And this is our problem how?.....

[batmoody]

I was sitting outside on break and happened to witness what happens when SC's do try to drive. This lady was parked in the handicap spot, very first spot outside the door. Theres one of those big concrete parking space block things that you pull your car up to (that is supposed to keep you from going any further).

Anyways, she comes out of the store, gets into her car, backs out a little, then tries to pull forward out of that spot. I hear this cruuuunch noise, metal on concrete. This lady had somehow, (?) managed to pull her car up over this concrete bar. So now her car has its two front tires straddled over this bar, and its stuck on something. Its like a ford taurus, not a whole lotta clearance under there.

Of course, I'm just watching cuz this is perfect entertainment. She gets out, looks under her car, sees shes hung up on that bar, gets back in tried to reverse...cruuuuunch. Yeah she aint goin' anywhere.
She gets back out, and just stares at her car. I can tell she's thinking hard because I start to smell something burn.

She heads inside the store and I follow shortly. I go in and she's at the service counter, demanding to speak to the manager. Its like 7:45, manager doesnt come in till 8. So the bookkeeper calls the night foreman for customer assistance. As I turn on the aisle, I see the foreman, who is in the middle of scanning his order. I give him a heads up and tell him the situation. He is in no hurry to help her, becasue she's stupid and his order has to be on by 8.

Meanwhile this lady is pitching a fit cuz no one will help her. I don't know what she expected any of us to do. We're a grocery store!
So the bookeeper calls the dairy guy, who goes out there and basically tells her she's up a creek and needs to call a tow truck. Well, she can't afford that. And she is just being a bitch about it.

Seriously, why should we even be dealing with this. It's not our fault. Not to mention the liability if one of us got out a jack and tried to get her off of there. She obviously has to have some damage under there. Her car I mean <snicker>.If anything we should have called the cops and let them give her a sobriety or stupid test. She didn't even have a handicap sticker to be parked there either.

And how she even managed to do it in the first place. I drive a honkin' Cherokee and evenI would know if something was giving me resistance. How would she not notice that she was giving her car gas and it wasn't going anywhere, that something was in the way? Her tires had to have rolled up over that barrier. How would you not notice this???

She ended up convincing the parking lot cleaner truck crew guys to push her over it. But I can totally see this bitch trying to hold them responsible for her -ed up under car parts.

What a dork.

[chainedbarista]

we had something very similar happen to our store when we first opened; the woman pulled forward too far and her bumper caught on a piece of rebar that stuck out from that cement block.

she comes in and pitches a fit, claiming that we're responsible for the damage, we need to do something about it (like what, exactly? get a concrete truck out here, rig up some forms and pour out a new block?), blah blah blah...when we tell her that a) we lease the store space out b) the parking lot is not under our control c) she needs to contact the OWNER of the building to discuss anything related to the parking lot and damages therein

she then shuts up, buys a drink and mercifully leaves us alone, unlike the asshats who bitch about the parking problem, which is also not under our control...

[friendofjimmyk]

she comes in and pitches a fit, claiming that we're responsible for the damage, we need to do something about it (like what, exactly? get a concrete truck out here, rig up some forms and pour out a new block?), blah blah blah...when we tell her that a) we lease the store space out b) the parking lot is not under our control c) she needs to contact the OWNER of the building to discuss anything related to the parking lot and damages therein

she then shuts up, buys a drink and mercifully leaves us alone, unlike the asshats who bitch about the parking problem, which is also not under our control...

Of course it's under your control...of course you can do something about it - just like you can do something about the sun being to bright, the snow being to cold, the Boston Tea Party was under your control, the price of rice in China, and the changing of the tides - you have control over all of that, NOW FIX IT!

[hecubus]

A similar thing happened to my mom a couple months ago. She was pulling her minivan into a handicapped spot, and wanted to ease it forward just a little, but her foot slipped off the brake and she ran into a concrete signpost, and pushed it into another car.

She had the good sense, though, to realize it was her fault, and the lady whose car she hit was nothing but nice about the whole thing. Insurance covered everything and that's that.

I'll nver understand how anyone can think something lke that is the store's fault.

[pbmods]

I'll nver understand how anyone can think something lke that is the store's fault.

Because, god forbid, if it were *her* fault, she'd have to be an adult and take responsibility for it!

