What kind of idiot walks down the middle of the parking lot aisle.....

[Jeff in BigD]

For the record, there have been times when I've started up the car & just sat there (DW ran to grab another item from the store, etc), but if someone is sitting there with their blinker on waiting for me to pull out, I'll throw my hazards on, letting them know that I'm not going anywhere for a while. Most people figure it out & just move on.

I must admit that I have (in the past) done this... sorry.

If it wasn't intentional, no biggie. Hazards or a wave, simple fix.

I've done this... and I am not at all sorry about it. The person was following was RIGHT behind me. Like, I could feel the heat of the car they were so close. Plus there was parking just not as close as they would have liked. So they are just lazy on top of it.

Needless to say, I had a phone call that HAD to be done just then.

So that is my pet peeve. Don't follow me to my car just because you are lazy and give me some space!

I can certainly understand that. They are being jerks. They may be stalking a closer spot for other reasons (bad back, sprained ankle, etc), but almost making someone their new hood ornament is just plain douchey.

Nothing makes me more angry than a driver stalking my spot and getting impatient with me. I will take my sweet time loading the kids (at times 4-6 of the little ones), getting them in their car seats and loading the groceries. I will not rush just because he/she doesn't want to drive around and look for another spot.

Also understandable.

I hope you never follow me to my car when I'm testing my blood glucose and having a snack. There are all sorts of reasons why someone does not immediately pull out of a parking spot.

Understood. If your car is on, turning on your hazards or waving them away will let anyone in a crowded parking lot know that you need the space longer.

Seriously? What are you, 12? That solved what?

You knew this how? When I get into my car I have things to organize. If I have to make a call I can't do it while driving. So I will sit and take care of it. Sometimes it is not all about you.

Yep, I admit, not my finest moment. I'm pretty patient unless someone is intentionally being a jerk.

How I knew this person in particular was intentionally being a jerk:
Car's reverse lights go on, driver looks over shoulder & sees me, puts it back into park & starts applying makeup. This wasn't just a lipstick touch-up. The second my car stopped behind hers, the reverse lights come back on & she starts laying on the horn. By then someone else had started pull out of a spot a few cars down, so it worked out, but that didn't stop her from peeling out of the parking lot in disgust.

Yes, most of the time it's not all about me. But sometimes, it's nice to be aware of your surroundings & realize that other people have things to do too.

 

[kidshop]

Not a fan of parking spot stalkers either.

I dislike them, but for different reasons. They block me from getting around them to park in the space a few feet down. Man, I hate that! I never mind parking and walking a little, I would never wait for a 'better' space.
It is also much quicker to park and walk than wait and block others.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Meh, do that to me & you'll get one of 2 reactions:

1) assuming I'm in no hurry, which is typically the case, I'll mill around for a couple minutes then pretend I "forgot" something and I'll walk back to the store.

2) I'm in a hurry so you get to play "chicken" with the steel bumper on my truck.

Well, it was one instance, but since you park in the far end of the lot, I doubt we'll see too much of each other.

But if you do happen to tag my car, could you make sure it's the passenger side? DW gave it a new "pin-stripe" courtesy of a mailbox.

 

[LBIJim]

Um yeah...If you are harassing me for my spot I WILL take my sweet time getting ready to leave.

If you are nice and leave me room to back out and don't do the creep(coast a few inches stop...coast a few inches stop) I will probably leave in an orderly fashion.

Meh, do that to me & you'll get one of 2 reactions:

1) assuming I'm in no hurry, which is typically the case, I'll mill around for a couple minutes then pretend I "forgot" something and I'll walk back to the store.

2) I'm in a hurry so you get to play "chicken" with the steel bumper on my truck.

I posted a response similar to these in a "parking lot stalker" thread a week ago on the Theme Park Strategy board. Of course, many of the guilty parties took offense and called these defenses immature, passive-aggresive, etc. Nothing like the pot calling the kettle black They had many BS "valid" reasons why they "needed" to be a stalker. . None of which was laziness, of course.

 

[scrapquitler]

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...the kind of idiot who gets all the way to the end and realizes she's actually parked on the next row over.

I got to follow her as she walked her cart slowly right down the center of the aisle. She went down to the last couple of cars in the row then walked in between two cars, when I got to the end I went to the next lane over and as I was parking I saw that she was unloading her groceries two cars down on the same row as me.

Maybe she was just having a moment, forgetting which lane she parked in, but for gosh sakes have a brain fart while walking on the SIDE of the aisle not in the middle.

In my experience, the ones who walk slowly down the middle of the aisle in the parking lot are usually an entire family of 4 or 5, all holding hands while they walk in a line half the width of the aisle.