Smack Down in the Walmart Parking Lot

Let's have a little Talk Back Tuesday...

I've yakked before how I feel about these spaces.

I personally don't think they're necessary, but I respect a store's right to erect them. Regardless of the Buddah belly I seem to be fighting these days,  I still wouldn't sneak Ebenezer into that parking spot. For one thing, I don't want to get the local tongues wagging. For another, well... I just think people ought to follow directions.

I've been thinking a lot about following directions lately. I don't claim to be perfect by any means, but I at least  try to respect and follow directions, even those for which there's no consequence.

Take those courtesy signs for example. They aren't the equivalent of handicapped parking spaces. You're not going to be ticketed or towed if you use one when you shouldn't. They are on the parking lot honor system.

Sort of like the grocery cart returns.

Does this look like a little yellow cart corral to you? Why no. It doesn't.

I just don't understand why it's so difficult to return your grocery cart.

Really, I don't.

And these festive yellow stripes are not pavement decoration. They are for pedestrians. Tooting your horn at the elderly couple moving as fast as they can across them is just plain rude.

Of course, so is strolling aimlessly across with a cell phone super glued to your head as four hundred cars wait to proceed... 


Is it just me, or does it seem that shopper's courtesy is getting worse by the day?

The express lane means just that. It's for folks who want or need to get in and out with their few items. Just a hint here, but if you have to count  the items in your cart,  it's probably not intended for you anyway. That's not to say that you shouldn't count them. I personally think you should.

Of course, I also think a big old alarm should go off at the 21st item... 

Yeah, I know. I need to work on that grace thing in the express lane. I'm trying. I'm also working on the fine balance between respecting the rules of courtesy without falling into the Pharisee Trap. You know the one, it's where you get all puffed up about following the letter of the law without considering the intent of it.

That's the reason for this ramble today.

I got a little smack down about this yesterday.  You see, I had the chance to "legally" use one of the little courtesy signs.  I was so excited.

It was late in the afternoon, and I was tooling about trying to wrap up one of those annoying errand runs. You know the type... the kind which resembles more of a scavenger hunt.  I had one thing and one thing only left on the list, and it happened to be located at my least favorite place. That's the bad news. The good news is that it happened to be a prescription pick up.

So I was going to get to use one of these things.

Or not. 

As bad luck would have it, they were all taken. I know this because rather than just park the car, I felt the need to circle the parking lot...three times.. in search of a courtesy parking.  By round two, I was feeling just a little bit cranky. By round three, I was talking to myself about all the big fat fakers who were probably parking in those courtesy spaces and not following the rules... like I was. 

And then, the annoying voice that lives inside my head cleared his throat.

Ahem... 

Seriously, Debbie... Can we please get a grip here? Do you need that space anyway?

Sure, you have the right to it, but do you actually need it?  Is that the intent of the thing?  Is it really designed so the scavenger chick can have her privileged parking, or maybe... just maybe is it intended for the sick person or care giver who could use the shortest distance between two points and the courtesy of a well placed parking spot?

Well, oops. I think it's the latter.

So I parked Ebenezer about four spots down from paradise. And then, just to show Him that I got that clue, I pulled out and parked even farther for good measure. I'm kind of an over achiever like that.

Then Debbie and her baby steps headed in to Walmart to pick up her prescription, just a little bit wiser on the topic of parking lot courtesy.


So what about you? How do you feel about shopper's courtesy? Have you ever gotten the smack down about an area of your own courtesy that needed fixing?