I went to the gym yesterday afternoon. During the week, I'm usually in my beater Jeep so parking at the gym is not an overriding issue. The parking spaces are tight and the rows are narrow, which mean you really have to have your head on a swivel when backing out of a spot so as not to bumper-tap another car.
But I usually drive my Challenger on the weekends, so if I go to the gym I look for one three of my 3 "safe" parking spots. If none of the 3 are available, I simply leave, as was the case last Saturday. But usually I can park in one of my 3 spots.
Yesterday was a perfect example of that. I parked in my favorite spot on the far side of the parking lot that's curbed on one side, and faces out to a planter island, so no one would back into me. As I almost always do, I backed into the parking spot and put my doorshox on my unprotected passenger side in the event someone parked too close and went in to play some basketball. If you ever used to watch Seinfeld, you might remember an episode where Jerry Seinfeld coined the term "close-talker" to describe someone who stands in your personal space while talking to you. Inspired by that, I call drivers who park too close to another car as "close-parkers".
When I returned after my workout, I could see a silver Cadillac CTS had parked next to my Challenger. As I drew near, I could see the CTS was parked a little too near my passenger door. I quick-scanned my passenger door for dings, saw none, and opened my passenger door to put away my doorshox. As I opened my door, I kept my fingertips on the edge to prevent it from hitting the CTS (my door opened to within a 1/4" of hitting it).
I went around to the driver's side and was getting ready to leave when I saw a guy approaching me. He called out, "I'll bet you're wondering the what @$$hole parked so close to your car!" I figured in an instant he was the owner of the CTS. The guy came around to my driver's side and repeated his statement. I replied, "Well, I'm guessing it's yours, but I'm also guessing you parked like that to protect your car from getting damaged."
The CTS owner affirmed it was his car and explained he was trying to find a place to park when he spotted my Challenger and decided to park next to it because he figured whoever owned the Challenger had parked it in a way to protect it, and he correctly surmised that the owner (me) would take care not to damage his vehicle. I told him that I'm a car guy and I always take care not to ding another vehicle, and thanked him for coming over to explain why he parked the way that he did. We talked about our cars for a few more minutes and went our separate ways. Really kind of a refreshing change from the inconsiderate close-parkers I usually encounter.
But I usually drive my Challenger on the weekends, so if I go to the gym I look for one three of my 3 "safe" parking spots. If none of the 3 are available, I simply leave, as was the case last Saturday. But usually I can park in one of my 3 spots.
Yesterday was a perfect example of that. I parked in my favorite spot on the far side of the parking lot that's curbed on one side, and faces out to a planter island, so no one would back into me. As I almost always do, I backed into the parking spot and put my doorshox on my unprotected passenger side in the event someone parked too close and went in to play some basketball. If you ever used to watch Seinfeld, you might remember an episode where Jerry Seinfeld coined the term "close-talker" to describe someone who stands in your personal space while talking to you. Inspired by that, I call drivers who park too close to another car as "close-parkers".
When I returned after my workout, I could see a silver Cadillac CTS had parked next to my Challenger. As I drew near, I could see the CTS was parked a little too near my passenger door. I quick-scanned my passenger door for dings, saw none, and opened my passenger door to put away my doorshox. As I opened my door, I kept my fingertips on the edge to prevent it from hitting the CTS (my door opened to within a 1/4" of hitting it).
I went around to the driver's side and was getting ready to leave when I saw a guy approaching me. He called out, "I'll bet you're wondering the what @$$hole parked so close to your car!" I figured in an instant he was the owner of the CTS. The guy came around to my driver's side and repeated his statement. I replied, "Well, I'm guessing it's yours, but I'm also guessing you parked like that to protect your car from getting damaged."
The CTS owner affirmed it was his car and explained he was trying to find a place to park when he spotted my Challenger and decided to park next to it because he figured whoever owned the Challenger had parked it in a way to protect it, and he correctly surmised that the owner (me) would take care not to damage his vehicle. I told him that I'm a car guy and I always take care not to ding another vehicle, and thanked him for coming over to explain why he parked the way that he did. We talked about our cars for a few more minutes and went our separate ways. Really kind of a refreshing change from the inconsiderate close-parkers I usually encounter.
op:
