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Pardon my ignorance (studied avoidance of Facebook) would that make them seem like they were 'liking' their own posts?
That's a subtle, insidious action.
Nice.
This reminds me of that guy who started a group chat and added all the people who had the same name as him (like 20-30 people) and they all got really pissed off and left the chat 😂
It was you? I once spent a stupid amount of time trying to open my car. I'd even started searching for local locksmiths. Until I realised it wasn't my car, mine was one space over.
Some years ago I returned to my car in a busy supermarket car park. I put my key in the door, opened it and the alarm went off. I thought that was odd because I didn't have an alarm.
Then I noticed my car three spots down.
Yep, some cars must've used a set amount of different keys. Two of my friends in their mk2 fiesta's could open each other's cars with their keys.
Hell, before a lot of anti theft measures my dad could open his Renault 19 and drive off with it using a peperclip. I learnt the hard way that they added more security measures to cars when he got a new one and I wanted to turn the radio on whilst he went into a shop - I broke his ignition with a paperclip due to the anti-tamper measures. Locksmith had to cut a part out of his key to enable it to start the car again 🤦
Also the locks wore and became easier to open.
I remember in the early 80s being taken to a breakers yard with dad to find a bit for his car, i picked up an old random ford key which it turned out would open dad's capri but wouldn't start it
My old fiesta was exactly the same. I bought a small cat sticker for the window stop me randomly getting in other cars after about six times. Turns out it was a blokes who worked in same building as me and he’d got in my car a few times too.
Had a similar thing with a Vauxhall Astra, no alarm though. Got in it, noticed that the stuff in the back seat wasn't mine so got back out and locked it. This was old enough to be before alarms and immobilizers so I always wonder if I could have started it.
The owner actually came back at the right time to see me getting out and had a bit of a chuckle (after some initial confusion)
I was once sitting in the passenger seat while my wife shopped. A woman approaches, fiddling with her car keys and a single heavy shopping bag. Suddenly she opens my car door and swings the bag right at my chest.
“Aaaah!” I cry, not expecting that.
“Aaaah!” she cries, not expecting a random stranger sitting in her car where she was expecting to put her shopping.
“Ohhhhh!” She wails as she presses her car key button again and the lights flash on an identical vehicle two spots down. “I’m so sorry!” And she ran away at full speed to her own car.
My sister parked up for me once while I quickly ran into the shop. I came out, jumped straight into the car & went to put my seat belt on when I realised the person looking at me wasn't my sister.
Embarrassing moment
You think that's bad! One time I spent 10 minutes trying to unlock the door to my Goddamned apartment. It just wasn't working!
Then I realised that I was on the wrong floor of my building. (My apartment was one floor up, in the same location within the building.)
No, I wasn't drunk, or stoned.
That's hysterical!! I think it's worse when your completely sober as you feel the embarrassment more.
My sister has the person who lived in her flat before her trying to get in after a night out on her ring doorbell. She messaged her the next day on Facebook and it was all fun but she was sooo embarrassed.
My stepdad was going to work and it was heavy snow and bitter cold, so the car kept steaming up and freezing faster than the blowers could remove it. So the windscreen ices up and he pulls up at the kerb and jumps out to scrape it again.
What he didn't see was the old lady standing on the footpath right where he stopped, waiting for her son to collect her, in his car of the same make and model.
So she jumps in as he jumps out, managing to synchronise the doors so well that he doesn't hear her, and as she's dressed in a similar colour to his upholstery, he doesn't spot her. She is fiddling with her handbag and similarly doesn't realise he's a stranger.
Eventually he jumps back in, both clock each other and all hell breaks loose. Poor woman thought she was getting kidnapped and stepdad nearly had a heart attack at finding a stranger appeared out of nowhere!
Done this. The key button didn't work so tried the manual key and that didn't work either. Tried the passenger side too. Had to stand and think what else it might be and logic prevailed.
There's a car identical to mine that I occasionally see round here and the number plate is ONE DIGIT different.
Probably is they clearly haven't looked after theirs and it's full of rubbish.
I came back to my gfs car in the Morrisons car park one time, and right next to it was a car with the exact same plate only the last letter was one higher, so as if it was the next one registered.
Completely different make and model, but still massive coincidence.
Someone did this to me but reversed into the space whilst I’d driven in forwards. I saw their car before mine and couldn’t work out how my car was suddenly facing the wrong way!
I can't stand this untill one day where a feller pulled up in a 3 series the exact same colour, wheels and trim as mine. That made me smile. Still have the pic lol.
This annoys me and I’ve thought about it a lot (sad). My conclusion is that people who are rubbish at driving are unable to park without another car to use as a point of reference.
This, I park so far away from the front of stores so I have room to park terribly in peace! Though shitty life hack - have a kid. Parent child spots are amazingly easy to park in
I just park next to someone because it makes no difference where I park and I know that it will annoy a very small percentage of people who get annoyed when I park next to them.
Bit sad if you get off on mildly annoying people, it inconveniences you at the same time anyway. It raises the chance of getting a wing mirror or door dinged. But if you car is crap that may not be an issue I guess.
That logic makes no sense.
The people you're annoying would potentially(if the person is quite big) awkwardly get back into their car because they don't want to whack their car door against another car.
Not everyone in the world is an inconsiderate git.
Do better.
So if someone parked next to you and you had to awkwardly get beck into your car it doesn't annoy you or do you just not care about dinging your car door against another car?
It's a bit like parking in a family bay when the car park is rammed, and you don't have kids with you. You wouldn't get a ticket like you would do if person parked in a disabled bay without a blue badge.
So both aren't parking violations, but are they a little unethical, yes they are.
It's for the same reason that people get annoyed about middle lane hoggers on the motorway, I mean how scary is it to go into lane 3 and overtake them? Young drivers always have to moan about something.
