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do you *have* to get the closest parking spot? (1 Viewer)

Ted Lee

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i'm in an irritated mood today, so i feel like ranting about something.

i hate parking close to the store. namely cuz i hate getting dings in my car. i usually park at the end of a row, or where there are clear spaces all around me - it drives my friends crazy. or i'll park far enough away that it's unlikely another car will park next to me. that's why my 94 accord has maybe two or three dings in the door.

but this just kills me.

so i'm walking to my car and i notice this person trying to park their big-arse truck in a small compact spot. they had to do the backup-and-straighten thing about three times to get it right. it probably took this driver (who could have used some lessons) a full sixty seconds to do this. believe me, i was paying attention and i'm not exaggerating. i was already in my car and pulling out by the time the guy was just getting out of his.

but the real kicker is...

not more than six spaces away from the driver was a clear parking section...with several spots available. the driver could have pulled into those spaces and already been well onto their way into the store. but instead, that person would rather fuss and muss to get that close spot. :rolleyes

so, i ask you all - do you feel you must park as close as possible to the store? or do you think at all about where you're going to park? do you even care?
 

brentl

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Hey I'm like you. I got a new Civic just over a month ago and I'll walk a mile before I park close.

There are just to many assholes that think they are something special and don't care about your car.

Now my old 91 Pontiac 6000 I'd park anywhere, but still always in a proper spot.

We could get back into this "bad driving habits" thing again, but I have to many stories but not the time.

Brent
 

Holadem

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A friend of mine drives around for like 10 minutes looking for the best parking spot at the theater/supermarket :rolleyes. I would take a grand total of 1 (one) minute to walk from anywhere on that lot to our destination if she would just settle for a non ideal spot. It drives me nuts! :angry:

--
Holadem
 

Greg_R

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That's nothing. I've seen someone take over 10 minutes to park their car.... _after_ they found a spot! I sat there and watched the following:

- Pull into spot
- open door, check distance from the line
- If within the line, exit the vehicle (engine still running)
- Check that the front of the vehicle is not over the curb
- Using a foot as a measuring device, measure the distance from the line to the tire for each wheel.
- If the car is not perfectly centered (off by more than a centimeter) then repeat

Obviously this was some sort of mental condition...
 

Paul McElligott

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I remember college (I went to a "commuter" campus with no on-campus housing). You would see people stopped in the middle of the row, waiting for a space, with their books out and studying. I would drive five or six rows over, park and be in class before these idiots had even parked.

And then there were the "vultures", people who would slowly follow you back to your car and wait for you to back out. I loved to go out and put something back in my car without leaving, just to f*** with these people.
 

Steve_Tk

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If something is up close, I pull in, otherwise just shoot to the back and walk. Nothing annoys me more than someone that sits at the front with their blinker on while someone unloads their groceries in their car. I've pulled in many times and seen that person sitting there while I pull the back, park, and get all the way in the store and they are still sitting waiting on that spot.

If I get a close spot and a person sits there with the blinker on and blocks the whole lane waiting for my spot, I take my sweet time and just smile at them.

One time I had some angry woman actually honk and me and yell to hurry up. So I got in my car, pulled out the cell phone, and decided it was a good time to check in with the folks. She kept honking her horn, I know I was wasted time just sitting there, but it felt so good.
 

Carl Johnson

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Absolutely not. I'm not a real prude when it comes to dings in my doors but I'd rather walk 30 seconds if it means that nobody will park next to me.
The people who spend ten times as long as I do looking for a closer space are probably the same ones who spend lots of time clipping coupons and shopping multiple stores for cheaper prices on brand name merchandise. I just buy the store brand and I still spend less than they do.
 

MickeS

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Ted, I'm with you... I just immediately go to the far end (which, since that's the way the cars normally pull in, is actually not the "far end" drivingwise) of the parking lot and park, ALWAYS at an end spot so I can park far to the side and not have any cars within "door distance". Then I spend an extra minute or so walking. Since I park almost immediately, I often beat those who try and find the closest spot. I do it for the extra bits of exercise (God knows I need it) plus more importantly to keep the car ding free. I've had the car for 2 years, not a single ding yet (knock on wood :)).

I'm actually pretty happy that people always try to find a close spot, leaves better parking for me. It just seems like a lot of work for little payoff most of the time.

