Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Driving Peeves

"You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said, " 'Parking Fine.' "

-Tommy Cooper

This just makes me crazy. I cannot understand why folks are so damn inconsiderate of others! Last May, I wrote a post about this very situation. I had attended a Chili cook off in Castro Valley, and while I was trying to find a place to park, I came across numerous examples of folks taking up two parking places, to park their over sized vehicles in. This was in a parking lot that doesn't have a lot of spaces to begin with, so when you come across a situation like that, it can be damn infuriating. Some of you agreed with me, others didn't, which I understand, because we all have different things that push our buttons. This just happens to be mine.

I have a difficult time walking at times, especially if my legs are hurting or are swollen, due to my Fibromyalgia. I am not at the point of being disabled, but I am in pain at times, and I find it inconsiderate if someone takes up two places, because either they are too lazy to park their cars correctly, or they are so concerned that their car will be scratched, that they deliberately park in two places so they won't be dinged. I cannot understand for the life of me why one wouldn't check to see if they are in the space correctly, unless they simple don't care who they put out. My friend Wil, made a good point, that some vehicles are too large for some parking lots, which are striped for compact, or economy cars. He is right, in those instances I understand the need for a little more room, but as you can see, this space had ample room, but the driver simply paid no attention to how he/she had parked.

I will admit it, I have a thing about SUVs. Those who drive them, drive aggressively, and more than once, I have been nearly run off the road by one. It is the most difficult thing about driving for me, the aggressiveness of others. Sigh. Anyway, as I said, those who don't know how to park their vehicles is my personal peeve, and while I know I am not alone in that, I have to imagine what might be just as nerve racking to someone else. So, that is the subject of the new poll on the sidebar, " What Is Your Main Complaint About Other Drivers?" I only have eight choices on the list, so if I didn't include your personal pet peeve about driving, feel free to share what it is in the comment thread. With the exception of drivers talking on their cell phones while driving, I think that one is a given. The results of last months poll can be found on the poll results blog. Just click the link below.

Ok, chime in. Share what about other drivers, makes driving more difficult for you. We are all in this driving thing together, although sometimes it kinda feels like we are all alone... doesn't it?

"Which Fast Food Restaurant Serves The Best Burgers?"

-OndineMonet
Home Depot
San Ramon, California
July 24th, 2007
Afternoon

5 comments:

Tammy Brierly said...

Hi Carly!
Thanks for stopping by and checking in.:) It's been a hard summer and my camera was dropped...grrr! Between a bad housing market and no camera I've been remiss in my photo clubs.

Have you checked out East Brother's Lighthouse B & B on a rock island in the bay? $415/night with meals. We would love to but it's a tad pricey. :)

I'll keep in touch!
HUGS

DesLily said...

i believe many do that parking thing "on purpose".. they obviously only think of theirself...

you can only find 8 annoyances? Pshawwww! lol

Steven said...

People who drive in my blind spot instead of passing me or slowing down. This also drives me nutty when I'm a passenger and the person driving paces the traffic rather than passing traffic.

Suzanne R said...

We can only mark one? LOL! I appreciate Costco's parking lot because they seem to plan for larger vehicles and people loading them with purchases so provide plenty of room, with spaces nicely far apart. As a new car owner, I am concerned about my specialty striping being dented or banged into but I would never dream of taking up more than one space. I suppose after my toe heals I'll have to start parking in the back 40. ;-)

Patrick said...

That parking thing is one of my biggest pet peeves, too. It happens at my apartment complex a good bit. When I lived in Richmond, I went to management with photos and demanded that they send a notice to the resident in question asking that she pay attention when parking. Apparently they did, because it suddenly stopped with that one frequent "problem child."

And I'm still mourning the apparent death of the turn signal. I don't know why that's so much to ask...it takes so little effort and communicates some basic move that really needs to be understood by other drivers. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who still uses the ol' blinkers.