The Parking Lot Space Wars

A few days ago, I pulled into a parking spot at the grocery store only to find a shopping cart blocking my way. Fortunately, there was another empty spot nearby, so I backed out and went into that other space instead. After I got out of my car, I took the abandoned cart and put it into the cart return which was just a few feet away. This small inconvenience got me thinking: What has happened to our parking lot manners? Have we become so inconsiderate that we cannot do a simple courtesy for our fellow drivers?

That night at dinner, I was venting to my family about the shopping cart experience. My husband, who had sort of zoned me out, attempted a pseudo-sympathetic response.

"Yeah, that's bad. You take things too personally."

I was going to respond to this condescending comment, but instead I chose to stow his words away in my never-forgetting memory for the next argument when I might need to throw them back in his face. Little did I know that this opportunity was less than 24 hours away.

We had to go the mall for a last-minute gift. It was a Saturday, and finding a parking space at the mall was going to be a challenge at best. And on a cold Saturday, when everyone goes to the mall to escape boredom, it was going to be nearly impossible. We were doing the traditional "slow-crawl-down-every-aisle-parking-space" dance when in the distance, we saw a trace of hope. Two women were putting bags into the trunk of their car and preparing to head out. My husband, who would rather park three miles from our destination than wait for a spot, could not believe our luck. He pulled up near the space giving the woman driver ample room to pull out. The passenger was already seated and buckled in the car, and the driver was headed to her side of the car -- and that is when she saw us waiting. Apparently, waiting cars tick her off because she gave us the dirtiest look. We were both puzzled, but we ignored her - for the moment.

That is when the "Na, Na, Na, Na, you can't have my space!" show began. She pulled out her brush and started to fix her hair; she even lit a cigarette and started to smoke it. After each delay tactic, she would look to see if we were still there. On a usual day, my husband would have given up the fight, but this woman irked him. And stupid me, I thought I would try and take the sensible approach.

"She is an ass, let's find another spot," I said.

"Oh, no, this woman is beyond spiteful. I am going to make her day, just wait."

Unbeknownst to me, but not to my husband, there was a man, who was parked three spots further down the aisle than this woman, and he was getting ready to pull out of his spot. He must have seen the situation. Frankly, I think it was men's radar. See, men don't hear or sense anything unless it involves a car, TV, food or sex. And this clearly fell in the car category. My husband and this stranger immediately bonded telepathically about the lesson they were going to teach this rude driver.

The man signaled to my husband to take his spot when he pulled out. My husband moved our car toward the man's parking space and in doing so blocked the woman driver in her spot. Then the man just sat in his car - not for a few seconds but for two minutes which meant my husband was not going to move our car either. Suddenly, the situation had reversed and the parking space hog was at our mercy! She was beyond angry. I could see smoke spewing from that car, and it was not coming from her cigarette.

My husband just ignored her. Then, we saw the woman start to back up. I guess she was hoping to scare us. My husband just sat. I was freaking out because this was my car he was using as bait.

"If she hits us, we're suing."

"But it's my car! Can't we go home and come back with your car and play this game?"

When she was about two inches from my door, she put on the brakes and surrendered. She pulled back into her space, and to show her dissatisfaction, she gave us the finger. The gentleman, who was giving us his spot pulled out a few seconds later, and my husband pulled right in. The woman, relieved that the ordeal was over, backed out quickly and took off.

The stale mate was over. Still, I do not understand what this woman's problem was. We didn't stalk her in the parking lot. She was planning on leaving, and we just waited. When I see that someone needs a space, I quickly back out. I will even direct drivers looking for a parking space to my car, so that they can have that spot. What made this woman so mean? Is she this way all the time or only in parking lots?

While shopping at the mall helped me forget the incident, it did nothing for my husband. As we were having lunch in the food court, he brought up the entire thing again, so I said in the most supportive tone I could muster,

"Yeah, that's bad. You take things too personally."

You know what? He didn't appreciate my condescending words. Yes, I had a good day.