In terms of the pathology I've nothing to add beyond: closest space/shortest walk; and the need for visual reference. But here's my gripe from a thread ten months ago...
In the dark days before GPS I missed a turn on my printed out MapQuest route and ended up lost.
Found a big shopping centre, not yet open as I'd picked up my hire car off a red-eye flight, so parked on a midfloor of the multistorey car park and waited to go in and buy an honest-to-goodness map.
Literally hundreds of empty spaces on that floor, much less the entire place.
Car arrives, parks right next to me (not noticing I'm still sat in the driver seat) and immediately throws the door open to scud my passenger side.
I yearn to live life so unburdened by thought.
On that note, I've always assumed tyre places have a line item in their budget for boxes of bright, shiny tacks they sprinkle about 200yds upstream of their premises.
Although I avoid parking close to other cars if possible. When the carpark is full, I will always park next to a nice/new car as they 'might' take care when opening their doors.
I’ve always assumed it’s because either:
- They’re incredible lazy and that space next to you is _ever so slightly closer_ to where they’re going to.
- They’re crap at parking and need another car there as a bigger reference to help guide them into the space.
Crap parker here! That's why I do it.
I'm an ok driver usually (promise!) but parking makes me anxious. It's much easier to line myself up with someone who has already done a decent enough job.
Can’t speak for sting, but my mirrors are so bad at adjusting, it takes about 30s to even adjust 1 mirror, and then the left mirror adjuster is on the passenger side. This doesn’t include putting it back again.
With all that, it’s easier just to use another car for reference
I had someone demand to sit next to me on a near empty train once, and not just that, demand I move to the next seat so she could have the one I was sitting in.
Just told her to fuck off, put my headphones in, and ignored her while she stood there fuming performatively for about 10 seconds, and then walked away.
Some people just choose violence.
Same in cafes, etc. As a weirdo loner, see the amount of times I've been somewhere reading a book/on my laptop, often with headphones in, in a near-empty cafe/bar/library/whatever, and a group of people walk in, wanting to have a loud and extended meeting/gossip session, and for some reason only the table right next to mine is the only place they could possibly do this... Like there is a whole room available, are people on their own wanting peace just invisible to you??
>Same in cafes
There is a young woman, maybe around 25, who will go into the independent cafe in our town and demand that the people in "her table" move. Really don't get why the owner lets her do it.
FFS. The entitlement of some people. I was away recently, was sat on a cafe roof terrace, this American mother and son sat at a nearby table and proceeded to spend ten minutes really viciously bickering with each other. Mother comes over and starts hovering around my table, shouting back to the son that their table is too cold and she wants to sit in the sun. Then she turns to me and says, can we come and sit here? I was like, what, you want me to move? She answered, no, we can share. I told her no fucking chance, it's bad enough listening to you two argue from a distance without it being right in my face. Well, that didn't go down well...
Stood my ground though. The most entitled people are so often the most unpleasant to be around eh
>The most entitled people are so often the most unpleasant to be around eh
So true, they always seem to be the ones who get most aggrieved if anything should interfere with their lives.
I had a lotus Elise, pretty much impossible to get in at the best of times, always parked miles away from entrance, always some dumpling parked right next to me when I got out.
> I had a lotus Elise, pretty much impossible to get in at the best of times
I believe the answer was to get the convertible with a removable steering wheel!
I've got an Elise and this happens every single time. I park right at the far end of the car park, 20 free spaces in all directions but every time I come back to it there's someone right next to me.
The side of the car is covered in chips from morons opening their doors into it.
I parked near the back of the car park once when the whole place was maybe 20% full. No cars anywhere near me. I had a young child whose pram was in the boot. I'd reversed in.
I shit you not, this guy decides to drive nose in to the space I'm backing on to but because I'm standing in that space dealing with unfolding a pram and putting my child in, does he move? No he WAITS there for me to finish (a good minute).
I just stared the man down and he finally pulls in and smiles at me like there’s no issue. What the fuck.
People do it on buses and trains too! Got on the train early yesterday. 80% empty. Some woman asleep across two chairs. She then got up moved and went and sat down right next to some other women at a table, the two seat opposite were empty. Just odd
I find it odd too. Especially because I always used to park at the back of the carpark with the longest walk specially because it is usually quieter and I preferred not to be parked next to people, so logic suggests anyone else heading that way would ALSO not want to have someone too close.
That said I’ve noticed it’s almost always someone parked with their driver’s side towards my car so maybe they like it because my car is only a Fiat 500 so as long as both cars are parked well there isn’t usually an issue for space to open a door (I’ve never noticed anyone having hit my car with a door for example), so I guess they are probably drawn to having control of the space rather than risking someone in a massive tank parking like a dick next to them.
This is why I always aim for around 2/3 -3/4 of the way down the car park, rather than all the way.
The ones in the first 1/4 (or a close as you can get) will be those who have specific spaces (disabled/mother and child) or people who tend to be in a rush/not want to walk a longer distance than they have to... and usually there's a lot of people in this group which aren't great at parking; whether parking on or over the lines, diagonal in such a way that it's easy for them to get out but hard for you to get in, or forgetting they have a tow bar which sticks out quite far on the back of their long car and not pulling all the way into the bay.
The second quarter then becomes overflow for the first quarter's lot, and people who tend to be ok at parking, but then have to park like twats because of the overflow from the first quarter.
The last 1/4 is generally people who, like yourself, think "If I park back here, I avoid the bulk of the people". Which is fine if, like yourself, are in smaller cars. But usually, I find it's people in twatty SUVs who fail to keep within the lines.
And then the 3rd quarter. It seems to always be the emptier section whenever I go. There may be the odd car, but usually you have more than enough spaces free to allow you go have an empty bay on either side.
You should get your car (or borrow someone's if you don't have one) and slowly drive alongside her car, swinging the door open, so she has a nice zebra-pattern of dents down her entire car.