[ArenaBoy]

Where I work, being a witness to SCs driving makes you a better driver and more careful as to how you park. One person literally took two minutes to park in one spot. Parking lot SCs are very dangerous and will make you want to go crazy, they always do.

[Phone Jockey]

Wow, the audacity of some ppl! I don't know where they get off trying to blame someone ELSE for their stupidity. Of course, I should be used to it since I deal w/ that silliness every day at my job. Still, at least I don't have to hear the person screaming or shoving their ugly face in mine.

[lordlundar]

"well, we'll just phone the police, who will be more than happy to tow a car with no handicapped sign out of a handicapped spot. Right to the impound lot."

And no, the fact that she's as dumb as a box of rocks does not qualify as handicapped.

[One-Fang]

Yeah I'd have called the cops on the parking thing. Heck, there's prime evidence she really did park there. She's still stuck there.

[CrazedClerk]

Not driving related, but my brother who works at the local YMCA told me a story tonight about how some lady went in there and demanded they pay for her to get her car washed because a bird had crapped on it while she was working out.

Sure, because everyone knows the sky is corporate controlled now. Unbe-freaking-leviable.

[Blinky]

Did she put her car in "D" for dumb or "R" for retard?

[Becks]

Yeah I'd have called the cops on the parking thing. Heck, there's prime evidence she really did park there. She's still stuck there.

Hey, we thought the same!!!!!!! Wow.

[tignish]

two from where I work.

junior was driving moms car (obvious because it was a mini van and HE was obviously not SUPRMOM as the plate said). in our lot there is a median strip between two sets of spaces, not just the concrete barrier, its about 4 feet across and 9 inches high, well junior decides he doesn't want to back out of the space and guns the engine til the front wheels go over the median strip. he and his friends laughing about it the whole time.
made a nice crunch but the wheels ended up on top no problem. then he got to the other side... 7 inch clearance under the van... 9 inch median strip...
the mini van ended up balanced on the median with all four tires off the ground. when the tow truck finally showed up and dragged his stupid butt off the median it left behind half the exhaust system and the rear bumper from moms car bet she was thrilled with juniors driving after that one.


the other was a real SC

SC pulls into 2 spaces at a really steep angle next to 1 car the space on the other side was empty when she showed her amazing parking skills.
she comes in to shop and while she's in our store someone parks in the space that was empty. problem is at the angle she parked she is now totally blocked because there isn't enough room to back out. she comes back into our store screaming about some idiot parking like a moron and blocking her in and calls the police. when the police show up the person that parked in the empty space was just coming out so she started yelling at her that she couldn't drive and parked wrong, it took the cop 5 minutes to get her to stop yelling at the woman so he could tell her SHE parked wrong and the other person was parked perfectly straight and between the lines.

I think they need tougher license requirements... like an IQ above 3

[repsac]

I think.

You know, I've never been able to find a co-relation for this, but supposedly Wal-Mart did a study of parking lots and people in them. What they found out was curious, but you know, it happens to be true?

There are two kinds of parkers. Those who will drive to the far end of the lane and park, and those who will wait for another vehicle to back out so they can park.

Curiously enough, Wal-mart studied this and found that quote:

A person who drived to the end of the lane to park, will typically get to the store before a person who waits for a close parking space. The reason for this is simple.

A: Driver waiting on a spot.
B: Driver who goes to the end of the lane.

The time that A waits for a spot, is directly related to the time that B uses to drive to the end of the lane and park.

Meaning that if A waits one minute for a parking spot, in that time B will have driven to the end of the lane, parked, and progressed about half the distance between the store and their parking location. By the time that A parks, leaves their vehicle and approaches the store, B will have already reached it. In some cases, it is even possible for B to be inside the store fully and shopping, while A is still waiting for a spot.


So what does this tell us? That you really don't save any time by waiting for a "good" spot.

-------------

Curiously, I learned this while working for wal mart during one of their computer based learning stints.

[LostMyMind]

Wow, a waste of money walmart did paying for that study.

The same thing for speeders was studied. It still me off when someone passes me for going the speed limit just to turn right 2 secs after passing me. He didn't save any time, none what so ever. He still had to slow down to make the turn. All he did was force me to slow down. Sorry, a little of mine.

But yes, common sense will tell you that you don't save any time searching for a better spot to park. Nor does parking in a fire lane will save you any time. You still have to get in "line" to pay in any store you go into. And you can't control that "time" spent.