I was on my way to the grocery store this past week attempting to find a place to park.
As I was finding my parking spot, I was struck by my criteria for a good spot:
1. As close as possible to the front door. Duh.
2. As close as possible to a cart corral.
3. Not next to any white, windowless vans. Just a safety thing I fall for.
4. The quickest spot I could find.
Now to some of my friends, these criteria might seem like no-brainers. But as I negotiated my vehicle around the painted lines, pedestrians and carts, I was struck that I park very differently from how I grew up.
My mom wanted the closest spot available. Mom was willing to circle the parking lot several times and wait for someone to come out of the store. I recall Mom having coffee in tow so she was set as far as "the wait". Mom took the "whirly maple seed" approach. (Remember those maple seed "helicopters" falling from the trees above? Whirling, whirling, whirling...landing.)
Mom's approach drove me crazy because I was a bit more impatient. If God gave you two good legs, then just park. You can walk a bit. Plus, it's good for you.
Some people I know are more methodical. They like a spot that is within spitting distance of the door. They've even methodically calculated the trajectory of said saliva in order to determine the best place to park their vehicle. The whole way to the grocery store they are thinking about-- no, more like willing-- the parking spot to be open. And the entire time they are in the store shopping they are thinking about how great it will be when they return to this spot. If there were an option to "rent" the parking spot in question in order to keep it just for themselves, they would.
Now lest someone crows "don't be hatin'"... please be advised that I got lost in the mall parking lot last week for a half hour. I'm not the authority on methodical parking.
My husband is the kindest person I know when it comes to parking. He's not aggressive at all. Earlier in our marriage I tried to change him by barking orders like "Put on your blinker! Someone else is gonna get it!" or "Quick... zoom around... he saw it, too!" But then I realized that the gentleness that I love in Dan was evolving into an uptight version of the Dan I married. One time we rear-ended someone while he was driving out of a parking lot. This was entirely my fault as I was distracting him with random, type-A driving orders. I think that was the point at which I realized I had gone too far. *Loopy*
I'm pretty patient with most drivers at this point. I still get a little annoyed at those folks who --pull in, pull out, pull in, pull out-- in order to center their car exactly in the spot. If you're that poor at pulling in a spot, go to the back of the parking lot and practice. Away from my car. :)
So there's my take on parking. It says a lot about a person, doncha think?
3 comments:
Heheheh. I like this post.
I don't think my mom was ever like this. I know she'd search for close spots, then look at me/us kids and go...it's a nice day. We can walk right?
When I have a car I take that approach - look for a close spot really quickly, then decide, meh. I can walk.
Unfortunately I end up forgetting where I park every single time. :)
Funny! I just drive to the end of the row. Park in one of many spots available and walk. Saves the stress for other things and gets me some walking in, too!
When going to the grocery store, I always try to park near the cart corral. I don't mind parking a bit further from the door as long as the weather is nice, but if it's the dead of winter, I'm looking for the closest spot. However, I won't spend hours driving around until one becomes available. I'll have to remember your white van with no windows point.
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