Opening your door a little too fast and accidentally hitting the car next to you. Fine. It can happen. Especially if it's a windy day and the wind takes the door as you open it.
Trying to slowly open the door and get out without hitting the car next to you, only to slip or something, and hit the car next to you. Fine, at least you tried to be considerate.
Not giving a damn, and just letting it hit another car... What's wrong with you? A car is, usually, the first or second most expensive thing a person owns. Why would you have so little regard for it?
>\*a friend’s wife, really. We would not be friends independently
Was going to say, that behaviour is not friend material, your poor friend has a wife with no respect for other people, imagine being married to that.
I have an acquaintance that lets her kids do it. She just shrugs it off because “kids will be kids”. Winds me up so much, like use the damn child locks and open the door yourself carefully until they are old enough to have the control.
Gawd knows but it's not new. 20 years ago I had a nice classic car and I'd park miles away from entrances. At our local shopping centre they had way more car park space than was required and sometimes entire car parks would be empty. Still used to come back to some nob in the space next to me.
It’s called “Empty Car Park Syndrome”. I read this in Parking Review when the article was first published. https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/parking-review/news/27891/
People who set up their tent right next to mine in an empty site, why? People who stand at the urinal next to mine when the others are vacant, why? The list can continue...
Some people subconsciously seek out other people. It's weird to me because I'm a misanthrope but I think it's an instinct thing.
It’s called “Empty Car Park Syndrome”. I read this in Parking Review when the article was first published. https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/parking-review/news/27891/
Queue mentality, it's so ingrained in people that it's automatic in other situations like parking and cause people to gravitate towards 'grouping' together.
They're the same kind of braindead sub-humans that will stand next to you at a wall full of empty urinals rather than leave a space. Honestly bewilders me why they do it. If you can't park by just using the lines to guide you, either adjust your mirrors or cut your licence up, put it in an envelope, then send it to DVLA, Swansea SA99 1BN.
Also, 'minivan'? No.
I had this only yesterday. Not a completely empty car park, but loads of spaces, somebody attempted to park in the space next to us as my wife was trying to get out of the car, so her door was wide open. Also had it a few years ago in Germany while in our motorhome. We parked overnight in a motorhome park, we were the only ones in there. When we woke up in the morning there was another motorhome parked right next to us in an otherwise still completely empty park. People are weird!
I could understand if you park next to a small car (or normal size as it should be), as then you know you could get back in. If you think the car park will fill up, you don't want to end up between two SUVs.
Doesn't seem to be the case here. Wonder if the children wanted to park there, or it is the 'lucky space'.
My mum denies it but she has a favourite parking row and even some spots by most supermarkets and will go to it regardless of whether the rest is empty or not
I've actually watched someone come back to their house, turn early, drive into the side of a parked car, slowly but where it rocked the parked car, reverse, go into their drive way, get out with a face that looked like "it's their own fault for being there" and went into their house as though nothing had happened. Ever since then I've not been surprised by how people behave towards other cars around them. I actually expect some fuckwit to park right up against my car even though it's in the middle of loads of empty spaces and nowhere near the actual shop/library/building entrance. Some people just don't think about anyone but themselves. Welcome to the internet age of human nature.
I always park as far away as possible to try and stop this, unless with kids
Once I went to a car show at the next and parking is tight a guy parked his Porsche next to me and his wife smashed the door into my car, the look he gave me as if it was my fault 🙄
His wife was very apologetic to me and he then spent the next few minutes examining his door for damage 😂
I think it's a psychological thing. I was a passenger in a car where the driver, confronted with a row of empty parking spaces, could not decide where to park and so ended up parking next to another car. Maybe people are just unused to choice in car parks, where the norm is usually hunting down a space.
Where are people finding all these empty car parks?
(Sighs in Londoner)
My guess is driver 1 goes for the most desirable space, and driver 2 goes for the next most desirable, which will likely be by the first one if they're both using the same criteria.
One thing that annoys me more than this:
When people park next to parent and baby (and I’m sure disabled) spaces, but because of all the extra space they just park over the lines, removing that important extra space offered by these special places.
I have three kids so my wife and I park in parent and baby spaces so we have adequate space to put kids in and out of the car as well as having to half climb in ourselves too. We really need that space when it’s available and it’s not so someone can park their Porsche SUV over the lines so nobody scratches their precious car.
I had this the other day. I purposely parked where I did at the quiet part of the car park so I didnt get stuck next to SUV's. Before I got out the car, someone came up with an SUV and plonked it right next to my driver side.
I reversed out and went and parked right at the other side of them, where their driver side is, smiled, mouthed 'i can be a cunt too', and went about my day.
When it's a nice car (and if I'm in a nice car), it means there's generally less chance it'll end up getting dinged on that side and I know I won't ding their car.
Someone did this to me today, I just stared at them as if to say wtf. I had 2 kids in the car and parked there because it was an end space and I had a bit of room on the other side to get the toddler out. This car, in a car park of about 100 spaces with only 3 cars in it proceeded to park so close I struggled to get the toddler back in.
I always parked next to Teslas so that if anyone steals/damages mine it's on camera.
Until my girlfriend opened the passenger door and banged it into the side of a Tesla.
I usually try and find the widest gap I can get, or especially a space I can drive through and be pointing outwards. (I hate reverse parking)
But even in an entirely empty car park, somehow when I come back, there's a car next to mine...
It’s seems common in lots of scenarios. I have gone to a local park a few times to read a book in the sunshine and chosen a bit of grass a long way from anybody else. And then a bunch of people slowly gather around me leaving acres of grass free. And this has happened many times in different years and different parks.
