Last night, I witnessed one of the most bone-headed parking jobs ever. It was so bad that it defies logic and common sense, and something that left me wondering how these kinds of people still exist in the world today. Now I will be the first one to admit that I’m not perfect and some (many) of my parking attempts are pretty atrocious. This one though, takes the cake for the person’s lack of judgment and lack of common sense.

What made this the worst parking job I’ve ever seen, and something so bad that I’m taking the time to rant about it?

It was a white pickup truck that was parallel parked on the street smack in front of my driveway, preventing both cars in a two-car driveway from getting out. I don’t know what he was thinking when he decided that blocking a private laneway would be ok while he went in for an appointment at my neighbour’s house across the street. It was kind of like this picture, but much worse. (link to image)

Here’s what made this parking spot even worse than you thought possible.

1. There were no other cars parked on the street in 100 meters in all directions.
My neighbour’s driveway even had an empty spot for him to park in. And if he really wanted to park on the street, all he had to do was move 3 meters forward, 3 meters backward, or ANYWHERE else on either side of the street and he would’ve been in the clear. Even moving 1 meter in either direction would have allowed one car to exit from my driveway (though at an awkward angle). It seems he purposely chose the spot that would make it physically impossible for any car to leave my driveway without driving on and ruining the lawn.

2. There were two cars in plain view in the driveway before he got there.
They weren’t in the garage, but in plain view and clearly his parking in front of my driveway meant that they would be preventing from leaving. It’s not like the cars in my driveway appeared out of nowhere. They were there long before he even showed up or thought about visiting my neighbour’s house.

3. He parked right in the middle of the driveway
He didn’t even attempt to park along the curb or give even a little bit of space to allow one car to get out. He decided that right smack in the middle of someone’s driveway – who you’re not even going to visit – would be an ok place to park. That kind of logic just boggles my mind. Who (besides this guy) does that sort of thing?!

4. He knew he would be spending a significant amount of time away from his vehicle.
He was contractor (there was binder of some of his products sitting in the front seat) and was inside my neighbour’s house on a sales call. These kinds of appointments don’t take just a couple of minutes. And it’s not like running into the corner store to pickup some bread on the way home. He was giving a sales presentation.

5. He arrived early for his appointment
When my neighbour opened up the door, he mentioned that as he was coming home and pulling into his garage, he saw the offending car already blocking my driveway and thought it was strange to be parked that way. It’s not like he was in a rush to park and get to his appointment, he arrived early and was there before the homeowner even got home!

6. His action showed a complete lack of common sense and common courtesy
There were so many other spots he could have chosen. He had time to do a better parking job, but he didn’t. That just screams laziness, stupidity, incompetence, and complete lack of empathy for his fellow citizens.

I’m going to take solace in the fact that he probably won’t be getting the job from my neighbor and therefore won’t be back in my neighbourhood again. Hopefully he learns from this experience or sees how stupid his actions were. This turned into a really long rant, and if you want to read more, you can check out my other rant on Indian telemarketers.