Extremely Careful? Or Inept?

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion) 04/15/2019 at 10:30 • Filed to: parking is hard

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This person caught my eye as they tried to pull into the space between the white X4 and the white Corolla. They had plenty of room, approached it correctly and everything. But they chickened out, backed up but not in a helpful direction, tried again, repeat. For about a minute, before I decided to grab my phone and see how long it would take them to actually park.

A shockingly long time, as it turns out, for a car with otherwise fine visibility, into a space with no obstacles in any direction and very clear lines.

Music added for comedic effect because I discovered how easy that is with youtube now.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 10:44

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To be fair, I can’t park backwards for shit and I have incredible visibility, but I can park forward fine.

Also what was that song? It was neat

facw > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 10:47

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I do feel for them in the sense that I always overestimate how long my car is (no parking sensors or backup cam here). Still, if you are that bad at maneuvering you car, maybe just pull in nose first.

functionoverfashion > facw 04/15/2019 at 10:55

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That’s the kicker here, is they tried to pull in head-first, and even had a good approach at first. But they weren’t confident about clearing the Corolla as they swung in, so the backed up, but in doing so, didn’t improve their approach angle. 3 times, they did this. back, forward, same.

I expected the driver to be either a) very elderly or b) 16, but this guy looked like a college student. Not his first time parking, I can’t imagine? 

ttyymmnn > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 10:55

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Hard to say for sure, but might have been a teen driver. Also, some people just have no idea how to use their mirrors to back up. End of the day, he spent a lot of time to make sure that he parked correctly, so I give him credit for that. Most people would have just taken two spaces  and said fuck it.

functionoverfashion > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 04/15/2019 at 10:59

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This guy couldn’t really do either.

The song was one of the ones publicly available via youtube... 

“Mean Streetz” by MK2 in this case. 

412GTI > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 11:01

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I almost feel bad for hard they were trying. Least they wanted to park correctly. 

facw > ttyymmnn 04/15/2019 at 11:03

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In fairness “properly” adjusted mirrors really suck for parking. Those fancy mirrors that drop down in reverse would definitely be a nice feature to have in my next car (it’s really not clear to me why every car with power mirrors doesn’t do this, it seems like it would be extremely cheap to implement).

Gerry197 > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 11:04

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You know, when I try to park my E46 or E90, I always found it harder than parking any SUV or my F150.

It’s not just that my F150 has cameras now, I had no issues parking my older trucks in the past as well.

There is something about the front and rear overhangs of cars that gives me a hard time in estimating where they are. 

Ash78, voting early and often > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 11:07

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12 year olds with OCD tend to be a little more careful than average.

functionoverfashion > Gerry197 04/15/2019 at 11:08

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Whereas with the F150 you can just run everything over, problem solved.

/sarcasm, in case it’s not totally clear haha

functionoverfashion > ttyymmnn 04/15/2019 at 11:11

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I agree, I mean, it took longer than the average teenage relationship to park that thing, but he did a pretty good job in the end. Not only that, but he didn’t stay in the 30 minute space more than 30 minutes. That’s rare in this lot.

From where I sit, I could write 5-10 tickets a day for over-time parking in these spaces. It would be more, but the spaces are taken up by other people for hours at a time.  

functionoverfashion > Ash78, voting early and often 04/15/2019 at 11:12

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And he was obedient to the 30-minute limit, which is more than I can say for the UPD Officer who parks in a nearby 15-minute space all day every day. I can see it right now, in fact. 

ttyymmnn > facw 04/15/2019 at 11:14

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I back into my driveway and just about every other space in my Odyssey with properly adjusted mirrors. You just gotta lean forward a bit to see the ground. I rented a Rogue once and it had those auto-tilt mirrors. I didn’t like them because it restricts my view to just the ground.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 11:45

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Spot mirrors are your friend.  A good glass 2” spot mirror on each side view mirror will work wonders for your reverse parking game....  and BTW gotta give props to the kid for backing in.  Most folks don’t bother.  

smobgirl > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 04/15/2019 at 12:20

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I don’t bother. But 90% of the time I’m parked, it’s because I’m buying things. Things go in the hatch, so it makes life much easier to have it on the outside of the parking spot.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 12:36

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While I give them mad props for actually ensuring they were parked properly instead of saying F-IT, good enough.

I will still say they’re inept as it should not take that much F-ing around to park properly.

Urambo Tauro > functionoverfashion 04/15/2019 at 19:18

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Good to see this guy making the effort, at least . A little more practice and he’ll have it down to a science.

jalopdick > functionoverfashion 04/17/2019 at 10:30

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Inept for sure. I have noticed most millennial drivers do not know how to use their mirrors to back up and most definitely don’t know how to drive a stick. My next door neighbors pull in and turn around in their tiny back yard to leave..... sad yet comical.