Parking

Parking is one of those things that can be an extreme hassle from time to time.
-When you first learn to drive, parking can be a challenge. Especially parallel parking, which I know many people can't do even after years of trying.
-If you attended a larger University, daily parking was probably a crisis.
-When you go to the airport (or on a cruise for that matter), you are faced with either a LARGE fee, or a lot that is so far removed from your destination that it takes an extra hour to get there via waiting for and then taking a shuttle.
-Those who work downtown must master the art of the parking garage.
-Staying at a hotel in a big city means paying a valet charge (or, parallel parking a few blocks away, for those of us confident we will find our cars and that they'll be safe).
-Heading to the mall during November and December can yield in a stealth hunt for a vacant space.
-There's probably some jerk who parked over the line so much that the adjacent parking space becomes useless.
-And let's not forget that when a parking lot/garage is at full capacity, there is that inevitable other driver who will steal the spot that you were calmly waiting for with a blinking signal.

These things happen. And they're annoying. But life goes on, it's no big deal. However, I do have a particular parking pet peeve that I bet others share...

But today, I laughed out loud when I pulled into my local Wal*Mart parking lot. Some people I'll just never understand. As you may already know, Sunday afternoons at Wal*Mart are notorious for being obnoxiously full of a ton of people. The disabled parking spots are illegally used, you see more "sick kid/expecting mother" senior citizens than ever, and every aisle moves as slow as molasses because families allow their children to roam rampantly toward the store. As you pull into an aisle, you may consider a variety of things... distance from the entrance, shade, proximity to other cars, location of the "return cart" corral, availability of street lights, etc. But for some reason, an exorbitant number of people care only about that first concern. Today, as often happens, there were a few cars trolling along at an infant's pace, watching the shoppers leaving the store, in hopes of a close spot. I passed a couple as I drove down the row, and parked 25 cars or so from the entrance. As I walked toward Wal*Mart, I watched those same cars (who had held up traffic in my reaching my spot, by the way), still crawling along. At what point do they decide that it's a waste of time to stalk for a spot 100 feet closer, when the lot isn't full in the back? I just don't get it.

Now, maybe I'm a little partial because I've parked a full mile from my destination on occasion. For 4 months I regularly parked a quarter mile from my building, because I knew there was always going to be a cost-free available spot because so few people bother to parallel park and then walk (particularly in Florida where it has a tendency to rain at the drop of a hat). So if I'm at the mall, or the store, or the beach, I don't really comprehend the big fuss about getting a "good spot." I waste less time, use less gas, and get more exercise by just finding an available space and moving on. Sure, when "rockstar parking" is available, I use it. But the way I figure, that's just karma paying me back for not being a pain-in-the-@$$ when it comes to parking.

Stop being so foolish and lazy, people!