When YA and I out together, I drive 99.9% of the time. She likes to keep her car pristine which means driving it as little as possible; I get nervous being in the passenger seat when she drives. So, me doing the driving is better for both of us.
Of course YA doesn’t think that being the passenger relieves her of the duty to backseat drive. She wants to me move to another lane is the traffic is too slow for her. She wants me to move back to the right lane sooner if our exit is coming up. She wants to make sure I’m going at least the speed limit at all times. She thinks I leave too much space between us and the car in front of us. For those of you who have met YA, you know she is not shy about sharing my “failings” with me. Ignoring her or “I am aware” are my usual modi operandi.
Parking is often an issue for her. She is forever instructing me to back into parking spots so we can pull straight out when we leave. Since I detest backing into parking spots (can’t even remember the last time I did), I always decline. I’m pretty sure that the time it takes for me to back in is longer than the time to back out into the parking lot. YA is adamant that it would save time. I told her once that I didn’t want to stress myself out to do something would only save a nano-second. She quickly replied that all those nano-seconds over a lifetime might add up. Pretty fast thinking on her part but how would I ever know if it had added up? I doubt on my deathbed and I’ll get a sign that I had 25 more minutes because of the times I backed in.
I was thinking of this last week when I was at the Dunkin drive-though very early. The only three cars in the lot were parked in the very farthest corner from the building and all were backed in. My first thought was that you must really be glad to be done with work if you need to roar out of your parking spot head-first at the end of your shift. Made me laugh a little. Second thought was that management “suggested” it to employees so that it would be clear that employees weren’t hogging the good customer spots. This was the case in a few malls that I’ve worked at over the years. Third thought was that it was a coincidence; you all know I’m not that great about coincidence. But I’m not going to ask.
What about you? Pull in or back in? Any good parking stories?
pull in unless you can pull through. you know the spot where when you pull into your spot the spot in front of you is open too and if you continue forward you are in launch mode for you rapid departure. backing in people have a mentality that says their time right now is not valuable but maybe when they leave theyll have a mission and the 3 seconds to back up will be beneficial to have already looked after.
once i pulled into a parking lot on hennipen and lake. small lot behind the kinkos i think. when i came back the lot was full and i had a guy who thought parking behind me so i couldnt back out was ok. as it turned out it was. i simply put my car in reverse snd pushed his car into the lane behind me far enough so i couldnt get out. i smiled thinking about his discovery when he returned
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I usually pull into a spot forward. I don’t mind backing out. If there is an empty spot ahead of me, Robin always wants me to pull forward into it and, to mollify her, I do. Here’s the thing: if I am parking somewhere where I expect to come out with a shopping cart full of purchases and perhaps load them in the back, it’s awkward to load them into the car if it’s backed in. Even if you are loading something into the back seat, the doors open the wrong way if you are backed in. You have to take your purchases past both the front and back doors to get to the opening.
Ten years ago when we were in Wales and I was driving on the left side while sitting on the right I discovered how difficult it is to back up while looking over your left shoulder. Your orientation feels all wrong.
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I am a back inn-er, but not for speed – for safety. (Or I pull through when possible.)
I almost hit someone once, backing out of a parking lot space. So if, when I arrive, I have time and there are no walkers near me, I back in while I have no chance of hitting someone. Then when I leave, I don’t have to back out.
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p.s. I hate walking through parking lots for this same reason. People get distracted, and I don’t trust them always to watch for me. When there is space between the headlights of cars faced in, I choose that way rather than walk behind cars that might back up.
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I do half and half. Yes, I think mostly a safety thing, I don’t think it’s got anything to do with speed.
If it’s a busy parking ramp, like after a concert or something where there’s 20,000 people trying to leave the ramp it’s easier to back in so you can pull out into the flow of traffic.
And as mentioned above, putting packages in the back it’s easier if the tail is sticking out.
So it just depends.
YA sure has a lot of opinions… 🙂
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Yeppers!!
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The next time I go to a concert with 20,000 people vying for parking I’ll back in. That’ll be the day.
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I admit, I am talking about “normal” parking lots, not parking ramps or concerts with 20,000 people.
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I once had a light collision in a parking lot when I started to back up and a car behind me started to back out at the same moment. This was before everyone had backup cameras. I didn’t see the car because I was turning the wheel and judging the timing of the turn necessary to avoid scraping the car next to me. The other driver was probably doing the same thing. There was no damage to the cars because we were moving slowly.
Since then I’ve operated on the theory that if you avoid backing up in parking lots, your chances of those minor collisions are statistically reduced, so if it’s a lot where there are spots you can pull through to the other side, I’ll take one of those. I don’t mind if it results in a longer walk. My legs work just fine.
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I had the exact same kind of collision a few years ago in the Co-op parking lot. I didn’t have a back-up camera then, and I couldn’t see around the Sherpa-sized car next to me, so I was watching that side. Meanwhile, some college students pulled out of their spot behind me on the other side and we touched bumpers lightly. There was no damage or issues. We all went our merry ways, but it was instructive.
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Thanks for reminding me why I appreciate the bus!
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I do not like to back up in the car, and I am terrible at it. It is embarrassing I am so bad at it. If I had to negotiate VS’s driveway everyday, I would have a breakdown. So I pull in and pull through whenever I can. That said, when I had my office in St. Paul on the big Ford Parkway/Cleveland Ave intersection, parking was limited and I became an expert at parallel parking. I could wedge that car into a spot with an inch to spare. It was survival!
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YA turns her car around at the top of our driveway so she goes down head first.
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Lyndale Ave. is not a parking lot.
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Right now with the Nicollet Bridge closed for replacement and all that traffic diverted to Lyndale, it FEELS like a parking lot occasionally!!
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Pull in; back out.
Valet parking at NYC Metropolitan Museum of Arts a few years ago.
Reserve. 4 hours. $100.00 which included tip.
Probably a bargain today.
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When I see the word “probably”, a red flag waves, and I wonder, have you checked?
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没有
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Cleaver
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I used to back into my garage. I got into the habit of doing it because I had a car with an unreliable battery. I thought if the battery died it would be easier to connect jumper cables with the front end pointing out. It happened a couple of times, which proved me right.
The other reason is that I have 6th nerve palsy in my left eye, which means that some of the muscles are paralyzed and my eye doesn’t move much. When I look over my shoulder, my eyes cross. I might miss someone behind me because of this. Back-up cameras really help and the one I have now seems to have a wide view.
The other reason I backed in was because the driver door of the car would be on the same side as the door to my house. That isn’t the case here. If I back in, I have to squeeze along the wall, and go all the way around the car to get to the door. This garage is smaller, so I can’t walk around the car unless I leave the garage door open – there isn’t room. So, I pull in forward here. That way, the driver door is on the same side as the door to the house, and I can squeeze the car in very close to the wall on the passenger side. I have to back out of the garage, but now there is the back-up camera and a loud warning beep if there is something behind me.
I use those parking spaces that you can pull all the way through too. It’s good exercise if you have to walk a little further.
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This reminds me, we back into our garage, too, for some of the same reasons.
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I back into my garage when I charge the car, because that aligns the charging port with the charger on the wall. The charger has a long cord, but I don’t want to stretch it that far only to find I’m an inch short.
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Pull in; back out. With newer cars equipped with rearview cameras and warning sensors, backing out of a space is much safer than it was 20 years ago. I also think it’s much harder to back into a space when flanked by 2 cars that might both be hugging the lines and leaving you mere inches to negotiate. Plus, I’ve been doing it that way for 54 years. I’m too f-ing old to change my habits. *said the old curmudgeon*
Chris in Owatonna
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