Another parking story

Speaking of parking, I was at Costco last week. As I was loading stuff into my car, I noted that another vehicle was hovering nearby. Its driver was obviously hoping to snag my parking spot as soon as I pulled away.

This annoyed me a bit. Why? Because there were numerous other parking opportunities just a few slots away. He really, REALLY wanted to nab my spot though, just so that he could park a little bit closer. Heck, in the time that it took for me to load my groceries into my car, he could have easily pulled into one of those nearby slots. Also, I didn't want to be rushed.

I don't recall what I did after that. I remember packing up my groceries and getting into the driver's seat. I think that I either tried to make a phone call or looked for some info on the web via my Blackberry. Whatever the case, there was stuff that I was doing, and I wasn't about to hurry up just so that someone else would have the luxury of parking a few precious feet closer to the Costco entrance.

After a while, I noted that this guy got the hint and parked somewhere else. Good for him.

It could have been worse. I once related the story of someone who started blowing her horn at me, obviously wanting me to hurry up so that she could take my spot -- and yes, in that situation, there were other parking spots available to her as well. Some people are just that lazy.

A bizarre person searching for a parking spot

I was going to the lab one afternoon, back in my grad school days. As I was walking along the campus streets, a motorist stops alongside me and says, "Hey, where are you parked?"

I thought that was a strange thing to ask a total stranger. It was even rather inappropriate; after all, why should I tell her where my vehicle was, or even if I had one? And no, I did not own a vehicle at the time.

With a puzzled expression, I replied, "Why do you ask?"

"I want to take your parking space. Are you walking to your car?"

"No, I'm not," I said. "I don't even have a car." She drove off after that.

I understand that she was probably getting desperate in her search for a parking spot. Still, her question was kinda clueless, and even rather crass. I mean, she just ASSUMED that I was walking toward my car, and she ASSUMED that I was about to drive off. She also assumed that I'd be willing to tell a complete stranger where my car was, without any explanation of why she needed this information. Heck, even the manner in which she asked ("Hey, where are you parked?") implied that she was somehow entitled to this information, as opposed to respectfully asking a boon from some hopefully helpful stranger.

Yeah, that was pretty crass.