parking lot rants

I seem to have been in a lot of full parking lots recently, and I found them annoying.

To start with, there was the guy shoveling out his snow-plowed-in car in the parking lot at the Y Monday morning. I come out with two toddlers holding onto a stroller, the guy is parked two spaces away. He watches me making my way to my (also snow-plowed-in) car. Ya think he offered to shovel me out? Or lend me his shovel? Nope. Course not.

Next bit—people who see me, three small kids in tow, reach my car, and immediately turn on their signal and settle in to wait. Really, people. From the point where I unlock my car, it takes me a good 10-15 minutes to get the kids in the car and get ready to go. And that's when I don't feel like every move I make is being watched by someone impatient to have my spot. Why block a parking lot lane for someone who's going to take that long? It's just nonsensical.

Then there are the geniuses who see me pulling out, turn on their turn signals, and then keep inching forward as I'm trying to back out. I, of course, being a mom of 3, drive a big old honking minivan that's complicated to maneuver in parking lots anyway. So if someone is in the lane moving forward, I'm as likely as not just to pull back into my spot for fear of hitting them.

And there are the people who "pace" you as you're walking to your car. One guy did this to me the other day. I'd walk a few steps, his car would jerk forward. I am pretty scared of cars, and being a helpless pedestrian being stalked by one in a parking lot is not something I enjoy.

Now, don't get me wrong. I appreciate the frustrations of a full parking lot. But seriously! There's just no need to be that aggressive about it! (And please don't get me started about the specific parking lot at Greyson's preschool, and all the moms who insist on parking in the middle of the lot [shared with a church, and very small] while two classes of preschoolers and their younger siblings are trying to get in and out of school.)