Unfortunately, many people now operate on a knife-edge of civility.
At one time, swearing, abuse and even violence would be the last resort, now it appears to be the second, if not the first.
My mother told me of an incident a few weeks ago in which she was followed into a car park and berated by a young woman for cutting her up on a roundabout a few minutes earlier.
Mother is in her 70s and she would be the first to admit her driving skills have declined, but if she had baulked this woman it would not have been intentional.
I'm bound to support my mother, but I was annoyed that a young woman should see fit to follow and verbally abuse an elderly woman who was driving on her own.
There were no horns or sharp applicatons of brakes at the roundabout, so if anything did happen, it can't have been very serious.
Imagine what this dreadful young woman would do if someone really did do something to offend her.
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Be fair, we have no idea what has happened in this woman's life recently.
For all we know, the day after buying her new BMW, her husband left her, her parents died in a tragic accident and she was made redundant.
OK, it might not be that dramatic, but perhaps there was a reason for her over-the-top reaction?
Maybe the driver of the Golf had been abusing her first, but that wasn't witnessed?
We just don't know.
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Dont the people so concerned about their pristine cars have legs? There is usually plenty of room in the far flung areas of supermarket car parks.
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I think the supermarket owners are missing a trick - how about premium parking? Pay £2.00 and get a larger space, close to the entrance, with a barrier entry/exit to prevent freeloaders. I'm sure than even in these straightened days there will be MPs and bankers who could afford it, even if us ordinary folk choose to walk...
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An excellent idea.
These days I usually try to straddle a couple of bays* (I'll hasten to add that I generally park as far away from the actual store entrance as is humanly possible and therefore not inconvenience 98% of the lardy's that like to RORO of their motors/into the store) thereby ensuring that nobody gets close enough to my 6-year old vRS.
The best solution for me, however, is to go supermarket shopping at 7:15am when there's hardly anyone else around. The downside to this is that there are hardly any human cashiers around in Sainsbury's at that time of the morning, but please don't get me started on that one!
*Sits back and awaits blast of hot-air from the...
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I've been known to park in an empty car park in such a way as the adjacent space is not an attractive option. Helps when getting my children i and out. Otherwise I just try and park slap bang in the middle of the space.
People have a right to own nice cars, but when that right spills over and interferes with other people, for instance in the privately owned supermarket, which has determined that parents with young children should get more space, then they are in the wrong, and need to be more considerate/rethink their car ownership. No man lives in a vacuum.
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I could cheerfully have carried out an act of violence when parking on a supermarket car park a few months back. I went to the bottom most, deserted corner and parked at least 5 bays away from any vehicle in all directions, side, front, rear. As I got out I noticed a new ding and went to look at the front drivers side wing, leaving the drivers door slightly open. With in seconds I was aware of another vehicle trying to get in to the space the door was occupying, the female occupant glowering at me with disgust all over her face. I shut the door and she parked slap bang next to me. WHY ? There were with out exaggeration, over 100 other empty space available. Not in singles but in big blocks of 4 and five.
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Mr X, in all seriousness, there are people out there who can only park straight if they have something to park straight next to .
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Mr X in all seriousness there are people out there who can only park straight if they have something to park straight next to .
Sounds plausible, but why does the same thing happen in cinemas and restaurants? Herding instinct perhaps?
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So it's not just me.Similar scenario. Taking the little man to Toys r Us in the wifes car. Park well away from the entrance. Dozens of empty spaces and yes you guessed it.Came back to the car, still loads of spaces in a near empty car park but some dozy idiot has parked so close to me that I can't get the rear door fully open to get him into his child seat.
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Doesn't always help. I always park at the far end of car parks myself, for I freely admit to being bothered by such things as dings and dents, trivial as they surely are in the grand scheme of things.
But you still get muppets who park 2mm next to you in a sea of empty spaces, or fling their empty shopping trolley in the direct of your car as they depart...
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On a similar note I was once berated by a lady in an MPV. She lost it completely.
I approached a large roundabout - one I use very regularly and written on the approach lane is A4010. I wanted the A4010 so stopped waiting for the traffic light to change. Meanwhile MPV pulls up beside me, traffic light turns to green and we set off - my lane still states A4010 on the r/bout and I head towards my exit. Suddenly all hell lets loose - I was already aware that the MPV had moved rather close behind me but she was now very very close, blowing horns, screaming and thumping both fists on her steering wheel. She looked like a respectable lady if it weren't for the snarling teeth and obvious verbal abuse only she could hear. I know why she's got herself all worked up - she thought I'd got into the wrong lane. I hadn't - She had. I was tempted to pull over & show her her error but I just laughed and left it. I do wonder though that had she done that to someone else slightly more stressed than I she might easily have got her comeuppance.
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Whenever I get a new, or new-to-me car, I wait until it gets its first ding in a car park or on the street and then almost feel better: it's happened and the world didn't end.
Like other posters I try to use bits of large car parks where there's spaces on either side but some galoot will nearly always be right by when I get back and I check for damage.
Supermarket trolleys are a menace when abandoned by someone who seems to think he or she is exempt from the dreadful chore of having to wheel the trolley to the collection point. Too much effort to go twenty five yards when they've just pushed it a quarter of a mile round the super-market.
People are thoughtless and careless, but if you can't handle the risk to your motor you'd better leave it on the drive (if you have one) and polish it of a Sunday before having a quiet sit in it and listening to Songs of Praise on the wireless.
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A friend of mine who lives in Weybridge is appalled at the manners of local housewives.
