For the third time within a three month period, I have yet again been verbally abused by a driver of one of the 'supercars' that regularly frequent the village.
Not for the first time, I arrived with my seven-year old disabled son at the Waitrose car park to find the disabled bays full, one of which was occupied by a red Ferrari with no blue badge displayed.
On calmly approaching the driver, he wound down his window to say (rather aggressively) that his elderly grandmother was shopping inside the store and quite frankly to mind my own business. I suggested that he ought to display his blue badge, and was immediately met by a barrage of abusive language.
Still unable to park to allow my son access to the store, I sought assistance from the Waitrose staff. As I returned to my car, the driver's,supposed, elderly grandmother had miraculously transformed into an able-bodied 30 year old man who got into the vehicle with no difficulty. After another barrage of X-rated language towards me, he then revved his engine (as only an insecure alpha male can!) and shot out of the car park (hopefully never to return), leaving both me and my son stunned and upset.
We have always loved living in the village and we like the people in this village, but these types of people are ruining the community feel that has traditionally been part of Alderley Edge. What sort of example are these people setting for our children?
Incidentally, the previous incident my wife had was with an Aston Martin driver (again with no blue badge) whose final flourish was a middle finger .... nice treatment to a young (ish) mother trying to park the car with her disabled son.
I'm sure that there are many 'pleasant' super car drivers and as with many things, the minority are, quite possibly, tarring the reputation of the majority with this behavior. I know that some people may recommend ignoring this clearly ignorant character but it is now becoming so tiresome and upsetting.
I'm wondering what we can do to stop this happening and/or reduce the frequency of these upsetting incidents in the village?
Comments
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Yes ,I would be compelled to write if I'd been spoken to so rudely by any driver.I'm getting a bit fed up of the rudeness and offensive behavior of people in the village and wondered if anyone else has had a similar problem.. whether it be with a fiat punto driver or otherwise?
I'd be wary of making this an 'us vs them' issue. That only makes people look for ways to 'other' people, and treat different people with different rules. The area benefits from people with supercars as much as it does from people with normal cars and people with supercars are as entitled to be here as anyone else. Again, the issue is not the car, it's the behaviour, and I witness selfish parking from people with all types of cars.
Two pet peeves are outside of Wilmslow Waitrose, and Hawthorn St in Wilmslow. Outside Waitrose, despite double yellows and a police sign, people with all types of cars park there. On Hawthorn St, despite single yellows and a sign prohibiting parking between 8am - 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday, that road regularly becomes one lane, with waiting traffic taking it in turns to go, because people with all types of cars park there. I've never seen a ticket on a single car in either location.
Cheshire East could kill two birds with one stone. If they hold people accountable for their bad parking by giving them financial penalty tickets, they'll solve the selfish parking issue and raise a truckload of cash at the same time.
Apply penalty points on the licence along with a hefty fine and there will be no innocent victims.