Back That Truck Up
I pulled into the garage this morning to see somebody driving a massive Ford SUV, backing into a parking spot marked “Reserved for High Fuel Efficiency Vehicles.” Incidentally, no Chevy Volt power plug there, but we occasionally get a Prius or two parking in those spots. They have a different color parking tag, but the rule is so routinely disobeyed it hardly means anything. A beat up Miata is the most common occupant of the closest spot to the door.
That’s only worth a chuckle on its own, but something about arbitrarily backing into spots kind of puzzles me. I did it yesterday at Chili’s on the way back from San Antonio just to make the sinister villain look I always take on when I do it. I think it’s related to the idea of a disproportionate initial inconvenience being taken for the benefit of future ease. If you’re a practiced routine backer, you might find it nearly even with the hassle of backing out of a spot. I do it infrequently enough I normally have to trim up my placement before settling in, so I have to be feeling kind of goofy just doing it for no reason. This of course doesn’t apply to obvious public-good backing like at sports events and tight parking lots in general, especially when everybody gets there and leaves at the same time.
Chanelling Obama, “let me be clear:” I don’t have a problem with “folks” arbitrary backing. Cousin Pookie does it all the time, but he normally backs into a moat while drinking a Slurpie in his clunker.
On an enthusiasm basis, I find it akin to the constant personal debate I had in Turkey as to whether the foot traffic was more aggressive coming to work or leaving. The yin-yang of “I have so much to do when I get there” or “I’m late” and “I can’t wait to get out of here.” I think work-backers are normally “can’t wait” folks. To each his own.