Pet Peeves - Parking Pains - Part I

Today I want to vent about one of my major pet peeves. To search for parking when you go shopping or in business areas is bad enough, but to have serious parking issues in your own neighborhood due to the thoughtlessness of a few neighbors takes one’s annoyance to whole new level.

The Situation
I truly like the townhouse community where I have been now living for the last six years, but for one issue which often leaves a bad taste and that is abuse of guest parking spaces. Due to our complex's proximity to the Metro and other business areas in Northern VA, there are many single professionals who are renting townhouses as sort of group homes and consequently have more cars than the two assigned/reserved spaces per house. So these renters literally hog the guest spots as extra parking and to escape notice, rotate the household cars in these spots. Pretty ingenious you would think except that trick also become obvious after a point. Consequently, the home owners who genuinely need to use the guest spots invariably find them occupied and are annoyed beyond belief. How irksome it is – is easily discernible once I explain a few typical neighborhood scenarios…


I truly love my neighborhood with its brick-old world townhouses. One hardly feels one is in the middle of one of the busiest areas in NOVA, till you deal with the parking issues...

The Hustle
Folks like me barely entertain much, but do get an occasional visitor. So now not only do I have to stress about the hospitality factor, I have to worry about insuring a parking spot for my friend. Obviously the nearby guest spot is occupied by one of the familiar offending cars. So here I am constantly alert especially the day before my guest is to arrive, watching surreptiously from my kitchen window, and glaring at the guest spot almost willing the car to vanish. And, of course, the culprit will pull out his car when I am not decently attired for the public eye. But do I care? Hell no!!! To my son’s horror, I have run more than once in my pajamas barefooted brandishing my car keys like a woman possessed to move my car into the guest spot… The sense of relief and jubilation that follows is like winning a lottery. The idea is to park one’s car in the guest spot and leave one’s reserved spot for the friend. Agility and quick reflexes are critical as I have learned the hard way. I was almost railroaded once and had the spot taken away from me right under my nose by another frustrated homeowner who thought he was being witty when he stated thereafter, “you snooze you lose”. I haven’t spoken to him since.

Not Conducive to Hosting
Also visualize a bunch of Indian women swathed in graceful saris, precariously carrying pots of curry and other such potluck dishes and tottering in high heels to my place in over 90 degrees temperatures or icy weather from a few blocks away, just because all the nearby guest spots were occupied. Obviously they were quite disgruntled and the party did not get off to a good start. This ain’t Bollywood where women can safely sprint at fast speed in heels and saris with makeup intact. The only positive thing for a lazy entertainer like me is that I am not on top of my friends’ list to host a party. No complaints there.

The Last Straw!
But what truly made me mad beyond belief was arriving home exhausted one late worknight in extremely cold weather with a carload of groceries, only to find one of the neighbor's cable repairman parked in my reserved spot because obviously the guest spot was taken. Not being psychic, I had to literally knock (rather bang impatiently I may add candidly) door to door to find the guy who was quite bewildered to be the recipient of a mouthful while the neighbor tactfully withdrew from the scene. Oh the cable guy was definitely convinced that I was the proverbial witch of the East and you know what – I was!

To continued...