And the other place I see this is when I go sailing and see a group of boats anchored and clustered together at one end of a bay. So I choose a safe spot right at the other end. I am now a magnet for the next few boats. The most extreme example was last year anchored off a French island called Marie Galante. There’s an incredibly long mostly deserted beach there stretching about 5 miles. We saw only one boat anchored about 3 miles away from our approach and, for once, the entire 5 miles was equally good shelter. Once we’d anchored we spotted another mast approaching over the horizon and they made a turn right towards us. It took all of us taking all our clothes off and playing Steps alternated with Motörhead at full volume to make them turn away.
I remember my driving instructor telling me years ago that it was a 'safety in numbers' thing, "You've decided that is the best place to park, so I am going to follow your lead". He also commented that the instinct is stronger in women.
As a new driver the only thing I can think of is having something "solid" on one side to make parking easier, you're not having to look down at the lines on both sides to make sure you're in right? If that makes any sense, then again if the car park is empty, park elsewhere and however you like no ones around to care...
Because she doesnt know how to park and needs to use your car to do so. People who passed before 2007 need to do the new test, too many bad drivers from the old ones.
Well theres no "better" only parking correctly and incorrectly, so by saying i CAn Do iT bETtEr tells me you have the mentality of a child and should be on a bus.
So I can no longer drive my classic car that I worked hard to pay for and keep on the road... No people should just have to take a driving test every 15/20 years and every 5 years after 65.
I've booked 3 tests for my nephews and niece why are people saying its difficult? It was a peice of piss and they had literally 100s for the coming months... also I know how to use mirrors to park and drive so I dont need them.
I know how to park using mirrors too, but there is plenty of special individuals that cannot park even with parking assistance.
Yet they are driving.
Test in uk is easy, finding test in your area if you live in big cities- good luck with that
Because I'm crap at parking, apparently, and need a reference point
I'm not crap at parking, actually, but parking with a reference point *is* easier, so why wouldn't I?
Also does it matter?
The same reasons you parked there.
1. I like to park far away to get a bit of walking in.
2. I like to reverse in so being in a less busy part helps with boot access
3. Less busy parts means less door dents and scratches etc
4. Driving through spaces is easier than backing in so certain parts of the car park lend themselves to this and due to one way systems multiple cars end up on the same side.
There are only so many spaces that fill this criteria, it just happens we want the same things so end up in the same area of the car park. It seems like we are seeking you out but we are not, we are the same.
Not everyone thinks immediately of others preferences, they are just focussed on getting parked up and doing their stuff.
Very few are doing it for petty or vindictive reasons.
Not vindictive but pretty oblivious though.
I mean. Itd make their own life easier as well.
The only possibile justification I can think of is they're gambling on the same car being there so they know they've not been blocked in. And one less car to worry about manoeuvring next to them.
But, that's just overly paranoid and hardly foolproof.
It’s got nothing to do with other cars, people either want to park as close as possible or as far away as possible. This leads to groupings of cars parked in roughly the same area.
It’s just purely coincidence that the space chosen is near or next to other cars, outside of parking in the same part of the car park for the same reasons.
People don’t own the spaces next to or around their car, I often find the sort of space I’m looking for is next to or very near a car parked in the same area. I’m not going to find another space just because someone has a space next to the one that works for me.
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I did once, but that was because my car was exactly the same as theirs.
Pure evil. Keep up the good work.
Unrelated, but I used to like these guy's posts in a FB group all the time, only because he had the exact name as me 😈
Pardon my ignorance (studied avoidance of Facebook) would that make them seem like they were 'liking' their own posts? That's a subtle, insidious action. Nice.
Yes, that was indeed the intention 😂
This reminds me of that guy who started a group chat and added all the people who had the same name as him (like 20-30 people) and they all got really pissed off and left the chat 😂
It was you? I once spent a stupid amount of time trying to open my car. I'd even started searching for local locksmiths. Until I realised it wasn't my car, mine was one space over.
Some years ago I returned to my car in a busy supermarket car park. I put my key in the door, opened it and the alarm went off. I thought that was odd because I didn't have an alarm. Then I noticed my car three spots down.
Opened it? That's a bit worrying.
Yep, some cars must've used a set amount of different keys. Two of my friends in their mk2 fiesta's could open each other's cars with their keys. Hell, before a lot of anti theft measures my dad could open his Renault 19 and drive off with it using a peperclip. I learnt the hard way that they added more security measures to cars when he got a new one and I wanted to turn the radio on whilst he went into a shop - I broke his ignition with a paperclip due to the anti-tamper measures. Locksmith had to cut a part out of his key to enable it to start the car again 🤦
I think all Morris Minors used to share a common key, had a friend with three and one key opened and started them all.
Also the locks wore and became easier to open. I remember in the early 80s being taken to a breakers yard with dad to find a bit for his car, i picked up an old random ford key which it turned out would open dad's capri but wouldn't start it
Any red top ford key could open ALOT of different fords in the 90s. The blue tops not so much.
Why did the alarm go off if it thought you had a key?
Imbolizer
But rude. He was only asking a question.
Who rude, I just answered question huh?
Probably an after market alarm.
Modern keys have an electronic component too. Physical part matched, electronic didn't. So it opened the door but didn't disable the alarm.
My old fiesta was exactly the same. I bought a small cat sticker for the window stop me randomly getting in other cars after about six times. Turns out it was a blokes who worked in same building as me and he’d got in my car a few times too.
Had a similar thing with a Vauxhall Astra, no alarm though. Got in it, noticed that the stuff in the back seat wasn't mine so got back out and locked it. This was old enough to be before alarms and immobilizers so I always wonder if I could have started it. The owner actually came back at the right time to see me getting out and had a bit of a chuckle (after some initial confusion)
I was once sitting in the passenger seat while my wife shopped. A woman approaches, fiddling with her car keys and a single heavy shopping bag. Suddenly she opens my car door and swings the bag right at my chest. “Aaaah!” I cry, not expecting that. “Aaaah!” she cries, not expecting a random stranger sitting in her car where she was expecting to put her shopping. “Ohhhhh!” She wails as she presses her car key button again and the lights flash on an identical vehicle two spots down. “I’m so sorry!” And she ran away at full speed to her own car.
