Tag: parking

Posted in church, Life

My own personal parking spot

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Gerrie van der Walt on Unsplash

I parked the car about one hundred yards from the front entrance of the church yesterday morning. After I dropped off my wife, I had to drive the entire length of grassy overflow parking area, past senior and guest parking spots, to find a spot.

I guess that’s what happens when your arrive ten minutes after the service starts. Worship was at 9:00, but we arrived for the bible class that starts at 9:15. Hey, I don’t mind the walk.

In fact, I used to pull my car into in the most remote corner of the parking lot on Sunday mornings. It was, unofficially, my designated parking spot. Why did I do that? Well, I figured my day would come and I would need a handicapped spot. Until then, since I was able to walk the distance, I would take the furthest spot.

What about rainy mornings? Yeah, they were a challenge. But once I got to the first building, I could use the covered walkway. If my car wasn’t there, everyone knew to welcome a guest preacher that day.

Who doesn’t like to see a church parking lot filled past capacity? On my way in, I commented to another walker, “I think I’m going set up a table about halfway to church and give out free water. We both chuckled. But you know what? When the summer sun is beating down, I’ll bet a lot of people would appreciat that.

When I went to the church where I used to be pastor, I saw that my spot was empty. I don’t think people were avoiding it in memory of me. Instead, worshipers are simply looking for the closest spot.

If the day comes when I guest preach at my old church, I’ll be sure to park in my spot.

Posted in Life

Just park wherever

Posted on by William Douthwaite

After poking around the antique store for a while, my wife and I found an outdoor table at Gracious Plates, an eatery on Main Street. It was a warmer than expected first day in Franklin, North Carolina.

I watch this Mercedes SUV slowlying and deliberately park on top of the line, occupying both spaces right in front of the restaurant. A couple who looked much older than us very slowly made their way into the restaurant. I didn’t have to say a word. My wife knew exactly what I was thinking. But I wondered out loud anyway, “Think that will be us in twenty years?”

As we ate, I watched a cement truck slowly backing in inches away from the expensive vehicle as a road crew waited to finish up some street repairs. My wife made me laugh as she said, “I’ll bet they’re sweating now!”

Maybe that’s the way you do things around here. Ten minutes later this second SUV parks in front of us making no attempt to stay in the lines.

Posted in Life

Not even close

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Readers will ask me, “How do you come up with ideas for your blog posts?” It’s not hard. I see them every day. Scenes and situations that make me wonder, “What in the world is going on here?”

So this guy didn’t even try. He’s driving a very small SUV. He’s parked in an extra wide handicapped spot with extra room on the side, and he’s missed it by a mile. I don’t see a handicapped card hanging from his rearview mirror. I can’t really see the license plate clearly, but I’ll bet it’s not a handicapped plate. It’s just a guy or a gal who doesn’t quite understand how store parking lots work.

I’m pretty conscientious about how I park. If I get out and see that I’m not straight inside of the lines, I start the car up and straighten it out. That’s just me. If a car is a little bit off, no problem. Just try to get inside the lines.

In fact, I believe that’s one of the things required in the rest for a driver’s license. You have to get your vehicle in the spot without hitting any of the four cones on each corner.

Can you imagine if this guy or gal had to parallel park? Where I grew up, that skill was essential. Not so much where I live and drive now. But every once in a while, I’m glad my dad and driver’s ed teacher taught me how to do that with a big old late-60s Ford Fairlane station wagon.

I wonder if it’s acceptable to call someone out for this kind of behavior. We shy away from that, don’t we? When half the population has a concealed weapon, I don’t want to provoke anyone to anger.

Maybe I could come at this from a Good Samaritan perspective. How about I finish parking your car – inside the lines – while you mozy into the store for a sub, an energy drink and a few lottery tickets.

If you take another look at the picture, you’ll see that other parking-challenged customers were in the store that day. And this isn’t even down by the liquor store entrance.

I like to park far away from the entrance of the store, far away from folks whose driving skills match their parking abilities.

Posted in Life

Don’t ding our car

Posted on by William Douthwaite

We had a few hours to kill before our Airbnb was ready in Rowlett, TX, so we went to one of our favorite local downtown places, Bankhead Brewery. All of the street parking was filled, so I pulled into the gravel lot out back.

As I pulled into a spot, a couple was getting out of an Infinity SUV next to us. I was still getting used to the rental van, so I lingered a minute to make sure all the doors locked. The other couple walked away towards the restaurant, but kept looking back at us. A better word would be “glared.” Especially the woman. She gave us the evil eye as if to say, “If you ding our car, buddy, we’re going at it!”

I double-checked my parking and we were fine. I was right in the middle of my spot. My wife could open her door all the way without touching their not-that-new vehicle. Still, we got several more glares as we followed them to the restaurant.

After we got inside and sat down, I went back out to get my wife’s reading glasses. As stepped away, she said, “You might want to move the van further away.” I agreed and repositioned the van two more feet away from theirs before I rummaged through a backpack for the readers.

After lunch, we walked back towards the van, and saw they moved the SUV out front to the street parking far way from this reckless driver’s parking lot antics. I asked, “Did they finish before us?” My wife answered, “No, I saw them sitting by the front window. They weren’t eating, just drinking.” It wouldn’t be hard to spend the afternoon day drinking at Bankhead. They have 16 of their own on tap every day.

So maybe, just maybe, they were worried that they might ding our van when they went to leave the brewery. I should try and explain everything in the best possible way, right?

I’ll try.