This post was lying in my drafts from a long time. Finally posted it.
Ability to park correctly is a talent. I am sure guys agree to this since they know feel that girls cannot park properly. And I used to detest to that statement so much until I witnessed it. A friend of mine who owned a car from 4+ years and had been driving regularly came to drop me home once. She had to parallel park her car on the road since we don’t have a separate parking space for visitors. She kept trying for 10 mins when I suggested that I could get down and direct her to park. I tried directing her to park for another 10 mins after which she gave up. She let go off her ego and asked me if I could park for her. I did it in a minute and as we got down she confessed that this was the first time she ever attempted to parallel park in her entire life. I was kinda taken aback since I had hardly driven but still had parallel parked plenty of times. I seriously felt that she lied in order to hide her inability to parallel park.
I never found parking to be a big problem. I always parked properly, whether it was parallel parking or not. Initially my dad would guide me but now I can park easily without any effort. Some of my guy friends have appreciated my driving too. But why don’t many girls drive well and why do they find it so hard to park?
Anyway, coming back to parking woes. I wanted to have breakfast at Ihop one day and went there on a weekend morning. I could not find parking and after going round and round the parking lot, I gave up. But I really wanted to have something in Ihop and went to another Ihop restaurant which was more than 5 miles away. Luckily I found parking but there were too many people waiting for table and the approximate wait time was more than 35 mins. I was too hungry to wait for such a long time and decided to drop the plan and have somewhere else.
Next day, I got up early and headed towards the Ihop close to my house thinking that I will have my breakfast there atleast today. As soon as I came, I saw a huge car taking reverse which meant that I would be getting that spot 🙂 I waited for the car to leave and when I was getting ready to park my car there, another guy came and parked his car. He had just entered the lot but stole my spot right under my nose. Then I thought I will try to park in another spot, where another guy was also taking reverse. But by the time I reached that spot, some other guy parked. I lost the second spot since I was waiting for the first spot. Both these guys had come to the lot after I came but still stole my spots.
But by this time, I was really annoyed that my plan of having food there was again getting canceled. I decided not to quit this time. I swore that I will not leave until and unless I have my breakfast there. I exited the parking lot, took a right turn, then another right turn and one more right turn and came back to the road. I spent some 5 mins doing this. By the time I entered the parking lot again, I saw two cars taking reverse. I waited for the first one but again someone stole my spot. This time I pressed the accelerator hard and rushed into the second spot, before anybody could steal it from me. Finally I managed to park the car and I had my breakfast there, even though I had to wait for 15 mins. I remember the Seinfeld episode where George fights for a spot. I must have really shouted at the people who stole my spot, not once but thrice. 😦
Parking can sometimes be really problematic especially when you are sandwiching your tiny car in between two gigantic SUVs or trucks 🙂 I have never tried to park a SUV so far. I am sure that will be challenging. I have tried parallel parking huge cars though and it was pretty challenging. I had once banged my car to a lady’s while trying to take it out of the parking spot. She thankfully was not mad, even though her car got a dent. I had once hit a grandpa’s car too but he was very sweet and did not shout. Parking lots are pretty dangerous since there are some people like me who are also busy trying to remember a singer’s name while listening to a song on radio.
Cartoon taken from http://www.weblogcartoons.com/cb/predestined-parking.gif
Hehehe…good one!
I don’t drive (yet), but I hate it when I see anyone who’s not parked their vehicle properly. There have been times when I’v actually wanted to wait there right till the driver’s back — n give him/her a small bit of advice 😀
As for men driving better than women: well, i’d say there are super drivers in both genders. It’s the attitude that makes the difference 🙂
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Thanks Scorpria 🙂 Yeah have seen people park really badly, especially those with huge cars. I guess you are right. There are good and bad drivers among men as well as women 🙂
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That was a fantastic read Avada 🙂
It took me a while to master parallel parking, but I am so glad I finally did.
Having someone steal your parking slot right under your nose can be very annoying.
Wonderfully narrated!!
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Thanks CB 🙂 Agree with you, parallel parking is little tough to master.
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I hv never had probs with parking too honestly .. but men will be men! hmmpf!
That ws some circus to hv a nice breakfast .. well-deserved one after all that hungama 😉
Luv the cartoon 🙂
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Yeah men make fun of women all the time, especially when it comes to driving and parking 🙂 I had recently seen a video too that someone had shared on FB.
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🙂 open confession..i find it tough to park too 🙂 so i just leave it like that 😀
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😀 oh gils. so you are a living contradiction to the theory that men can park well
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🙂 its damn irritating..esp wen u want to get out fast and join some party or while goin for a movie.. 🙂
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so..hws blore treating u?
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Yeah that is true Gils. When you are in hurry, it gets really irritating.
Blore is awesome fun 😀 🙂 Meeting up folks and roaming around. I am hardly at home 🙂
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Oh, I can empathize!!