Another thing that I just don't understand is how people can be so lazy and inconsiderate that they can't afford the extra 30 - 60 seconds it takes to return a shopping cart. Even if you're "far away" (everything's relative here) it's rare that it takes more than 90 seconds to return it. Still, people just leave them all over, not a care in the world that the carts they leave are taking up parking spaces and dinging cars. That selfish mentality always makes me both angry and sad. It's not a big thing, but it bugs me.
 

Joel Mack

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I have a Saturn. My doors are plastic, and they don't get dings. ;)


I don't feel a need to park close, however. Usually just wherever I can find a spot. If it's close, so be it.
 

Michael Warner

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OK, where are all you close-parkers hiding? I sure don't get it either. I'll pass some schmuck sitting in his car waiting for a close-up spot to open up, park in a spot a whole three slots further away, and be inside the store before he's even parked. Do those extra 10 yards really mean the difference between life and death to these people?
 

MikeAlletto

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If I see something close I'll take it but I won't drive around looking for close. Usually just take the first one that appears. Sometimes when I'm with others and driving I'll purposely park as far away as possible just to piss them off. Especially if they say something. I'll find the most remote spot in the lot and park there and make them walk.
 

Joseph Young

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This kind of thing pisses me off (i've had a bad day also so I'm gonna vent).

The reason people do this, other than just plain ignorance and stupidity, is the lame, futile, meaningless grapple for [rant]perceived superiority[/rant].

Their brains tell them 'me must park close space.. ugh' and their selective vision blocks out every other space in the vicinity. "Urghh... must get BESTEST CLOSEST parking space... must get big victory in parking lot. " People are so dumb. It's this stupid, go**amned class/hierarchial mentality, where the closer you park to a store, the more you feel like you're V.I.P.

I live close to Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto, two of the snootiest, snobbiest towns to ever grace the left coast. These drivers will start honking your horn at you unload your groceries. They'll pull so close to you, waiting for your precious spot, that you can't actually pull out... they breathe down your neck. Even if there's another spot 6 spaces away. They don't give a ****. It's all about getting some perceived superiority... it's drivers like these that Ted describes, stumbling over themselves for the prize, their tongues lolling out of their gap-jawed maws, who have been trapped into a life of the quick fix, the short term gratification, at whatever cost.

It's like people who speed at 60 MPH down residential streets between traffic lights. They don't make any more progress than the cars next to them, they're still stopped at all the same lights, but they don't care. It's all about [rant]perceived superiority[/rant], at whatever cost to the people around them.



~j
 

Ted Lee

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:laugh: that was guh-reatt joseph! you totally made me laugh - there...now do YOU feel superior! ;)
 

ThomasC

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I don't have to, but I'll wait a minute for someone to load their groceries and pull out. It's just the way its always been for me. So you're in the store before me, woop-de-doo. Unless I'm really in a rush to get in and get out, I couldn't care less how much time I'm wasting, because I never waste THAT much time in the first place, and I don't have to wait most of the time anyways.

Do those extra 10 yards really mean the difference between life and death to these people?
No. It's a closer spot, that's all there is to it to me. If I pass through a few rows without seeing a close spot, I'm not going to wait for a close spot to open up, I'm just going to park in the next spot I see.
 

Eric_L

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What about those people who take five minutes just to get out of their car after they've parked? What are they doing? These are also the same folks who take five minutes to get their car started when they are leaving.

When looking to park I will often see one (easily identified by their vacuous eyes) entering their car. I park 100 yards away without a second thought. About the time I've walked up to where they are they finally get it into reverse and start backing out. I only smile that I'm not the poor slob who chose to wait for them.

I think there should be a time limit after one has loaded their groceries. Take the time you need to load groceries, kids, etc. Then, get in and leave. Just what takes five minutes about seatbelt, ignition, look, reverse?

I have determined it is similar to what Mr. Young pinted out, a neanderthal instinct territorial thing. IMHO If they thought they could get away with it I think they might actually mark their territory with urine before leaving.
 

Eric_L

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Could I also point out that some folks will wait for the closer spot because some redneck trash parked their 78 GMG 4X4 in the handicap spot and it is the next best thing for those with real handicaps.
 

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