When parking, I take the first available spot heading away from the door. No stalking (unless there are literally no spaces in the lot, such as was the case at my supermarket following the snowstorm). And, if there are spaces open down the parking aisle and you circle me like a vulture, I’ll just sit in my car pretending to wait for someone, or go to another store. If there are no spaces, then yes, I will try to free up the space as quickly as possible, but I won’t save you an extra ten-yard walk. If that makes me an asshole, then yes, I’m an asshole.
No, I was only calling people who do that when there aren’t any spaces available, like at a mall during Christmas an asshole. If there are spots ten spaces up, I have no pity.
My buddies and I went to UB (University at Buffalo) lo these many years ago and there was a big parking problem (in the close parking lots at least). Anyway, we’d carpool to class and when we’d leave together, we’d all split up before we got to the lot and take different paths to the same car. It was great to see 2 or 3 people try to cooly claim the spot with their signal and try to nose out the others who were trying to get in.
Great family fun.
I don’t see why there is all this venom about patiently waiting for a spot (in a filled parking lot). I don’t honk or do anything like that. And if someone is waiting for me, I don’t purposly slow down (although if I was being honked at, I might).
I don’t normally stalk. I just try to find someone already at/in their car. If they don’t move in 30 seconds, I move on (usually they’re waiting in their car).
Normally there’s plenty of parking so this rarely happens around here.
I never wait for a space. I figure that since I’m young and healthy, I can park out in the boondocks of the lot. Usually, I can park and get in the store in less time than it takes one of those parking space sharks to circle the pool a few times looking for something closer.
If anyone honks at me to “hurry up and leave already!” I pop my hood and rummage around like I’ve got a mechanical problem.
I park as close as physically possible. If that means circling or waiting a bit while someone pulls out I do it. Why all this anger directed at people wanting your spot? You parked there–are they somehow less worthy? Really, I’ve never seen so many people feel so smug about something so stupid before. What difference does it make to you where someone else parks their damn car or how long they’re willing to wait to do so? Granted, honking or blocking the flow of traffic is a no no, but a lot of you seem to think anyone who prefers a closer parking space is somehow worthy of your contempt. What gives?
I was going to write a rant about this (this is currently my ‘angry’ hour of the day) but you beat me to the punch.
I CANT STAND THESE PEOPLE. Let me explain what they do- they CAMP for parking spots. The basically park in the aisle of the parking garage, turn their engine off, then read a book or something. They’re not moving, and technically they’re illegally parked (god I wish they would do something about these people!) They wait for someone to leave that is immediately near them. But you know what? the odds of that happening are extremely slim! I cruise through the whole garage hunting for spots/people leaving, and it never takes me more than 10 minutes to find a spot, even when the garage is PACKED. THese people, however, obviously don’t see the logic in that, and instead choke up the aisles, increasing the risk of accidents. Today, which is the most crowded day for parking, there are often so many of them lined up on the side of the aisle that they completely block many spaces, and they’re so closely jammed together it takes them 15 minutes to ‘rearrange’ themselves so somebody can get out of a spot. I have zero compassion for these people; they’re idiotic because they’ll camp for a spot when the floor above them is completely empty, block the aisles and parking spaces, and act very pushy when it comes to claiming a space.
I don’t care where they are- If my engine is running and theirs is not, technically I consider them PARKED. I’ve gotten parking spaces near many of them on the sheer virtue that my car is moving and theirs isn’t running-in the time it takes them to start their car and put it into gear I’m already in the spot.
I rarely ‘stalk’ people for parking spaces- if I see someone walking around I’ll ask if they’re heading toward their car. Many are not, and so knowing that saves me time. After being here for barely a year it surprises me how slow some people are (mentally). The parking garage fills up from the bottom up, and driving in an empty space is much faster than looking for someone who is leaving. I see a lot of empty spaces that other people aren’t perceptive enough to notice. I don’t really have a problem parking anymore because I have the pattern down- The first thing I do is work my way to the roof of the garage, looking for EMPTY spaces. If there are none after I work my way back down to the groudn floor, I start looking for people leaving/backing out of spaces. This saves me an enormous amount of time, since about half the time I find an empty space. The parking campers tick me off because they’re a hazard to other drivers. Their strategy isn’t effective, but more importantly they’re a hinderance to everybody else in the garage.
Early in my driving career, there were a few times I got blocked into a space by someone waiting for someone to get out of a space a bit further up the row. That left me with a lingering taste for people who wait for parking spaces. What broke me of it was a very crowded computer show and sale where I couldn’t find a single empty space in the lot. After I circled it for about the 3rd time, I finally saw someone leaving.
I’ve never tried the “remember another errand” trick, but when I saw a woman back up to get my space, I did smile sweetly, get out a good, thick book and start reading it. She got the hint.
I don’t mind people waiting for spaces if they’re reasonable about it. What I mean my “reasonable” is, if you see trafffic backing up behind you and there’s no way for them to get around you, please give up and try elsewhere. Also, please leave me room to back up. I also learned to drive late, so I like a lot of room around me. If I need three back ups to get out of a space, I’m not doing it to annoy you; I’m doing it to make dead sure I don’t hit you.
CJ
Okay, now I’m intensely curious to know where you are that March 4 is the most crowded day for parking. New Orleans (Mardi Gras)?
