When did this become okay?

Do you ever find yourself waiting behind a car who is waiting for a parking spot they have picked out?
There isn't room to go around them, and you can't back up because there is a car behind you. 
So you are literally trapped, waiting. 
Sometimes the wait is just a few seconds, but often it is much longer than that. 

Yesterday that was me trapped behind that car. 
I guess she saw someone walk out of the store headed to one of the cars near her. 
So she waited for the other person to get in her car, load her purchases, 
adjust things, turn on her ignition and finally pull out.

It was a good 2-3 minutes.
Long enough for me to write this post in my head, and take a picture.

What makes people think this is okay? 
As I was sitting there I thought, 30 years ago, this wouldn't have happened. 
People would just keep circling the parking lot waiting until they found a vacant spot to park. 
They wouldn't have thought to make others wait behind them. 

This happens often now. Have people really changed that much in 30 years? Apparently they have. 

This doesn't make me angry. It just baffles me. 
It leaves me thinking, Really? They think this is okay?



14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Self-centeredness at its finest. Probably texting while they are waiting, not looking behind them to see if they are inconveniencing anyone.
darlene

Grandma Honey said...

Forgot about the texting. Probably you are right, Darlene.

grandmapeg said...

This very thing happened to me last week! I know it had to be two or three minutes. It's frustrating to me. I should have honked the horn but then I think, "what if this person has been having a bad day and maybe I can make it a little bit better for him by not getting impatient". Of course, sometimes I think people are oblivious to everything around them.

Grandma Honey said...

Something tells me people aren't doing this because they are having a bad day. I don't think it's an anger thing.

I asked the cop I live with if honking would be good and he said NO. He just kept shaking his head and said, "Don't honk. That will just create worse problems." So perhaps I just need to bring a book with me when I go shopping.

Grandma Honey said...

Yeah, I think oblivious to others, like you said, would be more like it.

Anonymous said...

Maybe people think this is ok now becasue they see other people doing it. Perhaps they've gotten stuck behind a car like you did one too many times, so they think that gives them permission. I don't really remember what people did 30 years ago, but maybe it also has something to do with more people and less parking spaces. Not sure... just guessing. I'd rather park a ways off and have to walk a little than wait around for a person to get to their car and inconvenience others in the process. But when there really is no other parking anywhere then I guess people get desperate, and I can understand it in that case.

Richard said...

My pet peeve too, but I'm with Dennis. Don't honk.

Rebecca said...

Maybe they had just circled the parking lot for 30 minutes and had the baby sitter waiting at home, and the plumber coming in 25 minutes, and had to use the bathroom, and..........they were out of options of where to park and saw the person coming out and went for it? I don't really know and I agree with you it is annoying, but who knows what was going through their brain???????

Grandma Honey said...

Could be any of those things Rebecca…but this happens generally just about every time I go shopping. It's so common place around here. Maybe it's more a California thing?

Anonymous….Even at Christmas time, there are always places to park around here. I do think you are right though about copying what has been done to them over and over again. Sad, but probably true.

Rebecca said...

I think it happens here in Utah alot too, sadly which is why I try to shop online. It keeps my blood pressure down.

Scrapally said...

I always make Dave keep circling even when he sees a spot and wants to wait for it...he will say, "but there's no one behind me" and I say keep circling! lol. I would feel bad making anyone wait. And I would be annoyed waiting, but I am not a honker either. I think I'm learning more patience in my old age. I will text while I wait it out lol

Grandma Honey said...

I have a rule i try to live by, "Don't touch my phone while driving"….but I think I will make exceptions when I am trapped behind cars in the parking lots!

threelittlebackseatdrivers.blogspot.com said...

This happens a lot at Walmart. And tbh it is often the elderly waiting for the parking space right up front. I back up or go around and am usually walking past them from parking quickly further away as they are still waiting. It is frustrating, agreed.

Grandma Honey said...

Interesting Natalie, but around here, it's usually younger people who keep us waiting. If it were the elderly, I would give them all the time they needed and then some.

But I understand the frustration…especially being a young mom with 3 kids in the car. Seriously, when my sons were little, I don't remember other drivers doing this. So different now.

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