Bog Off - Sainsbury's Set An Example
As I need some more shelving for the flat and he is chief shelf builder Roland took me to B&Q this afternoon. I know how to live an exciting life, oh yes....Mind you, what am I talking about...you lot are reading this!So, B&Q*. Armed with the wheelchair and my pink leather clad blue badge off we set. Driving with Roland is always an experience but this time it wasn't the drive making me feel queasy. When we arrived in the car park the disabled parking to one side of the entrance was empty. Well, empty apart from the woman in the car parked across 3 or 4 spaces.
That kind of behaviour drives me nuts. It's just so damn selfish. Roland waved at her in that gesture universally known to drivers but impossible to describe which loosely translates to 'move yer arse'** The woman in the car gestured back to indicate we should wait as she was waiting to pick something up.
We gestured back by displaying the blue badge. The woman didn't move. We waved the blue badge about a bit more, mouthed that they were disabled bays and that she should move.
She shifted forward slightly so she was blocking more spaces than previously. Still indicating that she was waiting for something.
It was obvious by how she was parked that she was not waiting for a disabled person. Partly because she was across so many disabled bays, but mostly because if she had been waiting for someone with mobility difficulties she would've been making them walk further than they needed to go by parking across the spaces. That, and that mostly those with a genuine need for a disabled bay are considerate towards the needs of others requiring a disabled bay.
The increasing gesticulations and blue badge waving made it very clear we were serious about her moving. She pulled off angrily to wait just outside the main entrance and mouthed something about there being no need for it.
As we pulled forward into a disabled bay another car which had been stuck waiting for this lady to move was able to park a couple of bays over.
As this kind of incident is so common I was delighted to see the news today that Sainsbury's are to start issuing £50 fines to people misusing their accessible parking bays. Way to go Sainsbury's, here's hoping other businesses will follow your example!
*Orangey looking hardware type store for non Brits.
** No, not the two fingered salute. The other one. Where you flap your arms round a bit type thing
14 comments:
Ooo you picked up on my pet hate, next to our Asda is a KFC with probably more disabled parking spaces then Asda itself and in a decent walking distance with a pathway for Mum to manage, so if the Asda ones are full we will head towards the KFC ones.
It always amazes me however, how many people use these disabled bays for to sit and eat their KFC.
The weekend before last there were no bays available so I got out of the car, 4 out of the 5 parked where eating KFC no sign of a blue badge.
So I very politely went up to the first car and asked them to move so we could park up. You guessed it, they wouldn't until I made my way into KFC to ask them to move them, the stupid gits threw their KFC and drove off in a strop and we did get the parking space.
On wandering up to the front of the store I checked for blue badges and again 1 out of 3, so as I walked in I told the lovely greeter two cars where illegally parked, the satisfaction I got when both vehicle registration numbers where read out in the store, with strict instructions to move their vehicles.
A very beneficial day all round, I will keep doing it, if only to shame the people who do it so often.
Because to be fair if Mum isn't feeling too bad, which hasn't been in the last few months obviously she will park in a normal bay and not even use her badge because she feels guilty. The irony eh?? xx
Good for Sainsburys...my local Tesco notoriously fail to enforce, and as I have other issues with them too, I may feel forced to transfer my alliegance...that being the case, Sainsburys beckons!
Good for Sainsburys - Don't even get me started on Tesco's. They just don't care.
People are asses that way sometimes. Happens in the US too. It's that odd sense of entitlement that has permeated society.
It is the same down here. Some councils issue fines for parking in a disabled spot and some councils don't. Mum had a disabled permit (we hang them from the rear view mirror here) and when she was well she didn't like to use it at all. My hubby can apply for a permit as well but as he is able to walk without assistance we just don't bother.
There are rude people all over the world. *sigh*
Bendy,
Part of the problem is the way the badge and parking system is run and operated.
I lived in ??? a while back, in am ex council flat where all flats are now privately owned. Council remained the managing agent although all flats were privately owned. 6 flats and 6 parking space. Since they were built it was understood by all that it was one car space per flat and we had all kept to our own spaces, peace and harmony all round.
One of the residents became disabled, and his son was "connected" in the council, and without notice to any of the rest of us his space was signed up as a disabled space. Bit of a pointless exercise as none of the other residents ever used that space, and it was already marked up as residents only.
About a year later another of the spaces was marked up as disabled! No notice, no consultation, private flats, council just puts up sign allocating another space as disabled. Thereby displacing one of the other residents. Very unhappy residents.
It became apparent why later as the same "connected" son started using this space as his own (he was also disabled and an active member of the disabled politically correct crowd). Lots of hassle, lots of arguments, BUT THE COUNCIL COULD NOT BE PERSUADED TO SEE SENSE.
