl". The irony of it all!

Johnboy1951

There is no requirement to 'have a disabled badge' unless using a specified space.
Just because a disability was not apparent does not mean it did not exist.

If someone using the parking space was going to be a bother, the OP could easily have asked the other people if they would kindly park elsewhere to leave space for his requirements.

If they had outright refused and were ignorant about the request, I would understand this thread.

As it stands I believe the OP was looking for special treatment without requesting it, and blowing off steam when it was not given - almost 'as a right'.

Completely unfair attitude to the other driver and passenger, IMO.