From a recent experience, when someone opened their door into the side of her car, the other party thought it quite normal to bash someone elses car when opening the door
Nouveau riche lowlifes in spouses company cars, are more of a menace than chavs in our part of the world - sad
MVP
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Nouveau riche lowlifes in spouses company cars are more of a menace than chavs in our part of the world - sad
I could not agree more!
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Cars get scratched in supermarket car parks. I even rest the trolley against mine while I'm unloading, and there are scratches on the bodywork to prove it!
When I replace my car with a newer car, I'll probably rest the trolley against the car parked next to me instead!!!!
Edited by Sofa Spud on 15/05/2009 at 13:17
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Cars get scratched in supermarket car parks. I even rest the trolley against mine while I'm unloading and there are scratches on the bodywork to prove it! When I replace my car with a newer car I'll probably rest the trolley against the car parked next to me instead!!!!
LOL! Like your humour!
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You think the Sofa is joking?
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Actually i rest my trolley against my car whilst unloading it but im always careful how i do it so as not to scratch anything
I too always park in the far flung echoes of the netto carpark where the staff park to minimise damage
Most people today seem to have a couldnt care less attitude to pristine motors these days, but wait till they go looking at a newer car ,watch the female of the species point at the minutest mark with a glowering finger or the toe as it pokes out of her sandals
the men are worse when they ask what will you do with this small ding and i reply they can have it for free
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I have to admit that I usually park in parent and child spaces even though I have no children. I see no reason why they should get to park closer to the store and in larger spaces. Kids after all are a choice!
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Kids after all are a choice!
No they aren't. You find them under a gooseberry bush and then feel guilty about them till you die.
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>>>She is somewhat past her best
Are you a beauty contest judge flunky?
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I see no reason why they should get to park closer to the store and in larger spaces.
Ever tried getting two wriggly toddlers into child seats when someone has parked so close you can barely get the door open? Or tried to guide them between the cars zooming down the lanes and reversing without looking as you push a fully loaded trolley on your own?
No, of course you haven't.
Kids after all are a choice!
Yes, but it doesn't mean the rest of society can't make some allowances does it? After we were all kids once, that's how we all became adults with cars, or had you forgot? :)
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Then, having driven to the supermarket at 7.30am, there`s what goes on actually inside the supermarket. I saw someone furtively (little looks both ways) then tucking into the grapes, like a starving turkey - and then resealing the bags.
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I've seen customers doing worse! Elderly woman, lifts lid off pate or similar, dabs with finger, tastes, then replaces lid. On to the next.... Bet she clangs car doors.
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> I have to admit that I usually park in parent and child spaces even though I have no children. I see no reason why they should get to park closer to the store and in larger spaces. Kids after all are a choice
I think the reason for the larger spaces is to get the kids out without damaging adjacent cars. Generally doors have to be opened a little wider to lift a child out of a car seat. And the closeness to the entrance is to minimise the risk of small children being run over on the way into the shop, something I imagine the supermarket owners would be keen to avoid - not good for trade.
Ultimately if you are in a private place (such as a car park), you should respect the wishes of the owner. And in this case that is that people with small children get better spaces. Casual disrespect does nobody any favours.
And I guess families presumably spend more money than 1 or 2 person households, and if Supermarket A has nice big spaces then Mrs. 4x4 will probably shop there in preference to Supermarket B.
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Our local Sainsburys introduced a motorcycle bay along with a nice lamp post to chain around. Then changed it to a taxi bay by simply rotating the sign around, have wondered about the consequence of going there in the dead of night to turn it back round, then thought sod it you've just lost my business.
Boris
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Many years ago I was told a story about a woman who was reversing her big MB saloon into a space when a young chav in a clapped out Fiesta nipped in before her.
He got out and sneered 'You can do that when you're young and have a nippy car'
She promptly stepped on the gas and crushed said Fiesta against a wall, got out and said 'And you can do that when you're very wealthy !'
Probably an urban legend but all good fun.
Ted
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A brand new car with no scratches, chips or slight car park damage, is just a car that going to get a scratch, chip or slight car park damage any day soon now
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any day soon now
Alas, yes... better get that Corsa detailed before it's too late, Rattle...
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Much of the problem is the peculiar British jealousy disease.
It doesn't necessarily require the object of their envy to be expensive, just cared for is enough to incite this wierd behaviour.
Park a rusty old jalopy and it won't get touched, but if you have a (possibly old) but cared for unusual car and i guarantee it will be deliberately banged by chav types opening their doors onto it, quite apart from the numbskulls wholly incapable of parking.
SWMBO used to abandon the ancient Volvo estate anywhere, (the superb turning circle meant you could put it anywhere), never gained any extra visible damage.
Within 24 hours of owning our 6 year old (now 13 years) MB coupe it had received what must have been an almightly blow from a car door needing smart repair, this was parked in a quiet section of an antiques warehouse for 1 hour.
Thats just the malicious ones, the merely stupid and incompetent or those too thick to know better offer a different set of rules to fight against.
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I'm fond of kicking my Pride when someone opens a door next to it and saying:
I paid fifty quid for that, 'ave a care!
Also:
I paid fifty quid for that, d'yer fink I bovvered inshorring it!
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Cars get scratched in supermarket car parks. I even rest the trolley against mine while I'm unloading and there are scratches on the bodywork to prove it!
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welshlads top tip of the day keep an old bath towel in the boot of your car to hang over the back when unloading your shopping from a trolley it will stop the trolley scratching your car and will also hold the trolley still and stop it rolling away........unless your on a hill!!!
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