I was at the supermarket this morning, and I saw a guy doing something incredible.
He parked his truck right in front of the shopping cart return. You know how one side is open, where you push the carts in, and the other side has a bar, so that they can’t travel through, to hit a car? Well, he parked it on the open side, blocking it.
On top of blocking the shopping cart return, and preventing decent people from actually returning their shopping carts, the truck was sticking halfway out.
So not only was he rude, but he was also creating somewhat of a hazard. I say somewhat, because a careful driver could manage to slowly drive past his truck sticking out, without hitting another car or a shopper. But you’d have to drive very slowly, and have very good depth perception.
I’m wondering if the guy was also stupid. It seems to me, when the shopping cart return is in a parking spot, that spot is unavailable for parking a car. Maybe his mind was incapable of figuring that out. And when he noticed his truck was sticking out, maybe he should have realized it wasn’t a very good idea, after all.
You should have gathered all the carts from the other return racks and piled them behind his truck.
Or since the return racks are not bolted down, you should have dragged one over and put it behind his truck…penning in his truck so it didn’t run off into traffic.
There will never be a lack of dim-bulbs parking in shopping centers. Go to Facebook and look up “Bad Parking”. There is a page for people to post pictures of inconsiderate tools and their parking habits. It might put a smile on your face or at least show you that your town is not unique!
He is almost as bad as the dopes that park in the fire lane and then go shopping. If they can’t handle a walk from the parking lot, they should get a handicap tag to hang from their rear view mirror. I was in a small shopping center yesterday and there were 3 trucks parked in the fire lane. No one was loading anything, just trucks parked in the wrong place.
They don’t care! They think that common sense rules are stupid and don’t apply to them. I know some of them. My cellphone which I keep inaccessible while driving rang. My 4 year old Grandson asked why I did not answer it? I replied that it was against the law. He informed me that his Mommy and Daddy answered their phones when driving. I knew this as they both think most traffic laws are stupid and do not apply to them. Be careful my friends!
jtsanders If there was a fire I hope the firefighters would at least smash their windows to pass a hose through or better yet push their trucks into a totaled heap. We recently discussed giant pickups and SUVs parking in compact spaces and blocking the vision of actual compacts trying to back out plus blocking the narrow driveway which is why the parking spaces are marked compact. THEY DON’T CARE!!! It is inconvenient to find a parking space for the unneeded monster they choose to drive. They should be allowed to run red lights and stop signs, They are elite, They are entitled, They are above the law, There should be a bounty for their hides like coyotes.
“I hope the firefighters would at least smash their windows to pass a hose through”
I’m pretty sure that this is S.O.P.
And, of course, then the fire captain also issues a citation for blocking a fire lane or fire hydrant.
It’s too bad that the penalties are not more severe for the self-entitled jerks who think they are above the law.
It seems anymore that consideration for others is a dying trend.
In a perfect world the following announcement would have been made; “Clean up on aisle 4 and the owner of pickup truck license no. xxx-xxx can retrieve their vehicle at the impound yard where it has been towed because of parking lot safety issues”.
I believe that 10% of the population is made up of idiots, imbeciles, morons and inconsiderate narcissists whose purpose for existing is to force the rest of us to live in peacefull coexistense. Just think of the chaos and anarchy that would we would all be a part of if not for the 10% who show what being an ignoranus looks like. Be thankful for their efforts. Their lives are miserable.
Now parking in front of the cart corral is stupid, but fire lanes? I’ll admit I got towed out of a fire lane. It was at the dorm at school. Everyone always parked there for a few minutes to pick up or deliver their girl friends. Especially since it was about a 400 foot walk otherwise. So I was just visiting my future wife for a few minutes and came out and the tow truck was hooking me up. I protested but wouldn’t put it down again so I just rode down to the station with him, paid my $10 , (this was 1969), and got my car back. I went to see the Director of Administration to complain about it and after explaining they were on his back to keep the fire lanes clear, he said “you think you’re mad, last week we towed Loretta _____ (the large Dean of Women) and was she ever upset”. I learned empathy for Administrators at that point and left, only to become one myself and tow people’s cars.
I will have to say though, everyone was just in the lobby so had there been a fire, they would have known about it before the fire department and certainly cleared the fire lane. It wasn’t like people were just parking there all day.
Usually the only car returns we have people parking in are the ones with landscaping on either side and diagonal stripes on the pavement with a Cart Return sign just above. The metal cart returns we have all come with a divider bar in the middle so only carts fit. But I’ve seen ones that you could fit a car in. No shortage of people who think they can just park anywhere. At least until the tow truck shows up.
ok4450 I threw out the 10% as an educated guess on another thread. It can vary from day to day much less regional. The last time I drove in Utah was about 3 years ago. I purposely avoided Salt Lake City but ended up fairly close on the interstate. The speed limit was 75mph but it appeared the minimum speed was 90mph! I am not easily scared but I admit I was terrified knowing at least 1 out of 10 drivers were totally incompetent. I read an article a few days ago on the most dangerous states to drive in. Guess which state won first place.
" I was terrified knowing at least 1 out of 10 drivers were totally incompetent"
…and then when you consider that another 10% were riding on bald tires, and an additional 20% were riding on severely underinflated and blow-out prone tires, you begin to realize just how dangerous it can be out there.
I was part of a team that a local radio show sponsored that went out in large parking lots and checked the air pressure in vehicles. What we found was amazing. Most tires were either under-inflated or over-inflated. The under-inflated group was probably 75%. We rarely found a vehicle with the proper air pressure and when we did find one we left a coupon for a free dinner at a local restaurant. We also left notices of under-inflated or over-inflated tires. The radio station got some nasty letters about “How dare you check the air pressure in my tires” so they suspended the program. It is dangerous out there for sure.