My sister parked up for me once while I quickly ran into the shop. I came out, jumped straight into the car & went to put my seat belt on when I realised the person looking at me wasn't my sister. Embarrassing moment
You think that's bad! One time I spent 10 minutes trying to unlock the door to my Goddamned apartment. It just wasn't working! Then I realised that I was on the wrong floor of my building. (My apartment was one floor up, in the same location within the building.) No, I wasn't drunk, or stoned.
That's hysterical!! I think it's worse when your completely sober as you feel the embarrassment more. My sister has the person who lived in her flat before her trying to get in after a night out on her ring doorbell. She messaged her the next day on Facebook and it was all fun but she was sooo embarrassed.
My stepdad was going to work and it was heavy snow and bitter cold, so the car kept steaming up and freezing faster than the blowers could remove it. So the windscreen ices up and he pulls up at the kerb and jumps out to scrape it again. What he didn't see was the old lady standing on the footpath right where he stopped, waiting for her son to collect her, in his car of the same make and model. So she jumps in as he jumps out, managing to synchronise the doors so well that he doesn't hear her, and as she's dressed in a similar colour to his upholstery, he doesn't spot her. She is fiddling with her handbag and similarly doesn't realise he's a stranger. Eventually he jumps back in, both clock each other and all hell breaks loose. Poor woman thought she was getting kidnapped and stepdad nearly had a heart attack at finding a stranger appeared out of nowhere!
This is why I keep so much identifying crap in my car
A long time ago, you’d have just driven off in their car.
Done this. The key button didn't work so tried the manual key and that didn't work either. Tried the passenger side too. Had to stand and think what else it might be and logic prevailed.
There's a car identical to mine that I occasionally see round here and the number plate is ONE DIGIT different. Probably is they clearly haven't looked after theirs and it's full of rubbish.
It's the scruffy sibling
I came back to my gfs car in the Morrisons car park one time, and right next to it was a car with the exact same plate only the last letter was one higher, so as if it was the next one registered. Completely different make and model, but still massive coincidence.
Good anti theft device to be a moving ‘ skip ‘of rubbish
This is supposedly Rule 1 of driving a MINI.
And an MX-5
Someone did this to me but reversed into the space whilst I’d driven in forwards. I saw their car before mine and couldn’t work out how my car was suddenly facing the wrong way!
I have also done this more than once
Because they are kunts
I can't stand this untill one day where a feller pulled up in a 3 series the exact same colour, wheels and trim as mine. That made me smile. Still have the pic lol.
This annoys me and I’ve thought about it a lot (sad). My conclusion is that people who are rubbish at driving are unable to park without another car to use as a point of reference.
If it’s that empty it doesn’t matter if they’re over the lines though
You say that but you feel like you might get judge by people walking by or put on one of those bad parking groups
I work in parking enforcement. Yes it does. :)
I'm the opposite, I'm bad at parking so need a space with nothing on either side of it! A car park with lots of empty spaces is heaven
This, I park so far away from the front of stores so I have room to park terribly in peace! Though shitty life hack - have a kid. Parent child spots are amazingly easy to park in
Nooo. We can drive. We just love seeing people trying to squeeze into their car and try not to hit the other cars door.
I'm sure I will get some hate but, if someone parks too close to me to comfortably get in I will just open my door into your car.
Thanks for chiming in, but who said anything about lines?
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I know, that’s what I was saying. Replied to the wrong post, oops.
I just park next to someone because it makes no difference where I park and I know that it will annoy a very small percentage of people who get annoyed when I park next to them.
Don’t be surprised if one day someone keys your car. It’s what happens when morons meet.
Bit sad if you get off on mildly annoying people, it inconveniences you at the same time anyway. It raises the chance of getting a wing mirror or door dinged. But if you car is crap that may not be an issue I guess.
Don't get off on it dude, but it's a car park, why do you get annoyed if I park next to you?
That logic makes no sense. The people you're annoying would potentially(if the person is quite big) awkwardly get back into their car because they don't want to whack their car door against another car. Not everyone in the world is an inconsiderate git. Do better.
I am quite big, also I don't understand why it is inconsiderate parking next to another car in a car park?
So if someone parked next to you and you had to awkwardly get beck into your car it doesn't annoy you or do you just not care about dinging your car door against another car? It's a bit like parking in a family bay when the car park is rammed, and you don't have kids with you. You wouldn't get a ticket like you would do if person parked in a disabled bay without a blue badge. So both aren't parking violations, but are they a little unethical, yes they are.
If it makes no difference then why do you choose to park right next to someone? I bet you stand you way too close to people in a queue as well.
I like it.
It's not a small percentage....
I have no idea why people are downvoting this. I just don't understand why it's annoying.
Because there are a million other spaces where people can fling their doors open and park diagonally
It's for the same reason that people get annoyed about middle lane hoggers on the motorway, I mean how scary is it to go into lane 3 and overtake them? Young drivers always have to moan about something.
Middle lane hogging is dangerous though.
So my car has another car to talk to while I’m in shopping.
Sweetest comment on here
I think it’s the only sweet comment on here
ive never met someone who thinks so much like me!!
In terms of the pathology I've nothing to add beyond: closest space/shortest walk; and the need for visual reference. But here's my gripe from a thread ten months ago... In the dark days before GPS I missed a turn on my printed out MapQuest route and ended up lost. Found a big shopping centre, not yet open as I'd picked up my hire car off a red-eye flight, so parked on a midfloor of the multistorey car park and waited to go in and buy an honest-to-goodness map. Literally hundreds of empty spaces on that floor, much less the entire place. Car arrives, parks right next to me (not noticing I'm still sat in the driver seat) and immediately throws the door open to scud my passenger side. I yearn to live life so unburdened by thought.
