Dept. of Type A Drivers

[kaffy_r]

Things I learned Today

1.  I hate - hate - the Chicago Way of Parking. Furniture-Fu sucks canine nether parts. In the netherworld. The street is public property, you selfish imbeciles! I took two days to dig my car out, and when I left the parking spot, I left it for any of my fellow citizens who could navigate into it. I did not place packing crates, ironing boards, lawn furniture or dining room chairs in the spot, awaiting my return. Because it's public goddamn property. And did I mention I think little of your parentage or your ability with the spoken word? Or upright posture? Asshats.
   
2. My bad driving habits - yelling obscenities loud enough inside a car almost hard enough to break blood vessels in my eyeballs (windows rolled up, I'm not that mad) at other drivers - while undoubtedly good for my mental health, is not good for my passengers. Especially when they are my far-more-chi-centered Best Beloved.
   
3. My bad driving habits - so bad that my sainted mother, who, in her prime would take corners like Mario Andretti, would look askance at me - bleed into my parking habits.
   
4. It's a good thing my Best Beloved eventually dumped me off at the back door, holding onto his frayed temper with admirable constraint, and telling me he'd find a parking spot.
   

Thank you, and good night.

Comments

[supergee.livejournal.com]

I only do 2. when I'm alone in the car.

[kaffy_r]

An eminently wise decision. My problem lies, at least in part, in the fact that I can't seem to turn it off when I'm no longer alone.

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me neither. Which my travelling companions found hilarious the last time I was going out to eat with some Chicagoans, in Chicago, and complaining about bad drivers.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

I hate that furniture stuff, too. I have friends who try to defend it, but I'm with you: If I could save parking spaces, I'd do it ALL THE TIME! Not just in snow! Why is the situation different when it snows?

[kaffy_r]

They do it on the east coast, too, eh? My sympathies.

I know the argument of furniture users is that they spent a great deal of time and energy digging out a spot, and it's unfair for someone who hasn't worked to get the benefit of their labor. I can even understand it, but I can't condone it; the answer, unfortunately, is "Yes, it's too bad someone else is benefiting from your work. That's how it goes. You did a citizen's duty in digging out your car. Another citizen is now making use of that. You can only hope that she or he will pass it forward by digging out her or his original spot, and letting someone else take it. Once everyone has done that, all the parking spaces will be free again." Sadly, people fixate on the immediate fairness issue, and ignore the systemic fairness reality.

[(Anonymous)]

They do it in certain areas of Boston. Luckily, not the areas where I live.

I get that they think they worked very hard cleaning out a space. Here's the thing: Parking is always scarce on the streets of Boston. Every time I find a space, I've worked very hard at finding that space. When I leave that space, do I get to save it because it took me a long time to find it and a long time to get into it? No. If I tried to, I'd be burned at the stake. So why is it any different if you cleaned the space out? So? I cleaned a space out, can I own that space for the rest of time? Just while there's still snow on the ground? What if some of the snow melts? Then are we still allowed to reserve spaces?

It just makes NO LOGICAL SENSE to me. I just don't get it *at* *all.*

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

And that was me. I wasn't logged in. Oops.

[kaffy_r]

No worries. Heh. (And you're right about the lack of real logic.)

[maruad.livejournal.com]

My beloved gets upset when ever I belittle other drivers no matter if I use G rated language and dulcet tones to berate them. I think she feels I am using a combination of bad manners and pot/kettle blackening which she does not enjoy.

[kaffy_r]

My Best Beloved and First Born have, alas, all too few examples of me approaching the problem with G rates language or dulcet tones. Perhaps I should undertake that experiment, eh?

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I was taking trash up to the dumpster I can use after an earlier storm (some friends dug my van out) and there were two spaces with things in them. I'm guessing the people who usually park their cars there put the things in the spaces, but they made a mistake. If the spaces hadn't had things in them, the plow would have completely pushed the snow into a big pile out of the way.

[kaffy_r]

Which is just punishment in their case, but frustrating for people who don't indulge in Furniture-Fu, who still have to suffer from the lack of complete plowing.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Well, in our condo development, as long as you leave your spot empty during the day people start going back to work and the day after that, the plow will move the snow out of the way. This time the plow did push snow in front of our side of the clusterboxes. I emailed and called our agent and he had someone come shovel that clear.

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

I can't remember the side streets ever getting that much plowing in Chicago. Maybe if I'd lived down the street from an alder or Blagojevich....

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I live in a condo development, and we tell our management what to do, mostly.