Backing into a parking place at a grocery store is one of my pet peeves and an argument that DH and I have agreed not to have again. I don't back into a parking place for several reasons:
- I'm inconveniencing everyone around me when I do
- I can't get my groceries into the trunk because of the car behind me
- I run the risk of damaging the cars parked next to me as I maneuver the shopping cart to the back of the car
- Worse - There's no room to maneuver the cart to the back of the car and I have to hand-carry each bag to the trunk
- If/when SUV's park next to me, I STILL won't be able to see to either side until I clear them
People who back into parking display that same annoying trait I see coming from those who stop to others out of a parking lot, or let someone turn left in front of them, or wave for you to go ahead at a four-way stop: They're inconveniencing others (at best) or creating a traffic hazard (at worst) so they can either have a feel-good moment about themselves or be controlling about the situation around them.
Nothing burns my butter more than the person who'll hold up 20 people behind them so he/she can be "gracious" to the one person in front of them. There's nothing considerate about those people. They're just doing it to make themselves feel good or that they're doing their good deed for the day, never realizing that they just screwed up the traffic pattern for the crowd behind them.
Which brings me back to the whole, "I'm doing it for safety" BS excuse for backing in. You are just as likely to have an accident backing into a parking space as you are backing out. And if there's someone waiting for you (generic you, not just Mermaid) to negotiate your backing skills before they can proceed to their parking space, what you're really saying is that you're inconveniencing them for the sake of someone else's "safety" or (more likely) so you can make a quick getaway when you get out of the building.
I've never been in an accident backing out and I will continue to pull in forward into parking spots. When I back out, SUVs around me or not, the radio's off, the back windows are open so I can hear others and I'm 100% focused on the task at hand rather than getting on my cell phone, changing radio stations, putting on my seat belt or the myriad of things other people do that make them a risk for accidents to occur when they're backing out of parking spots.
And now you can see why DH and I have agreed to not have this conversation again.