Do you use parent and child spaces without children?

[Sticks.]

BrabusMog said:

That's a fair enough response, it's a shame most posters on this thread aren't as balanced as you but appear to be more like this lady...

No, it's not one of those 'think of the children' issues imho, it's just pragmatic.

At my local gym/leisure centre there aren't enough P&C spaces for all those with small children at one time. If you saw the way many parents disregard the fact that it is a car park, where unsupervised and inattentive kids can get run over, you'd make provision for minimising the risk. It's not uncommon for someone's seemingly unaccompanied child to have run out in front of my car, followed some yards back by a parent, taking no or very little notice.

It pisses me off because I know as a driver it'd be asssumed to be my fault, and I'd feel awful if it happened, even if it wasn't. Supermarket companies etc at the very least wouldn't want it happening on their patch.

Spoken as someone who doens't have kids, want kids, or even like the child-centric society particularly, but as a pragmatist. kids are stupid, parents are sometimes careless, act accordingly.

And if you use a P&C or disabled space when it's not your place to, you just another one of the lazy, 'fk you' type. Have a bit more respect for other people, and yourself.

And if it was based on what you spend there'd surely be a malt whisky space, as I can't think of many other ways you can spend £60 and need one bag.

[Devil2575]

Redgate said:

Being a dad myself I think it has been made abundantly clear why those P & C parking spaces are so useful to us parents.

Now I would be really interested to hear their arguments from those who think it is OK to use them, even if they have no kids on board.

I personally think it simply boils down to a lack of education, but I could be wrong.

I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons from not appreciating quite how useful they are to parents with young kids to having a chip on your shoulder because one group of people are getting somthing that you're not.

[DonkeyApple]

blindswelledrat said:

Peoples resentment of child parking spaces is nothing short of bewildering.
There are thousands of spaces in your average supermarket and the absolute worse case scenario is parking at the furthers point and having to walk as much as 50 metres. I read through threads like this and sometimes get the overwhelmingly depressing notion that 30% of the population are just complete wkers.

Just losers. To resent that someone is able to park a few yards closer than them is just pathetic. pH seems littered with loser blokes who are angry at women or anyone who is seemingly doing better than them. They would do well to channel that energy into not being such losers because that's what they are really angry at, themselves.

Like that PHer who is very proud that he drives a 911 but froths about all the chavs he has to mix with when going about his daily business. Sell the car and use what money you have to live where you don't mix with the people you don't like!

Edited by DonkeyApple on Monday 27th July 12:18

[xRIEx]

jbsportstech said:

St John Smythe said:

That's what they tell you. I think the real reason behind it is financial. Who on average spends more in a supermarket, a Mum with kids doing the weekly shop or one of the angry PHers on this thread nipping in to get some fags and booze? Of course they want to make it easier for families to shop.

Alot of families have tighter budgets than coupleless children.

http://www.jcdecaux.co.uk/system/files_force/The%2...

"+12% more likely to have children in the household"


http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/companies/n-sainsburys-...

"The family segment already accounts for 25% of our business ... "


http://www.trtmediasales.co.uk/assets/files/ebooks...

"Average customer age between
35-44, predominantly female
Customer demographic – C1C2,
with children 0-15 years old"

The supermarkets know who shops in their stores.


Like for like (household income-wise) the amount spent in a supermarket buy a family is likely to be higher because supermarkets sell so many child- and family-centric products.

A family's (overall) budget is more likely to be constrained (in certain ares) because a higher proportion of that budget ends up in the supermarket's tills.

The budget constraints are more likely to extend to luxuries like holidays, cars, etc. which supermarkets don't sell. A childless couple are more likely to buy clothes from high street shops; a family will often buy children's clothes from the supermarket, and possibly the parents will too (cheaper prices).

[Devil2575]

DonkeyApple said:

blindswelledrat said:

Peoples resentment of child parking spaces is nothing short of bewildering.
There are thousands of spaces in your average supermarket and the absolute worse case scenario is parking at the furthers point and having to walk as much as 50 metres. I read through threads like this and sometimes get the overwhelmingly depressing notion that 30% of the population are just complete wkers.

Just losers. To resent that someone is able to park a few yards closer than them is just pathetic. pH seems littered with loser blokes who are angry at women or anyone who is seemingly doing better than them. They would do well to channel that energy into not being such losers because that's what they are really angry at, themselves.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[BrabusMog]

Devil2575 said:

Redgate said:

Being a dad myself I think it has been made abundantly clear why those P & C parking spaces are so useful to us parents.

Now I would be really interested to hear their arguments from those who think it is OK to use them, even if they have no kids on board.

