- submitted by s.l. on 08/15/2009
Parking Lot Etiquette Could Be The Savior of Humankind?
By Steve Levenstein
Nestled within the wide wheeled world of road rage, traffic chaos and assorted vehicular manslaughter lies a fragrant (of sorts) oasis - the suburban mall parking lot. Even at peak periods like weekend afternoons and during the annual holiday season gift hunt, an eerie calm seems to pervade our parking lot behavior.
You never hear about Parking Rage, now do you? In fact, the busier the lot, the more orderly the in/out equation becomes. Granted, you might hear the sound of a horn from time to time but odds are it's just some nice someone alerting a fellow parker who's backing out into oncoming traffic. Not a horn honked in anger. You can wait for the beep but nobody's sending any messages.
What makes this paradoxical parking lot peace even more remarkable is the fact that once you enter the lot, you're entering a world apart from the rigid rules of the road we've all been brainwashed into obeying. Motorists are suddenly freed from nanny-state style governance by road signs, traffic signals and police of the "green hornet" parking enforcement variety. Yet anarchy looms not: a 7-hour Seinfeldian standoff involving 2 cars, 1 space remains a contrived device in search of cheap sitcom laffs. Parking lots, if I may be so bold, could be the crucibles in which a kinder, gentler society is being cast!
Thoughts of this nature occurred to me this past weekend while visiting a popular Chinese supermarket and, as always, looking for a place to park. The lot was full except for a few open spaces at the edge of the lot farthest from the store's entrance.
At supermarkets people try to park as close as they can -- something to do with carrying heavy bags of groceries the shortest distance possible. Anyway, along the aisles of the lot assorted Spot Waiters were trolling, patiently watching for a car to vacate a space. When it appeared a bag-laden shopper had located their ride and made preparations to leave, the closest idler to the space would activate their turn signal, thereby "reserving" said space.
On the flip side, the person occupying the desired spot makes an extra effort to exit expeditiously -- they don't HAVE to, of course, but they usually comply because it's the right thing to do. These unwritten rules of the parking lot are universally accepted and respected... you'd think there was some sort of malevolent mall mind control at work. Hmmm...
Well, what other way to explain parking lot etiquette in action while marveling that it exists at all? Really, it's so unlike us! Consider how often drivers go postal after being cut off in moving traffic (or merely thinking so). Losing one's chosen parking spot after waiting 5 or 10 minutes seems a much bigger deal compared to losing a microsecond on your way to some important destination.
By all rights, parking lots should be shooting galleries that put the OK Corral to shame. The fact that they're not gives one hope that maybe, just maybe, we humans can finally learn to live together peacefully and cooperatively without some overbearing overlord forcing us to play nice or else. Riiight... it's time for a trip to the mall; now where did I put my tin foil hat?
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Steve Levenstein was born & raised at the then-northern edge of metro Toronto, Canada. Looking through the prism of the suburbs has not only given him a slightly skewed view of society, but has also helped frame the wider world as a series of variations on a theme. Closer to home, Toronto's multicultural mix acts as a rich, vibrant tonic -- an essential elixer that, by putting people out of their place, highlights the common humanity which lies within.
After a 15-year dip in the corporate pool, Steve abandoned the daily commute to focus on his first love, writing, and spending time with his family. Steve's wife of 18 years hails from Tokyo, Japan, and provides a unique window into the delights and diversions of modern Japanese culture while his 2 sons (the younger an established tech blogger in his own right) help keep the house from getting too quiet. Steve writes for a number of respected blogs including InventorSpot, WebUrbanist, Dark Roasted Blend and The Thinking Blog....read more rants
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