Saturday, July 15, 2006
Parking
Right, time for another of my rants.
This time it's parking. Why is parking such a problem for some people? I have owned a series of fairly large cars, Volvos, big Vaukhalls, a huge American Chrysler (16 foot from end to end) and now a Jeep. But I've always been able to find a parking place and place the car in it. So why do people who drives small cars like Fiestas have such difficulty parallel parking and leave one end stuck out in the road at an angle? And why do they take up two places, leaving exactly half a space in front and behind them? It irritates me somewhat.
My wife of course can never find a space in the first place. She always complains there is nowhere to park. Yet if I am driving to the same location and the same day of the week I will sail into a space right on the doorstep of where Ii want to be. Do I hace some mystical talent to locate these spaces?
The other thing that annoys me about parking is the Parent and child places at Supermarkets. These used to be mother and baby spaces, until someone must surely have complained as a single father and got the notices altered, and rightly so. I have a problem with the whole concept however. I have seen "parents" with their adult children parking in these spaces. Are they technically doing anything wrong? They are parents and they are with their children. I just don't see the need for these spaces at all. The arguement goes something like "I have to carry my child if I park elsewhere plus my shopping, and it just can't be done." Actually, you don't. The supermarket provides trolleys for everyone, so you can carry your offspring in the trolley and push it along like the rest of us.
Disabled parking is a different issue. I agree they should be allowed to park nearer the doors, as they use wheel chairs, walking sticks etc, and it can be painful and difficult for them to do so over a distance. Except of course that the disabled bays are taken up by "disabled" people who are simply fat and lazy through their own fault, and ooze their path to the supermarklet to buy more Stella Artois, frozen burgers and Pizzas whilst chain smoking and wheezing on their asthma pumps, whilst the genuine disabled who have far more pride and determination limp from the bays at the other end of the shop.
The whole issue of these special bays is that they are wider to provide easier access for those with disabilites, childrens seats and pushchairs etc. But as a parent I find it easier to park at the far end of the car park which is completely empty and has completely unhindered access to your car. The added bonus is that with no one else parking there the chances of some careless git denting your door with theirs is greatly reduced. Plus you can readily find your car because it stands out on it's own, it's not just another amorphous blob in a sea of silver repmobiles.
Oh yeah and the walk pushing the trolley does you good too, it's healthy exercise.
Which brings me to another point. Next time you are at the supermarket do a bit of people watching. Those who park nearest the doors to the supermarket always seem to be the people wearing sportswear, with a healthy tan and sunny yet somewhat arrogant disposition. They might give the impression of being really fit, but look at the facts. Is that a muscle toned chest or just fat under that England shirt? Is the seat of the tracksuit just that little bit polished and shiny from sitting on a sofa too long? Is that tan just a little streaky? The smile jsut that little bit glo-white and false? These are lazy people who take short cuts in evry aspect of their lives. They're not parking close to save time to go to the gym I'll betcha. If they were such good guys and fitness freaks they'd be offering to carry the disabled guys heavy shopping for him, not stealing the handicapped parking bay.
The solution of course, in the interest of equality for all is to make all the bays the same size as the disabled/parent bays. Okay we'd only have 220 spaces instead of 300, but we could park easily and safely. And the 300 advertised spaces are never filled anyway, except maybe at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
At least at the supermarket parking is free. Except at seaside resorts where it's only free if you produce your reciept. The biggest rip off in history has to be parking fees and parking fines. I already paid Road Tax to use the roads but I have to pay again to park on them when I'm not using them? Or I have to pay to park on some bombsite still left untarmacced and cratered since world war II, "at my own risk!" If I'm paying £25 a day to park I want an armed guard assigned to each row, and I want to see the heads of the people who break into my car displayed on spikes around the perimeter fence. For £25 a day I want valet parking provided for the Fiesta drivers so they don't take up half of my bay.
On street parking is just as bad a rip off. The current rate in Hull is about £1 and hour, minium payment of 50 pence for 20 minutes. It used to be on meters, which was fine if you needed just a few minutes, as you occasionally do, because you might be lucky and find a meter with some time left on it. Free parking? No, not really because someone had already paid for it. Now it's on a ticket machine "Pay and Display." So you pay excessively in the firts place, and any unused time you've paid for when you leave has to be paid for again by the next person to arrive. Can I pas on my ticket to him, if say I have an hour left to run? No, that is an offence. So wait a minute, we both pay for the same space to use it at the same time, right? That's sort of like the water board charging me for water, then when I have a piss charging someone else for that and telling them it's water. They are getting a second hand space, it should be free or very cheap as I already bought it once. What's going on?
Anyhow, here's a tip if you have a high value load and need to park in the city centre. Instead of risky on street parking, or even risky bombsite without armed guards and fuzzy CCTV, park directly outside the police station on the double yellow lines. Your car will be monitiored by CCTV and have regular police patrols pasing it and paying it special attention, particulary if you leave a few loose coloured wires sticking out of an old suitcase on the back seat. You will get a fixed penalty ticket of £30, but that's only a fiver more than above mentioned bombsite car park and mcuh better value I beleive. Oh yeah and you get 28 days interest free credit on your payment.
Till next time, park carefully.