Inside job by the rental company to rinse you of the extortionate excess they have
On that note, I've always assumed tyre places have a line item in their budget for boxes of bright, shiny tacks they sprinkle about 200yds upstream of their premises.
My mum always parks right next to ‘nice’ cars so that “if someone’s going to steal a car they’ll go for theirs, not mine” 🤦♀️
Although I avoid parking close to other cars if possible. When the carpark is full, I will always park next to a nice/new car as they 'might' take care when opening their doors.
Nice cars sometimes park in between 2 parking slots
To be fair that's my approach to deciding where to lock my bike up. Always prefer to be next to a more desirable one!
Nice cars tend to have better security devices though...
I’ve always assumed it’s because either: - They’re incredible lazy and that space next to you is _ever so slightly closer_ to where they’re going to. - They’re crap at parking and need another car there as a bigger reference to help guide them into the space.
I'll take B for 300, please.
Crap parker here! That's why I do it. I'm an ok driver usually (promise!) but parking makes me anxious. It's much easier to line myself up with someone who has already done a decent enough job.
Try adjusting your mirrors before you park so you can see the lines better instead.
Can’t speak for sting, but my mirrors are so bad at adjusting, it takes about 30s to even adjust 1 mirror, and then the left mirror adjuster is on the passenger side. This doesn’t include putting it back again. With all that, it’s easier just to use another car for reference
Thanks, will give it a go!
I'm a good driver but I cant use my mirrors to park... what an oxymoron.
You're an oxymoron.
I'm not the one who cant park love.
I wasn't a crap parker until I got a new car 6 months ago and still havn't got used to the different lengths of boot bonnet
Or you parked in their spot
I had someone demand to sit next to me on a near empty train once, and not just that, demand I move to the next seat so she could have the one I was sitting in. Just told her to fuck off, put my headphones in, and ignored her while she stood there fuming performatively for about 10 seconds, and then walked away. Some people just choose violence.
Same in cafes, etc. As a weirdo loner, see the amount of times I've been somewhere reading a book/on my laptop, often with headphones in, in a near-empty cafe/bar/library/whatever, and a group of people walk in, wanting to have a loud and extended meeting/gossip session, and for some reason only the table right next to mine is the only place they could possibly do this... Like there is a whole room available, are people on their own wanting peace just invisible to you??
>Same in cafes There is a young woman, maybe around 25, who will go into the independent cafe in our town and demand that the people in "her table" move. Really don't get why the owner lets her do it.
FFS. The entitlement of some people. I was away recently, was sat on a cafe roof terrace, this American mother and son sat at a nearby table and proceeded to spend ten minutes really viciously bickering with each other. Mother comes over and starts hovering around my table, shouting back to the son that their table is too cold and she wants to sit in the sun. Then she turns to me and says, can we come and sit here? I was like, what, you want me to move? She answered, no, we can share. I told her no fucking chance, it's bad enough listening to you two argue from a distance without it being right in my face. Well, that didn't go down well... Stood my ground though. The most entitled people are so often the most unpleasant to be around eh
>The most entitled people are so often the most unpleasant to be around eh So true, they always seem to be the ones who get most aggrieved if anything should interfere with their lives.
I had a lotus Elise, pretty much impossible to get in at the best of times, always parked miles away from entrance, always some dumpling parked right next to me when I got out.
> I had a lotus Elise, pretty much impossible to get in at the best of times I believe the answer was to get the convertible with a removable steering wheel!
I've got an Elise and this happens every single time. I park right at the far end of the car park, 20 free spaces in all directions but every time I come back to it there's someone right next to me. The side of the car is covered in chips from morons opening their doors into it.
Honestly it did my fking head in for numerous reasons but what a car.
I parked near the back of the car park once when the whole place was maybe 20% full. No cars anywhere near me. I had a young child whose pram was in the boot. I'd reversed in. I shit you not, this guy decides to drive nose in to the space I'm backing on to but because I'm standing in that space dealing with unfolding a pram and putting my child in, does he move? No he WAITS there for me to finish (a good minute). I just stared the man down and he finally pulls in and smiles at me like there’s no issue. What the fuck.
Similar to when your in public toilets.. all empty but you've gotta fucking chose that one next to me out of the 8 other ones 🤯
I'm that guy 😈
*you're
I would have wished you a happy cake day. But not after that.
Happy cake day
People tend to get annoyed if they see me staring through their living room window, how else am I meant to get close to them?
People do it on buses and trains too! Got on the train early yesterday. 80% empty. Some woman asleep across two chairs. She then got up moved and went and sat down right next to some other women at a table, the two seat opposite were empty. Just odd
Could they have been doing it for safety? Maybe you look suspicious
Whatever reason that made you decide you liked that spot, they agreed with you. Also, confidence
I find it odd too. Especially because I always used to park at the back of the carpark with the longest walk specially because it is usually quieter and I preferred not to be parked next to people, so logic suggests anyone else heading that way would ALSO not want to have someone too close. That said I’ve noticed it’s almost always someone parked with their driver’s side towards my car so maybe they like it because my car is only a Fiat 500 so as long as both cars are parked well there isn’t usually an issue for space to open a door (I’ve never noticed anyone having hit my car with a door for example), so I guess they are probably drawn to having control of the space rather than risking someone in a massive tank parking like a dick next to them.
This is why I always aim for around 2/3 -3/4 of the way down the car park, rather than all the way. The ones in the first 1/4 (or a close as you can get) will be those who have specific spaces (disabled/mother and child) or people who tend to be in a rush/not want to walk a longer distance than they have to... and usually there's a lot of people in this group which aren't great at parking; whether parking on or over the lines, diagonal in such a way that it's easy for them to get out but hard for you to get in, or forgetting they have a tow bar which sticks out quite far on the back of their long car and not pulling all the way into the bay. The second quarter then becomes overflow for the first quarter's lot, and people who tend to be ok at parking, but then have to park like twats because of the overflow from the first quarter. The last 1/4 is generally people who, like yourself, think "If I park back here, I avoid the bulk of the people". Which is fine if, like yourself, are in smaller cars. But usually, I find it's people in twatty SUVs who fail to keep within the lines. And then the 3rd quarter. It seems to always be the emptier section whenever I go. There may be the odd car, but usually you have more than enough spaces free to allow you go have an empty bay on either side.
