Parking is difficult. Some would even consider it the most difficult part of driving. For me, at least, I would have days that I considered a “good” parking day, and would have other days that were a “bad” parking day. Throughout my driving life, I have experienced a plethora of parking opportunities in a variety of different places.
Below are just a few of my documented parking experiences along with a rating, explanation, and the lesson I learned from each:
Easily a 7/10. Between the lines, not angled, and enough room on both sides. Simple. Easy.
This parking job came from the Edward’s Hospital parking garage. Yes, the spots are angled which makes it easier to park, but I still consider it a decent parking job. However, my only problem with this parking is the experience. Personally, I dislike parking garages because I always feel like there’s not going to be any parking spaces or that some person is going to drive recklessly and run straight into me. Not likely, but possible. On this particular day however, everyone seemed to want to take a visit to the hospital filling up so many of the spots. Luckily though, I was able to find someone right as they were leaving to steal their spot.
This taught me more of a moral lesson- be patient and a spot will open up to you.
A solid 5/10. Although close to the line, backing up into the spot was the key to this ranking.
I didn’t start backing up into spots until this year, in order to pull out of the school parking lot easier, and I quickly realized this has actually made my parking life a lot easier. In this situation, because I am too close to the line, I learned that I need to either pull up a bit further, or turn my wheel more. The location of this very mediocre parking job is in the Taco Bell parking lot after the disappointing loss of the crosstown football game. So accordingly, this automatically sinks the rating. So this parking experience was more of an actual learning opportunity for actual driving rather than an emotional learning experience.
Definitely a 3/10. Although I was in between the lines, the fact that the car is slanted annoys me. To be fair, the car right next to me also did a poor job so I could always say I was just following the lead of others. This is in the parking lot of Chipotle during the lunch period so it was a rush to eat and park so there is a valid excuse for my poor parking. As I pulled in, I got many sideways glances with people being extremely judgmental. This parking experience taught me to not rush and take my time when parking so I will not get completely judged and looked down upon for my parking.
Absolute worst experience. Definitely rate it 0/10. Less if I could. This parking job features my old car which is now most likely getting ripped apart for parts. Unfortunately, she is no longer with us because of the damages she endured.
First of all, this parking is rated as low as it is due to the parking itself. It’s parked in the middle of the road and blocking all of the other cars from driving past. Slightly angled and in the way. The parking technique was so off that the police officer had to ask me to re-park the car along the side of the road. Second of all, the context of the crash itself plummets the rating. This was taken the second to last day of school junior year when I was on my way to my hospital volunteering. As you can see, the car took a hit where the airbags went off and the door was completely dented. From this experience, I learned to never turn in front of another car and crash. Trust me, you don’t want to park like this.
In the end, each of my parking jobs taught me valuable lessons- some better than others, yet lessons nonetheless. They have provided me the opportunity to grow from each memorable parking experience, and I hope to use my expertise to improve my parking in the future.
What a fun read. I love the pictures of the parking. That made it more enjoyable. I thought the criteria you addressed for the rating was interesting and the lessons learned were definitely a solid finishing touch to the rating. Nice Job here. I am enjoying these post.
Best blog I have seen so far. It was funny to see how the parking ability slowly deteriorated into a crash, which although probably horrible, was funny to see in the blog. Admittedly parking is rough. Especially parallel parking, or finding parking in the lot. I too have seen some bad park jobs right outside our very classrooms. I loved how you described the last crash as a parking spot too, just in the middle of the street. I am curious, was the crash your fault? Nevertheless, parking gets the best of all of us. I like to think that a bad parking experience is inevitable, and we must move on. I hope your new car does not face any more bad parking days. Great blog!
X Marks the Park is officially my favorite AP Lit blog post. I love how you ordered your parking jobs from best to worst, and the final one really takes the cake. I have had my own fair share of terrible parking jobs – everyone our age does, whether they want to admit it our not. I have definitely seen some examples of creative parking in the athletic lot. I totally agree with you about parking near the exit of the lot. I usually make sure to get out of the athletic lot pretty quickly, in order to avoid any possible encounters with other cars. I’ve witnessed three separate crashes in that parking lot, and I don’t want to be the one behind the wheel for the next one. Lastly, I think I will take your advice to not park in the center of any roads – it seems pretty reasonable.
I’m not sure if I was allowed to laugh, but that last photo really amused me…sorry. I can’t believe the police officer asked you to move it. But I have to applaud you for the parking job at Edward. That parking garage lives in my nightmares for the small spots and awkward angles, and I’m impressed at how cleanly you were able to park.
I actually used to think that I was pretty decent at parking, but I noticed recently that I’m a lot worse than I thought. I find myself constantly readjusting, hoping that I won’t crash into the car next to me as I twist around. I also started backing into spaces, which I’ve actually found quite fun, especially since I have a backing camera.
Hopefully, I never have to experience the 0/10 parking, and I hope you never experience it again either.
Hi Annie, this post was such a fun read, and of course very relatable. It’s always funny to see the products of what many teen drivers refer to as parking, myself included. I am glad to be past the era of parking on Benedetti and 5th, and don’t plan to try my hand at parallel parking for as long as I can manage. So sorry to hear about your car accident, I know how tough those can be, but it seems like you used this as a learning experience which is always good. The nice thing about driving-and parking- is you get better as you go. I’ll definitely have to try out your suggestion of backing into parking spots, hopefully it can help me get out of the school lot quicker. Thanks for sharing your positive and negative parking experiences and I am wishing you all the success with your driving in the future.
I truly enjoyed this run through of your driving skills. Interesting to see how your parking stayed very consistent – some say consistency is key. Sorry to hear about the 0/10, though, it was completely their fault, right? I have to say, though, I can’t see any parking lines around the car, that parking might be illegal. Knowing you, I know you also enjoy labeling items with specific names so does your old, or current car have any names? One thing I would definitely have to agree with you on are the struggles of parking. Parking even a smaller sedan pains me while parking my friend’s mini-van in the NPAC parking lot was unimaginably worse. Overall, I’m glad you learned valuable lessons from each park, hopefully we all get to improve as well. I will remain hopeful in your future parking endeavors and also that you don’t experience another crash again.