I personally think it simply boils down to a lack of education, but I could be wrong.

I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons from not appreciating quite how useful they are to parents with young kids to having a chip on your shoulder because one group of people are getting somthing that you're not.

Lol. I get the same as the other group, it's just frowned upon if I dont have my nephew with me. No chip here, apart from the one that all the vacuous idiot parents have that think the world revolves around them as soon as they have a kid. Note that this isn't all parents, just some.

[RYH64E]

BrabusMog said:

Lol. I get the same as the other group, it's just frowned upon if I dont have my nephew with me. No chip here, apart from the one that all the vacuous idiot parents have that think the world revolves around them as soon as they have a kid. Note that this isn't all parents, just some.

It's nothing to do with parents, it's about the right of the carpark owner to decide who uses their land and on what terms. It's no different from a private company having reserved spaces for Directors in their office carpark, their carpark, their rules.

[Redgate]

BrabusMog said:

Lol. I get the same as the other group, it's just frowned upon if I dont have my nephew with me. No chip here, apart from the one that all the vacuous idiot parents have that think the world revolves around them as soon as they have a kid. Note that this isn't all parents, just some.

I was not sure until now but ... Top trolling, and I fell for it.

And if you weren't trolling, well, as I have said before on many occasions on this forum: some people were raised by their parents and others just fed.

[Andy665]

I am OCD with regard to dents, scratches etc - I also nearly always have my 7 year old son with me

I now park in the non parent and child spaces and well away from the busy areas

My son now has the common sense he needs to walk safely with me across the car park, I don't get my car damaged and I leave the parent and child spaces for the people that need them - oh and the selfish, lazy, arrogant twunts that are not capable or consider themselves too important to walk an extra 30-40 metres

[Vipers]

Posh cars! Up here in Aberdeen, we have Rollers, Ferraris, the odd Maserati who park with the rest of us at Sainsbury's, never seen one ever nick a P & C space just in case it's dinged.

Plus the odd Bentleys and Aston Martins, so what's the mentality elsewhere where some drivers abandon their vehicles where they shouldn't, I just don't understand the mentality.

[ZesPak]

BrabusMog said:

Lol. I get the same as the other group, it's just frowned upon if I dont have my nephew with me. No chip here, apart from the one that all the vacuous idiot parents have that think the world revolves around them as soon as they have a kid. Note that this isn't all parents, just some.

Wow, you must really think a lot of yourself?

I've never seen the use of these spots, but yesterday I took the 6mth old to a very busy store that didn't have these spots, and it was a nightmare to get the little one out. In fact, I had to get him out of the car, put the seat on the ground in a busy parking lot, and park the car in.
My car might be too wide or the spaces might have been a tad too small, but if it had special places and someone without kids would have taken one up, calling him an inconsiderate lazy tt is the least I'd have done.

[anonymous-user]

xRIEx said:

jbsportstech said:

St John Smythe said:

That's what they tell you. I think the real reason behind it is financial. Who on average spends more in a supermarket, a Mum with kids doing the weekly shop or one of the angry PHers on this thread nipping in to get some fags and booze? Of course they want to make it easier for families to shop.

Alot of families have tighter budgets than coupleless children.

http://www.jcdecaux.co.uk/system/files_force/The%2...

"+12% more likely to have children in the household"


http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/companies/n-sainsburys-...

"The family segment already accounts for 25% of our business ... "


http://www.trtmediasales.co.uk/assets/files/ebooks...

"Average customer age between
35-44, predominantly female
Customer demographic – C1C2,
with children 0-15 years old"

The supermarkets know who shops in their stores.


Like for like (household income-wise) the amount spent in a supermarket buy a family is likely to be higher because supermarkets sell so many child- and family-centric products.

A family's (overall) budget is more likely to be constrained (in certain ares) because a higher proportion of that budget ends up in the supermarket's tills.

The budget constraints are more likely to extend to luxuries like holidays, cars, etc. which supermarkets don't sell. A childless couple are more likely to buy clothes from high street shops; a family will often buy children's clothes from the supermarket, and possibly the parents will too (cheaper prices).

Exactly. I think the supermarkets know what they are doing.

[Devil2575]

BrabusMog said:

Devil2575 said:

Redgate said:

Being a dad myself I think it has been made abundantly clear why those P & C parking spaces are so useful to us parents.

Now I would be really interested to hear their arguments from those who think it is OK to use them, even if they have no kids on board.

I personally think it simply boils down to a lack of education, but I could be wrong.

I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons from not appreciating quite how useful they are to parents with young kids to having a chip on your shoulder because one group of people are getting somthing that you're not.

