You know that Seinfeld episode where George gets into an argument over a parallel parking space in front of Jerry’s place when one guy pulls in front first and the other backs in (like I was taught in driving school)? Well last night I got to witness a little part of tv in real life. As I was riding up 18th St on my way home around 8:30 or so I saw two cars stuck in basically the exact same situation.
One car, I think a Honda Accord with a young lady driving it was backed towards a spot but was blocked out by a guy driving some sort of monster pos SUV (I think a land rover to get through these crazy urban paved roadways presumably) who had pulled in head first basically sitting perpendicular to the space. Not sure who was there first or any of that but as I rode by a police cruiser was pulling up on the other side to see what was going on.
The guy in the SUV started crying about the girl trying to take his space (literally I think he was about to start crying) while traffic heading both ways on 18th in the heart of Adams Morgan was now being blocked for this ridiculous little quarrel. As I rode by the scene I mumbled something about stupid cars and drivers and reflecting on this there are a few things that come to mind. First off, why do people feel the need to drive around the city when there is perfectly good, cheap and hassle free (especially compared to driving) public transportation to get you pretty much where ever you need to go. Not to mention the fact that aside from mornings before say 10 am there is NEVER ample parking in Adams Morgan, why even bother trying to deal with it? This is a mentality I may never understand, and with cars and car life being so expensive these days, both in monetary and emotional (see road rage, traffic jams, driving around looking for parking) terms I don’t understand what people see in it.
The other major issue I saw here is just how ridiculously insensitive and self serving people are; actions that seem to be exacerbated by the automobile culture which always seems to give people an ill-placed sense of power and distance from everything around them. People become so self absorbed that they forget about the fact that everything they do on the roads affects most everyone around them so these two squabbling over a stupid parking space ended up causing a bit of a traffic jam on both sides of 18th. This would never happen on a bike.
I’m guessing the girl in the Honda probably won this fight since for one she was backing into the back in only spot, and for two she was a cute young girl and the cop was a guy. Sorry for your luck land rover driving crying dude, next time take public transit, or better yet ride a bike. I’m sure affording one won’t be an issue since you apparently are doing well enough to buy your massive SUV and pay for the 13 miles a gallon gas guzzling too.
1 comment:
This post is perfect for National Bike Month. Parking isn't much of an issue if you get around by bike.
Post a Comment