This time it's parking. Why is parking such a problem for some people? I have owned a series of fairly large cars, Volvos, big Vaukhalls, a huge American Chrysler (16 foot from end to end) and now a Jeep. But I've always been able to find a parking place and place the car in it. So why do people who drives small cars like Fiestas have such difficulty parallel parking and leave one end stuck out in the road at an angle? And why do they take up two places, leaving exactly half a space in front and behind them? It irritates me somewhat.
My wife of course can never find a space in the first place. She always complains there is nowhere to park. Yet if I am driving to the same location and the same day of the week I will sail into a space right on the doorstep of where Ii want to be. Do I hace some mystical talent to locate these spaces?
The other thing that annoys me about parking is the Parent and child places at Supermarkets. These used to be mother and baby spaces, until someone must surely have complained as a single father and got the notices altered, and rightly so. I have a problem with the whole concept however. I have seen "parents" with their adult children parking in these spaces. Are they technically doing anything wrong? They are parents and they are with their children. I just don't see the need for these spaces at all. The arguement goes something like "I have to carry my child if I park elsewhere plus my shopping, and it just can't be done." Actually, you don't. The supermarket provides trolleys for everyone, so you can carry your offspring in the trolley and push it along like the rest of us.
Disabled parking is a different issue. I agree they should be allowed to park nearer the doors, as they use wheel chairs, walking sticks etc, and it can be painful and difficult for them to do so over a distance. Except of course that the disabled bays are taken up by "disabled" people who are simply fat and lazy through their own fault, and ooze their path to the supermarklet to buy more Stella Artois, frozen burgers and Pizzas whilst chain smoking and wheezing on their asthma pumps, whilst the genuine disabled who have far more pride and determination limp from the bays at the other end of the shop.
The whole issue of these special bays is that they are wider to provide easier access for those with disabilites, childrens seats and pushchairs etc. But as a parent I find it easier to park at the far end of the car park which is completely empty and has completely unhindered access to your car. The added bonus is that with no one else parking there the chances of some careless git denting your door with theirs is greatly reduced. Plus you can readily find your car because it stands out on it's own, it's not just another amorphous blob in a sea of silver repmobiles.
Oh yeah and the walk pushing the trolley does you good too, it's healthy exercise.
Which brings me to another point. Next time you are at the supermarket do a bit of people watching. Those who park nearest the doors to the supermarket always seem to be the people wearing sportswear, with a healthy tan and sunny yet somewhat arrogant disposition. They might give the impression of being really fit, but look at the facts. Is that a muscle toned chest or just fat under that England shirt? Is the seat of the tracksuit just that little bit polished and shiny from sitting on a sofa too long? Is that tan just a little streaky? The smile jsut that little bit glo-white and false? These are lazy people who take short cuts in evry aspect of their lives. They're not parking close to save time to go to the gym I'll betcha. If they were such good guys and fitness freaks they'd be offering to carry the disabled guys heavy shopping for him, not stealing the handicapped parking bay.
The solution of course, in the interest of equality for all is to make all the bays the same size as the disabled/parent bays. Okay we'd only have 220 spaces instead of 300, but we could park easily and safely. And the 300 advertised spaces are never filled anyway, except maybe at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
At least at the supermarket parking is free. Except at seaside resorts where it's only free if you produce your reciept. The biggest rip off in history has to be parking fees and parking fines. I already paid Road Tax to use the roads but I have to pay again to park on them when I'm not using them? Or I have to pay to park on some bombsite still left untarmacced and cratered since world war II, "at my own risk!" If I'm paying £25 a day to park I want an armed guard assigned to each row, and I want to see the heads of the people who break into my car displayed on spikes around the perimeter fence. For £25 a day I want valet parking provided for the Fiesta drivers so they don't take up half of my bay.
On street parking is just as bad a rip off. The current rate in Hull is about £1 and hour, minium payment of 50 pence for 20 minutes. It used to be on meters, which was fine if you needed just a few minutes, as you occasionally do, because you might be lucky and find a meter with some time left on it. Free parking? No, not really because someone had already paid for it. Now it's on a ticket machine "Pay and Display." So you pay excessively in the firts place, and any unused time you've paid for when you leave has to be paid for again by the next person to arrive. Can I pas on my ticket to him, if say I have an hour left to run? No, that is an offence. So wait a minute, we both pay for the same space to use it at the same time, right? That's sort of like the water board charging me for water, then when I have a piss charging someone else for that and telling them it's water. They are getting a second hand space, it should be free or very cheap as I already bought it once. What's going on?
Anyhow, here's a tip if you have a high value load and need to park in the city centre. Instead of risky on street parking, or even risky bombsite without armed guards and fuzzy CCTV, park directly outside the police station on the double yellow lines. Your car will be monitiored by CCTV and have regular police patrols pasing it and paying it special attention, particulary if you leave a few loose coloured wires sticking out of an old suitcase on the back seat. You will get a fixed penalty ticket of £30, but that's only a fiver more than above mentioned bombsite car park and mcuh better value I beleive. Oh yeah and you get 28 days interest free credit on your payment.
Till next time, park carefully.
# posted by Martin Thorp @ 7:16 AM 