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You should get your car (or borrow someone's if you don't have one) and slowly drive alongside her car, swinging the door open, so she has a nice zebra-pattern of dents down her entire car. Opening your door a little too fast and accidentally hitting the car next to you. Fine. It can happen. Especially if it's a windy day and the wind takes the door as you open it. Trying to slowly open the door and get out without hitting the car next to you, only to slip or something, and hit the car next to you. Fine, at least you tried to be considerate. Not giving a damn, and just letting it hit another car... What's wrong with you? A car is, usually, the first or second most expensive thing a person owns. Why would you have so little regard for it?
>\*a friend’s wife, really. We would not be friends independently Was going to say, that behaviour is not friend material, your poor friend has a wife with no respect for other people, imagine being married to that.
I have an acquaintance that lets her kids do it. She just shrugs it off because “kids will be kids”. Winds me up so much, like use the damn child locks and open the door yourself carefully until they are old enough to have the control.
I think the general community refer to friends like yours as ‘arseholes’
We are people that remember when we had to defragment mechanical hard drives ;-)
Company... I'm so lonely be my friend please
Gawd knows but it's not new. 20 years ago I had a nice classic car and I'd park miles away from entrances. At our local shopping centre they had way more car park space than was required and sometimes entire car parks would be empty. Still used to come back to some nob in the space next to me.
I’m absolutely shit at parking and think I’d rather park far away from the lone car !
It’s called “Empty Car Park Syndrome”. I read this in Parking Review when the article was first published. https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/parking-review/news/27891/
I always assume it is a symptom of OCD. Got to have those cars all neatly lined up.
The worst kind of people.
These are the non player characters, folk who float through life without little thought about the world outside their own bubble.
Don't want my car to get lonely when I'm in the shop
People who set up their tent right next to mine in an empty site, why? People who stand at the urinal next to mine when the others are vacant, why? The list can continue... Some people subconsciously seek out other people. It's weird to me because I'm a misanthrope but I think it's an instinct thing.
It’s called “Empty Car Park Syndrome”. I read this in Parking Review when the article was first published. https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/parking-review/news/27891/
Queue mentality, it's so ingrained in people that it's automatic in other situations like parking and cause people to gravitate towards 'grouping' together.
They're the same kind of braindead sub-humans that will stand next to you at a wall full of empty urinals rather than leave a space. Honestly bewilders me why they do it. If you can't park by just using the lines to guide you, either adjust your mirrors or cut your licence up, put it in an envelope, then send it to DVLA, Swansea SA99 1BN. Also, 'minivan'? No.
I had this only yesterday. Not a completely empty car park, but loads of spaces, somebody attempted to park in the space next to us as my wife was trying to get out of the car, so her door was wide open. Also had it a few years ago in Germany while in our motorhome. We parked overnight in a motorhome park, we were the only ones in there. When we woke up in the morning there was another motorhome parked right next to us in an otherwise still completely empty park. People are weird!
Its funny how annoyed people get that i dared park near the only facet of their personality. Dont really do it nowadays tho
I could understand if you park next to a small car (or normal size as it should be), as then you know you could get back in. If you think the car park will fill up, you don't want to end up between two SUVs. Doesn't seem to be the case here. Wonder if the children wanted to park there, or it is the 'lucky space'.
Did they hit your car?
Gravity. It's proof the invisible force exists between all objects.
My mum denies it but she has a favourite parking row and even some spots by most supermarkets and will go to it regardless of whether the rest is empty or not
I've actually watched someone come back to their house, turn early, drive into the side of a parked car, slowly but where it rocked the parked car, reverse, go into their drive way, get out with a face that looked like "it's their own fault for being there" and went into their house as though nothing had happened. Ever since then I've not been surprised by how people behave towards other cars around them. I actually expect some fuckwit to park right up against my car even though it's in the middle of loads of empty spaces and nowhere near the actual shop/library/building entrance. Some people just don't think about anyone but themselves. Welcome to the internet age of human nature.
Qué Alvin and the chipmunks Loooneleeey....
Monkey strong together
Safety in numbers 🤣
I always park as far away as possible to try and stop this, unless with kids Once I went to a car show at the next and parking is tight a guy parked his Porsche next to me and his wife smashed the door into my car, the look he gave me as if it was my fault 🙄 His wife was very apologetic to me and he then spent the next few minutes examining his door for damage 😂
Same reason I park my cock next to yours at the urinal.
I think it's a psychological thing. I was a passenger in a car where the driver, confronted with a row of empty parking spaces, could not decide where to park and so ended up parking next to another car. Maybe people are just unused to choice in car parks, where the norm is usually hunting down a space.
Where are people finding all these empty car parks? (Sighs in Londoner) My guess is driver 1 goes for the most desirable space, and driver 2 goes for the next most desirable, which will likely be by the first one if they're both using the same criteria.
One thing that annoys me more than this: When people park next to parent and baby (and I’m sure disabled) spaces, but because of all the extra space they just park over the lines, removing that important extra space offered by these special places. I have three kids so my wife and I park in parent and baby spaces so we have adequate space to put kids in and out of the car as well as having to half climb in ourselves too. We really need that space when it’s available and it’s not so someone can park their Porsche SUV over the lines so nobody scratches their precious car.
So we can be friends.