This is just so uncalled for. Why would it bother you that somebody else is going to get your spot, a spot that, just moments before, you were intent on leaving? When my wife was big as a house pregnant, I came accross a couple people that did juat that. I wasn’t even a lurker, I just came up to them when they were getting in their car to leave. Admit it, it’s a power trip to make people wait. Had my wife been the type of person to accept me dropping her off at the curb, I would have. She is too independant to do such a thing, so I sought out close places. Never before or never since have I taken any but the first available spot, but the actions of the “It’s mine, and you can’t have it” crew still piss me off.
Actually, what’s breaking me of the “Must . . . have . . . closest . . . possible . . . parking space” thing is my SO (hiya, Sweetie ;)), who is the WORST at finding parking spaces.
I swear, I’m beginning to think he does it on purpose:
[Auntie EM and SO have just pulled into parking lot. SO is driving.]
AE: There’s one.
SO [approaching excellent parking space, which is huge and unobscured–hell, it’s even on HIS side of the car!]: Huh?
AE: Parking space!!!
SO [whipping head in every direction except that of prime parking space]: Wha . . . ? Where?
AE [pointing frantically across SO’s face now]: RIGHT THERE!!!
SO [driving past space]: Here? What? Oh . . . .
AE: Oooh, there’s another one . . .
SO [turning in opposite direction from second available parking space]: Huh?
AE: Sigh Nevermind . . .
SO [parking eight miles away from store]: Gee, sure is hard to find parking at this place . . .
Nurse Carmen, I’m not particularly proud of my actions that day, but I’ll offer two things in my defense. First of all, I was going to get new glasses at the mall, but somehow, so help me, the place I was going to called my optometrist and got my mother’s prescription, among various other stresses that day. I worked out what happened when they mentioned a charge for bifocals. Second, there is also no excuse for the several times someone blocked me incompletely while waiting for another space. OK, there may be one excuse in that a Geo Metro is about as small as you can get and still qualify as a car, but that doesn’t help when I’m unable to leave. Also, as a weak defense, there were plenty of other spaces available, but I was in a pretty close one at a pretty large mall.
CJ
Excuse me. Let me try this again:
Second, there is also no excuse for the several times someone blocked me in completely while waiting for another space.
If they’d blocked me incompletely, I might not have been an arrogant twit myself months later at the mall. Then again, depending on my mood, I might have. Hey, we all have our off days. :Shrug:
CJ
It is for this very reason that I want my next car equipped with a PA system, over which I can play the music from “Jaws”.
Add me to the evergrowing list of those who cut between the cars just to annoy those stalking me.
I agree. Two Fridays before Christmas, I was trying to find a place to park at a shopping mall at around 1pm. This would have normally been my lunch hour but I had gone into work very early that day and took the rest of the afternoon off. Damn good thing too, took me 15 minutes just to park. The mall garage was packed! No available parking in sight and lots of other drivers doing the same as me. I turned one corner and noticed some guy headed toward me from the mall. I wasn’t stalking him, I just happened to turn the corner and there he was. He changes direction while I head toward him, heading off to my left. Okay, so maybe he realized that he had the wrong aisle. I got to the end of the aisle, didn’t see anyone else spot hunting so I turn down the aisle to my left. Yeah, I had gone in search of the guy I had just passed but he’s nowhere to be found! Damned asshole.
The last time I had someone waiting to take my spot, I flipped on the radio, leaned the seat back, and just waited. There were other spots available, so I didn’t feel badly about doing this. I didn’t want to leave the car as then they would immediately know I wasn’t leaving and go somewhere else. I wanted to see how long they would wait, with an open spot not more than 100 feet away. Why would I do this? Because of the dozens of times I’ve been stuck waiting behind someone who is waiting to take a spot when there are other spots available not that far away. Call it revenge if you want.
For those people who claim they aren’t holding up traffic when they wait, just how wide are the lanes in your parking lots? Around here, they are just barely wide enough for two lanes of traffic. Basically that means if you are sitting there waiting, other people will need to go around you into the oncoming lane (if there is an oncoming lane! a lot of times the lanes are one way) and then try and get back in. If you are near the end of the row (waiting for a choice spot?) then the cars going around you won’t likely have enough room to get back into the lane and therefore they can’t really pass you (safely!). I’m just having trouble envisioning a situation where there is, in fact, room for traffic to pass by you safely.
Some lots, such as the one I was in that Friday, are one-way between rows and have plenty of room to fit two vehicles side-by-side.
While this does happen, my immediate neighborhood has a large retiree population and many of those folks need the handicapped or the closer spots. Since I am in good health and enjoy walking, I usually park out in the south forty somewhere, leaving the closer spaces for those who need them. Besides, I drive a full size Dodge van and parking that beast is a problem. Backing it out of a conventional parking spot is even more of one, so my motives aren’t altogether altruistic.
Someone commented on folks who park in the “fire lane” in front of stores. Some genius decided that it would be nice to install a cash machine on the outside wall of nearly all our local supermarkets. It isn’t uncommon to find five to ten cars lined up, with their drivers on the sidewalk, waiting in line to use the ATM.
I have seen local cops ticketing such people for illegal parking, and it tickles me pink when it happens.
Hard to answer that… Because I am? Find your own damn parking spot!
Maybe people following me in cars gives me an uneasy feeling, like the one little children should have, but don’t, and that’s why we tell them to be wary of situations like that.
No, I like my first answer. Because I am.
I predict Ego is going to be visited by three spirits one of these days. 