Friday, June 23, 2006

Does anything excuse a bad parking job?

As I walked back to my car in the BART lot this afternoon, I noticed a piece of paper on my windshield. It didn't look like a parking ticket, and since I pay a fee for a reserved spot, it doesn't make sense for them to ticket me anyways. As I got closer, I saw that it was a torn piece of notebook paper. I pulled the note off my wipers, and it read, "YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE!! LEARN HOW TO PARK!"

Hmm..did I park poorly and piss someone off today? I walked around my car to see my position, and noticed that I was parked a bit too far to the right, and was touching the right side of the parking line. I guess I was running late today and just pulled into a space sloppily and dashed towards the station. It sure beats repositioning, missing the train, and waiting 10 additional minutes for the next train.

The car to my right is a huge Mountaineer (huge under my standards). I can see how he/she could have had a tough time getting in the space and squeezing out of the driver door, since the car was humongous. But hey, he/she should have just taken another space! It's Friday...the lot is emptier, there should have been plenty of additional spaces for a big SUV.

I touched the right side of the parking line, but I didn't go OVER it. Technically, I was still within my space. If a Corolla, Civic, Pontiac, or Altima parked next to me instead of the Mountaineer, this would not be an issue!

Someone must have had a lot of time to actually get out of the car, take out a piece of notebook paper, write a note and leave it on my window. That, or he/she was quite pissed off. Come on now, I saw the room remaining between our cars, I would have been able to get out of the car effortlessly.

I generally excuse people who park crookedly in the BART parking lot. I understand that they must have been in a rush to catch the train. What I can't excuse are those who take up TWO spaces! That is deliberate and inexcusable. Especially when it's a brand new Porsche- small enough to fit within one space easily, but the driver insists on taking two spaces because he thinks he's entitled and more special than the rest of us!

But me? I'm innocent...it was an innocent carelessness, so I claim. Did I deserve the note? Maybe a little...

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Bad Parking Job - the Mountaineer is not a "huge" SUV so don't exaggerate. I have a Ford Explorer sibling & both are mid size & drive & park pretty easy. The doors are small too so it is easy to get in & out if a car is parked close (like yours). A huge SUV would a Hummer or Excursion. Just park better & don't be a dumbass.

Anonymous said...

I am fed up with people who do not park WITHIN the alloted spaces. Somnetimes this means there is an empty spot. BART police should be giving these people tickets

bartmusings said...

OK, Mountaineer is not the biggest of SUVs, but it's bigger than an Rav4, Highlander ot Escape! I'm just saying, I didn't go over any lines, there was at least 20 inches of space for the Mountaineer driver to get out of his/her space. I acknowledged that I parked poorly (due to being late, though not an excuse) but it's not SO bad that someone needed to leave me a nasty note.

bartmusings said...

I think BART Parking Enforcement do ticket people who take up two spaces..at least I hope they do. It's just plain rude and inconsiderate for people to park so poorly that someone else can't use up the space.

Anonymous said...

Most of the spaces are a bit small. Here's one tip that I use.

Look for a car parked facing out. Preferably one with a space next to the passenger door. And park close, slightly off-center, so that your passenger door, and his passenger door are close. That allows you a little more room for your driver side door.

Most likely, the car next to you is a one-person driver, otherwise he would ahve gotten a carpool pass.

Anonymous said...

All of this rushed parking could be avoided if BART had some kind of system to let incoming drivers know how long until the next train arrives. So many times I would rush into the parking lot only to see a train pull into the station. Adding the time it takes to park *correctly*, pay your $1 (and of course remembering to look at your space #), you are always in a rush. Some kind of train schedule in the parking lot would be fantastic.

Anonymous said...

I think part of the problem is that the spaces in the BART parking lot are considerably narrower than any other parking lot I frequent. At the Concord station, even when my Tundra is dead-centered in the space, there is only an inch or two between the tires and the lines on either side.

Anonymous said...

I can't tolerate the people who have to park on the line and hit your door when they are getting out after I go to so much trouble to park my car so they don't hit the door. They go out of their way to park close to my car instead of within their two lines.

Anonymous said...

BART does have a system to let incoming drivers know how long until the next train arrives. It's called a schedule. How tough is it to look up what time the train you need to catch arrives. BART has been pretty good about being on time usually. I guess some just need to blame others when they can't do for themselves.

bartmusings said...

To the last anonymous post that commented that BART does have a system that lets you know when the next train is coming (schedule)....

Yes, I know. We all know. But you are missing the point. The point is when a train comes in 4 minutes late, and you are running like mad from the lot to the platform thinking the train is coming in 30 seconds...it makes a HUGE difference to see the "NEXT TRAIN" sign outside of the station, instead of on the platform level, after you've already gone in the gates.

I have memorized the BART schedule. That doesn't help. We cannot anticipate delays. The only way we can find out REAL-TIME (you know what that means I hope) BART schedule is really at the station. BART reports on the radio/TV are not accurate. They are about 10-15 mintues off.

You must not ride BART often if you think BART is on time most of the time. For those of us who rely on BART's timeliness to catch our next connection...we suffer even when there is a 4 mintue delay.

I hope this helps you get the point.

Anonymous said...

Don't know how many have it but the Concord station does have yellow flashing lights that you can see from the parking warning you when I train is approaching the station. If you see those start flashing you have time to run if your quick.

bartmusings said...

That's cool that the Concord station has warning lights! Hope they have that in every station with a parking lot.

Anonymous said...

The Fremont station has it also, When it goes off you can get to the train as long as you matain a good pace.

Don't trust the one at Concord North to much, it seems to have a mind of it's own at times. (I have seen it on when there isn't a train in the station and won't be for about 10 minutes)

Bob said...

It took me a while to realize that's what those flashing yellow lights meant. It finally clicked one day that a train would arrive shortly after they started. I had at first thought they were something to do with the public buses since they are located on the bus shelters.