I moved out for this and other reasons. The same council refused permission to have the birds that moved into the roof spaced sorted by the pest people, you try living with loud birds above your bedroom ceiling all night. Not protected birds, just flying rats.
So I have had one set of very bad experiences. As part of investigating what was going on I discovered that the same vocal member of the disabled community was having the council allocated spaces allover the place as disabled. Some remote rural spots with only one parking spaced, which rarely had anyone using the space, suddenly became disabled only, effectively for the personal use of this one individual.
Now where are the checks and balances in the system to stop vocal people like this and politically correct councils going too far. For instance allocated way too many disabled spaces in some car park spaces, so that there are always more than half the disabled spaces empty yet often the rest of the car park is full. This is good for nobody, and does not help the disabled community in its relationship with the rest of the community.
To say nothing of some supermarkets, which again have way too many disabled, and/or "mother and baby" spaces, again bringing the whole system into disrepute.
I know I've driven temporarily sick and ill people who really do need to be parked next to the entrance to the doctors surgery, its not practical to have a badge issued for such short term issues, and I would have no problem parking in a supermarket or other disabled space with such a passenger. This is one of many other issues with the system.
And of course we all know the badge issuing system is in disrepute, I personally know folk using badges who really don't need to. Yes I'm not a doctor, but I know these people very well. And at the same time we have folk with genuine problems who wont get a badge because they are all too aware how badly in disrepute the system is.
So yes we get nobs parking in spaces they shouldn't. But really they situation is so chaotic and out of control, and in the power of nameless faceless wonders, that it is no wonder that sometimes decent ordinary folk ignore such signs.
"that it is no wonder that sometimes decent ordinary folk ignore such signs."
@No One -
No, there is no excuse for stupid, ignorant, selfish, behaviour on ANYONE'S part. Especially decent ordinary folk. No - let me correct that. 'Decent ordinary folk' don't do that sort of thing in the first place - no matter what they've put up with in their own and personal experience. 'Decent Ordinary Folk' will walk the extra bit because they can - knowing that others can't. 'Decent Ordinary Folk' UNDERSTAND. Dickhead.
hey using the word dickhead says all we need to know about you
i was simply pointing out that as much as I am on bendys side, the ultra militant disabled activists are not really doing disabled folk as a whole a service
the system needs a lot more checks and balances
and when youve been working a long hard day and you get home to find the council have turned your parking space allocated to your flat into a disabled space with no warning and no appeal mechanism maybe you will be a nice about it as i was
decent ordinary folk are shat on from all directions in this screwed up country, they really would like to be on the side of genuine disabled folk, but spouting a one sided view of the world is not going to help, the reality is the vast majority have worked out for themselves that the disabled badge system is corrupt and are reacting accordingly
It is such a an abuse, it annoys the hell out of me. But then some people are just so sodding selfish it doesn't occur to them that there are any other people on the planet, disabled or able bodied. The just believe that there needs are so more important than anyone elses..... ggggrrr!
xx
Arrrgghhhh. Yes this happens way too bloody often. I have the problem at Tesco as have others. Get really annoyed when I can actually manage to get to Tesco, I go late at night/early in the morning (24/7 Tesco) and still have trouble parking in the disabled bays because for some reason I think it's thought we disabled people don't do evenings, probably because they think we're all tucked up in our beds, carers having gone home for the night or something. Anyway, I'm pleased to say that the last time I parked there during the day a man sprung out of nowhere and checked for a badge, I then helpfully went round pointing out badgeless cars whilst he gave them all parking tickets. Hope to see him there again. Good for you persevering as I don't always have the courage as I've been shouted at many a time for not really being disabled and making it up I don't always feel I can face it.
@ No One, I would love to know where you live if the supermarkets all have too many disabled parking spaces that are half empty! My local supermarket disabled bays are always filled, normally with people without badges, perhaps like yourself using them for short term problems? If you had a long term or permanent problem or interacted daily with someone who does, then you would understand the "vocal" disabled activists.
alhi mate you have no idea what i have or have not got
i sympathise with areas where the supermarkets have too little disabled car parking provision, BUT i am equally upset with places that have obvious over supply of disabled spaces while all other spaces are regularly full
dont think you realise how bad some of the short term problems I had in mind are, certainly a lot more deserving than many badge holders
so once again I think the disabled lobby needs to see it from a wider view before you have any chance of making progress
you all just sound like a bunch of whingers on here, and YES i know many of you are genuine decent folk too - BUT you need to be more balanced for it to sound like that
etc
Oh Bendy Sweety, I just read your lovely (and helpful) comment on Von's blog and I had to come over and give you a hug. Thankyou sweetheart. xox Kim
No One, if anyone is whinging it's you.
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