But liked the grit to have breakfast that day at Ihop despite all the trials and tribulations!! 😀
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🙂 Yeah I was totally disgusted that day and made up my mind to blog it, so that I dont forget my adventure 🙂
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😦 … am yet to learn driving…
Jus still in imagination reading …. 🙂
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🙂 you should learn soon. Driving is sometimes fun, especially the long drives
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Yet to learn how to drive a car but know a bit about parking bikes 😛 :P.. Not that it matters but most recently, the parking lot near my office is full of bikes not parked properly… bunch of idiots. Imagine a couple of guys parking such a way that an entire block of parking spot remains empty!! sigh… So well, even guys cannot park properly 😛 😛
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😀 thanks for proving the theory that even some guys cannot park properly. I guess it’s a talent to park properly then
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I m yet to learn driving so dont know about my parking skills 🙂 Is the book by Allan Pease? The original book is Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps and its awesome…others are just rip offs.
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I am not sure about the book since one of my friend sent it to me as a pdf. It might be a ripoff like you said. I am yet to read the one by Allan Pease too.
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🙂
It’s even more irritating to find people parking their vehicles in such a way that neither can someone park, nor can they even drive by without bumping into something.
With narrow roads and lanes in India, specially those which aren’t divided for separate up and down traffic, it can be much more than just problematic.
As about myself, I’m more often beaten at trying to get out of a manageable space in front of my car by someone or the other just squeezing their vehicle in (almost always when I’ve just turned on the ignition) and thereby, cutting off my exit. 😦
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Yeah it’s very irritating to see people park horribly. Some people drive so badly that you feel like blasting them on the road. Yeah in India, situation is even more worse. I am still very scared to drive in India 😀
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I have to admit: there are women I know who are bad drivers. But then I know men who are so too!
I hate it when women suddenly become coy. One of my ex-classmates used to ask one of the guys around to park or reverse her car and I would be like wtf !! If she could drive it all around town, what’s the deal with reversing or parking! 😐 yeesh!
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Yeah even I cant understand that. People can drive but not park. Arent you supposed to be good at maneuvering your vehicle in order to drive? Then why cant they maneuver it while parking?! Women should learn parking instead of taking such help from a guy.
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I totally agree …. in general women are bad drivers – as for me i don’t drive …. i m actually scared of driving on indian roads …. but my brother does n he is excellent at it 🙂
nice to know u r so determined about ur wish !
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Yeah in a way some men are really good drivers. Even I am scared of driving in India and hence havent tried driving here yet 🙂
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I drive a two wheeler so parking is not much of a problemd. Every time I come back to my scooter, there is a guy/gal perched on it. And there is usually some idiot who has parked his motorcycle right behind mine.
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Two wheeler is easier to park. That used to happen to me too. When I used to park in the college, some love birds used to sit on my vehicle all the time. People thought it was cool to sit and chit-chat on somebody else’s vehicle.
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Gr8 that you are a good driver… don’t worry I have seen some men too who are horrible drivers 🙂
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🙂 Thanks Dhiman.
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That was an awesome read… I have seen lots of people having parking problems. Honestly I dont think its guy/gal problem. It can happne to anyone… anyways loved the write up…
Cheers!
Tavish
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Thanks Tavish 🙂 I think you are right. It probably has nothing to do with gender.
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I dont know how to drive so knew nothing about parking…
Generally car parking is not an easy thing… It takes sometime to muster…
You are good 🙂 🙂
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Thanks Kanagu 🙂 You should start driving. I think it is really challenging on Indian roads especially 🙂
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Ha ha … a mail was send across all the company with my vehicle number as i had not parked it properly…:D
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oh god Sid 🙂 you parked so badly that they sent a mail 😛
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Oh! Yes parking can be painful! Though I don’t drive but have seen enough ppl being troubled! Just few days back I had told a colleague of our fav parking spot! The bugger thanked me and next day stole to spot! What a fight we had 😀 obviously all in good fun 😉
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Your colleague stole your parking spot! that’s so unfair. :O
Stealing of parking spots, especially when you have found a spot after searching for a while can be so annoying! 🙂
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Parking woes..I know many girls cannot park..I feel that’s because they have this psychology that they cannot do it!
my business partner drives and parks amazingly..I am damn proud of her 😀
I am proud of you also 🙂
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Thanks Neha 😀 I guess you are right.. Psychology plays a big role and girls just give up even before trying I guess.
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You reminded me of the Palika parking in New Delhi .. reading a post on parking for the first time, have to say you parked it really well! 😉
..escape !
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🙂 thanks Sourav
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I could never park earlier and have had all sorts of ppl on the road directing me, helping me & eventually parking the car for me 😀 So like gils, even I ll simply stop.
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🙂 oh you too are like gils 🙂
Glad to have you back in blogosphere Ro 🙂 Seeing you after a long time.
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Ha ha ha ha 😀 fantastic read! Loved it absolutely.. btw, I too come under the category of jukebox guessing 🙂 Thats why, after a lot of battling, my dad finally let me drive 🙂 Blogrolling you so I can keep visiting 🙂
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Hehe 🙂 Thanks so much Vibushan. I am so happy that you liked my posts 🙂 Keep visiting and I am blogrolling you too.
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