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October 31, 2006
Learn to park
About 10:30 last night, I was on my way home from seeing Christy when I got my car to my street and began the arduous task of looking for a parking spot. I came upon this sight:
I don't know how well you can see this, but these are two cars parked just far enough apart that another car wouldn't be able to fit it in the space. In essence, one of these guys parked so that one whole parking spot was eliminated. You can't see in the picture, but the car in front had about five feet in front of it and the car in back had about three feet; thus, somebody parked rather stupidly. I even tried to fit my car into the spot, but there was barely not enough space. I gave the front fellow's bumper a good workover in the process.
This is what I refer to as "poor space management." Every so often I'll be looking for a place to park or walking down the street when I see cars parked in such a way that a whole other potential parking spot is neutralized. Sometimes there'll be room for two cars, but one car will be parked right in the middle; another time there will be a big "no parking here to corner" sign, but a car will be parked 6 feet in front of the sign so another car would be way into the forbidden zone. My favorite is when somebody parks next to a parking meter instead of behind it.
I really hate this. I think it's inconsiderate and mean. Now, I know that many times a messed up parking job is a function of other cars leaving and making spaces that weren't there before, or having to park stupidly because other cars are parked stupidly. But I also know other times people just park like oafs, either intentionally or unintentionally, though I suspect many times it's unintentional.
In my picture above, the car in front could have parked two feet further up the street, and there would be a whole other parking space there, instead of the tempting pseudo-space that many people tried to fit there car into. I don't think it's too much to ask that when parking your car, you should make an effort to save other parking spots by your car. It's a common courtesy, especially when you live i n a neighborhood where parking is scarce.
Posted by oz115 at October 31, 2006 03:27 PM