I took this picture this week from a window at work overlooking the parking lot.
I've touched on this before in earlier blog posts, but this is getting ridiculous.
Why can't people park between the lines in a parking lot?
Is it really that difficult? Considering I can center my 96-inch-wide Dodge Ram dually in these spaces with no problem, why can't these much-narrower-car drivers figure out where their vehicle is? I do something very simple when I park... I open the window and look. Then I spend the extra 30 seconds to re-straighten when needed. And yes, I open the window in cold, rain,. and snow - it's not going to be open that long anyway.
And of course, as in the picture, you have the domino effect... when one person is on or over the stripe, everyone else feels the need to do the same "so that they have room". Not me. I center my truck in my space... if that means the driver of the car next to me has to get in from the passenger side and climb over... oh well! Should've parked properly when you had the chance.
When I'm at the supermarket, a shopping center, or whathaveyou, I try to park somewhat away from the masses. Not because I'm worried about being dented or scratched, but because A) I can walk just fine and need the exercise whenever I can get it, and B) it gives me all the room I want to maneuver the truck. As I walk in to the store, I always marvel at the parking prowess of those who can't be bothered to park one stall farther from the door than they deem necessary - and they are never straight or between the stripes.
C'mon... just spend the short time to park properly. If you're already late, an extra 30 seconds isn't going to change anything.
If you have a large vehicle, parking is a consideration when you are deciding where to live. One of the reasons I chose the place I moved to in 2002 was because it gave me sufficient room to park a Dodge Ram dually without disturbing or blocking other residents. The pic below is my truck in its spot at my home.
Parking lots can be challenging. My space at work is not that big a deal unless someone next to my assigned space parks too close to the stripe. When I go shopping, whether it's a supermarket, small shopping center, or a full-fledged mall, I park away from the masses... not because I'm overly concerned about door dings, but because I want to make sure I have room to maneuver. (And besides, I need the exercise of walking an extra few hundred feet.)
What about people who drive something bigger? Talking to Vikki (driver of the red Pete on the left) last week, she checked with the local police about what she was allowed to do. The police were nice enough to look the situation over and give her an answer. When she's home from the road, she detaches the flatbed trailer and leaves that at the curb, and parks the Pete in the driveway. She used to park the rig in a nearby church parking lot, but when new leadership came in, they declined to extend the courtesy, claiming they didn't want to have to do that for others. (Like a church in a residential neighborhood is in danger of becoming a truck stop.)
When my dad was a bus driver in the 60s in Newark NJ, he was deadheading and realized there was something he left at the house. He parked the bus at the curb as if it were the family car and dashed in to grab whatever it was. As a little kid, I thought that was beyond cool and was glued to the living room window checking out the empty bus... the specific model was a GMC TDH-5304 of Public Service.
I guess if I hit the lottery, I'll make sure I have a driveway long and wide enough for Vik's rig if she wants to stop by while in the area.