Lol. I get the same as the other group, it's just frowned upon if I dont have my nephew with me. No chip here, apart from the one that all the vacuous idiot parents have that think the world revolves around them as soon as they have a kid. Note that this isn't all parents, just some.

So no chip, apart from the chip then

I think you're like many on PH, fiercely competetive and can't stand to see some people getting something that you aren't. You're issue is that you think the world should revolve around you, but it doesn't and that annoys you.

[BrabusMog]

Devil2575 said:

BrabusMog said:

Devil2575 said:

Redgate said:

Being a dad myself I think it has been made abundantly clear why those P & C parking spaces are so useful to us parents.

Now I would be really interested to hear their arguments from those who think it is OK to use them, even if they have no kids on board.

I personally think it simply boils down to a lack of education, but I could be wrong.

I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons from not appreciating quite how useful they are to parents with young kids to having a chip on your shoulder because one group of people are getting somthing that you're not.

Lol. I get the same as the other group, it's just frowned upon if I dont have my nephew with me. No chip here, apart from the one that all the vacuous idiot parents have that think the world revolves around them as soon as they have a kid. Note that this isn't all parents, just some.

So no chip, apart from the chip then

I think you're like many on PH, fiercely competetive and can't stand to see some people getting something that you aren't. You're issue is that you think the world should revolve around you, but it doesn't and that annoys you.

I could be. Or I could just be a bit selfish and don't want my car to get scratched, so I use the parent and child spots. I don't think the world should revolve around me, I usually walk to my nearest tesco when I'm in the UK, but if I need to do a big shop then I will park in a parent and child spot.

I chose to comment when people started getting hysterical and making car parks sound more dangerous than a black run with kids jumping out here, there, and everywhere.

[Ahimoth]

So, there is a chip then?

The car park at the supermarket I use is really instructive to me. As you enter it, you can turn left or right. Left is nearer the door, and has all the disabled and P&C spaces. There's probably about 80 spaces in total, half reserved for those uses. Still, probably 90% of people turn left. They then drive right around this area looking for a space (and frequently abusing P&C spaces, occasionally disabled)

The right side of the car park can be mostly empty, and has far more spaces. Heaven forfend that we might have to walk 50m further.

[DonkeyApple]

Vipers said:

Posh cars! Up here in Aberdeen, we have Rollers, Ferraris, the odd Maserati who park with the rest of us at Sainsbury's, never seen one ever nick a P & C space just in case it's dinged.

Plus the odd Bentleys and Aston Martins, so what's the mentality elsewhere where some drivers abandon their vehicles where they shouldn't, I just don't understand the mentality.

But in Aberdeen precious a little princess blokes don't generally last long. It's certainly a town where blokes still take personal pride in being a bloke as opposed to how expensibe their moisturiser is.

And they can comfortably afford to fix minor dings in the cars they've bought.

[jmorgan]

BrabusMog said:

My point is that a lot of people say that it is "flash harrys" and "self important idiots" that park in these spaces, but it isn't. And I genuinely would still use them if they were at the back of a car park. I use it to prevent my car getting scratched.

I have noticed the precious being parked across two space more recently. Just call it bad parking then.

[xRIEx]

Devil2575 said:

like many on PH, fiercely competetive and can't stand to see some people getting something that you aren't.

That's the crux of it.

[Andy665]

BrabusMog said:

Or I could just be a bit selfish and don't want my car to get scratched, so I use the parent and child spots.

If you do not want the risk of your car being scratched to be higher than you feel comfortable with then is it beneath you to park away from the entrance as I and many others do - or is your time so valuable that you warrant special treatment?

Walking across supermarket car parks is a risk with young children, my 7 year old has nearly been knocked over several times as people don't bothering to follow one signs, using inappropriate speed etc have taken us by surprise, despite this I still do not use P+C spaces as I think parents with babies and very young children need the space a damn sight more than I do

[BrabusMog]

Andy665 said:

BrabusMog said:

Or I could just be a bit selfish and don't want my car to get scratched, so I use the parent and child spots.

If you do not want the risk of your car being scratched to be higher than you feel comfortable with then is it beneath you to park away from the entrance as I and many others do - or is your time so valuable that you warrant special treatment?

Walking across supermarket car parks is a risk with young children, my 7 year old has nearly been knocked off several times as people don't bothering to follow one signs, using inappropriate speed etc have taken us by surprise

This is the last time I can be bothered to respond to a comment on this thread. I have had my last three cars scratched in the same car park when I parked well out of the way. I don't have a huge out of town car park to use, it's a pokey little tesco in SW London. I use the parent and child spaces to stop it getting scratched because I care about my property but a lot of people don't.