Parking has become one of the greatest nuisances of the 21st century. Today, you cannot go anywhere without a car, and when you arrive at your destination, your misery begins.
Regardless of your mode of transportation (bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or even horseback), after your ride, you need to securely park it. And unfortunately, there always seem to be more cars than available parking spots.
In the olden days, there was one car per family. Today everybody drives, and you can easily have 3 cars per household, hence the problem! Most everybody enjoys driving but (unless you are a certified masochist) everybody hates searching for a parking spot.
Now, before you curse me and start legal proceedings against me, I want to reiterate that I love women… except when they loiter in a parking lot. When you drive into a parking area and see a man walking toward his car, you are almost certain that this upstanding fellow will vacate his spot within minutes.
But when a woman enters her car, her liftoff time can vary between 5 minutes to 2 days. I don’t know why it takes so long for her to depart, but while fretting in my own car, I have come up with some hypotheses.
First, a woman cannot drive away without first glancing at the rearview mirror, checking hair, eyeliner, lipstick, and foraging in her handbag. Then, she probably must call somebody (boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, shrink) to give them the latest dope about her expedition. If she is gabby or annoyed, this could take a good 10 to 15 minutes. Messages also have to be deciphered and answered. This also adds significantly to the waiting time.
She might have to change shoes. These stiletto heels are good to impress a customer or a lover, but there are very unpractical for operating a vehicle. Tennis shoes are much easier on the foot, and let you clearly feel the gas pedal and the brake pedal.
I am not exactly the image of patience and waiting 20 minutes for somebody to vacate his/her spot while a cretin is honking behind me, makes my blood boil. And knowing that the minute I lose patience and leave the area, the parked nuisance will finally depart and the moron behind me will get the spot that was rightly mine.
But generally speaking, I think that women are more sensible drivers than men. They drive slower (not all) and don’t take as many chances as men on the freeway.
Outside a parking lot, I am susceptible to their charm and always enjoy any tête-à-tête with them.
But only outside the hellish area called a parking lot!
“He who thinks too much about every step he takes will always stay on one leg.” Chinese Proverb
Alain