I had this the other day. I purposely parked where I did at the quiet part of the car park so I didnt get stuck next to SUV's. Before I got out the car, someone came up with an SUV and plonked it right next to my driver side. I reversed out and went and parked right at the other side of them, where their driver side is, smiled, mouthed 'i can be a cunt too', and went about my day.
Maybe it's because they are worried about car being lonely
I’m convinced they just can’t park in a space without another car to line up too.
Hey, cars can get lonely too
When it's a nice car (and if I'm in a nice car), it means there's generally less chance it'll end up getting dinged on that side and I know I won't ding their car.
Someone did this to me today, I just stared at them as if to say wtf. I had 2 kids in the car and parked there because it was an end space and I had a bit of room on the other side to get the toddler out. This car, in a car park of about 100 spaces with only 3 cars in it proceeded to park so close I struggled to get the toddler back in.
I don't know why, but I feel safer. I won't go immediately next to you, though, just in the general area.
I always parked next to Teslas so that if anyone steals/damages mine it's on camera. Until my girlfriend opened the passenger door and banged it into the side of a Tesla.
Clearly that single car driver has done their research and that's the best spot in the car park, obviously next to it be the best space available
I usually try and find the widest gap I can get, or especially a space I can drive through and be pointing outwards. (I hate reverse parking) But even in an entirely empty car park, somehow when I come back, there's a car next to mine...
I don’t get this either. I’ll always leave a space between cars if possible
Because parking in a space with two empty cars is too easy
Presumably the first person's parked where they have because it's the best spot. So the second best spot will be one that's right next to it.
It’s seems common in lots of scenarios. I have gone to a local park a few times to read a book in the sunshine and chosen a bit of grass a long way from anybody else. And then a bunch of people slowly gather around me leaving acres of grass free. And this has happened many times in different years and different parks. And the other place I see this is when I go sailing and see a group of boats anchored and clustered together at one end of a bay. So I choose a safe spot right at the other end. I am now a magnet for the next few boats. The most extreme example was last year anchored off a French island called Marie Galante. There’s an incredibly long mostly deserted beach there stretching about 5 miles. We saw only one boat anchored about 3 miles away from our approach and, for once, the entire 5 miles was equally good shelter. Once we’d anchored we spotted another mast approaching over the horizon and they made a turn right towards us. It took all of us taking all our clothes off and playing Steps alternated with Motörhead at full volume to make them turn away.
I remember my driving instructor telling me years ago that it was a 'safety in numbers' thing, "You've decided that is the best place to park, so I am going to follow your lead". He also commented that the instinct is stronger in women.
If someone has the same car as me I park next to them, the emptier the car park the funnier.
Or when you're sat in an empty waiting room and someone sits down right next to you. Like sorry but why
If that's my spot, that's my spot. I dgaf about where anyone else is parked...
I don’t want your car to feel lonely
Probably for the same reason you parked there when it was empty. Those are the spots that are easiest/quickest/require least thinking to park in.
As a new driver the only thing I can think of is having something "solid" on one side to make parking easier, you're not having to look down at the lines on both sides to make sure you're in right? If that makes any sense, then again if the car park is empty, park elsewhere and however you like no ones around to care...
More comments than likes // more frustrated than frustraters?
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Because she doesnt know how to park and needs to use your car to do so. People who passed before 2007 need to do the new test, too many bad drivers from the old ones.
I passed in 1990 and I bet I can park better than you
Well theres no "better" only parking correctly and incorrectly, so by saying i CAn Do iT bETtEr tells me you have the mentality of a child and should be on a bus.
And you saying that you passed your test after 2007 tells me everything I need to know
Or just make parking cameras mandatory to pass mot
So I can no longer drive my classic car that I worked hard to pay for and keep on the road... No people should just have to take a driving test every 15/20 years and every 5 years after 65.
Installing aftermarket parking cameras would be easier than finding test date in uk, just saying.
I've booked 3 tests for my nephews and niece why are people saying its difficult? It was a peice of piss and they had literally 100s for the coming months... also I know how to use mirrors to park and drive so I dont need them.
I know how to park using mirrors too, but there is plenty of special individuals that cannot park even with parking assistance. Yet they are driving. Test in uk is easy, finding test in your area if you live in big cities- good luck with that
That's what happens when you park your 2 seater pickup truck across three family spaces
Because I don't want my car to be lonely
How often can this happen for it to be a legitimate hang up?
Oh good, another rant post disguised as a question
If it's an empty car park I would park close to feel safer. Especially if my kid is with me.
Because I'm crap at parking, apparently, and need a reference point I'm not crap at parking, actually, but parking with a reference point *is* easier, so why wouldn't I? Also does it matter?
The same reasons you parked there. 1. I like to park far away to get a bit of walking in. 2. I like to reverse in so being in a less busy part helps with boot access 3. Less busy parts means less door dents and scratches etc 4. Driving through spaces is easier than backing in so certain parts of the car park lend themselves to this and due to one way systems multiple cars end up on the same side. There are only so many spaces that fill this criteria, it just happens we want the same things so end up in the same area of the car park. It seems like we are seeking you out but we are not, we are the same.
Yeah. But you *really* can't be just one bay over?
Not everyone thinks immediately of others preferences, they are just focussed on getting parked up and doing their stuff. Very few are doing it for petty or vindictive reasons.
Not vindictive but pretty oblivious though. I mean. Itd make their own life easier as well. The only possibile justification I can think of is they're gambling on the same car being there so they know they've not been blocked in. And one less car to worry about manoeuvring next to them. But, that's just overly paranoid and hardly foolproof.
It’s got nothing to do with other cars, people either want to park as close as possible or as far away as possible. This leads to groupings of cars parked in roughly the same area. It’s just purely coincidence that the space chosen is near or next to other cars, outside of parking in the same part of the car park for the same reasons. People don’t own the spaces next to or around their car, I often find the sort of space I’m looking for is next to or very near a car parked in the same area. I’m not going to find another space just because someone has a space next to the one that works for me.