Boxing promoter Don King once said, “Only in America will you see people circling the parking lot looking for a close space at a gym.” How ironic, and, unfortunately, how true.
I read another quote about how people will walk for miles inside big box stores but are too lazy to push their shopping carts 10 feet to the cart corrals in the parking lots. Yep.
If we are being honest, we all have parking habits. Some of us will take the closest spot to the store, regardless of how long we have to wait or how tight the space may be. Others of us will park in the middle of the lot away from all cars, even in a rainstorm. Some of us even park under lights each time to minimize break-ins. Not a bad idea.
Many of us learned the hard way to not park by shopping cart corrals, as a few loose carts and a strong wind gust can create quite a demolition derby — and, surprisingly, those tiny wheels can really pick up speed.
My parking habits changed throughout my life, depending on what I was driving. When I had an old, beat-up car, I would park in the tightest of spots. One more door ding wouldn't even be noticeable, I rationalized. But when I had a newer vehicle, I would carefully select a spot to minimize the door ding risk.
I am continually amazed that an F-350 pickup can fit in one parking spot but a tiny foreign sports car seems to always take two — and then the driver acts shocked when noticing someone keys the paint.
When I was a kid and my dad and I would go to a grocery store, he would park out in the middle of the lot. I would ask him what was wrong with the spots up front. He would tell me, “We will save those for the old people.”
We don’t have a lot of cars in our parking lot at work. As such, we tend to park in every other space, kind of like how teenage boys sit when they go to a movie together.
When my aging father-in-law was still alive, I would notice how he would push open his car door with his feet, and how his door would bang into the car next to it each time. Ever since that observation, I avoid parking next to Buicks… and going to the gym.
How about you? What parking habits do you have? Send me a note and let me know.
Have a great week, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305 | 
