People-Parking Predicament

The scene unfolded on traffic-packed Main Street in downtown Park City, Utah - our car sandwiched between the opposing sides of the heavily populated sidewalks.  It was a "given" that locating a parking spot would be a challenge.  Fortified with patience, keen eyesight, and an overabundance of optimism, we trailed the ever-growing line of vehicles in search of a place to land for the evening. 

Meanwhile, droves of pedestrians window-shopped, indulged in double scoop, sprinkle-topped, ice cream cones, and toted packages from the "damage" done during the day at the bountiful boutiques, both on and off the central corridor of this upscale hub for skiers, hikers, and those who merely want to "look the part".

With available parking spaces at a premium, we spied a bare stretch of road, seemingly large enough to accommodate our car.  Could it be?  Inching closer, excitement and anticipation growing more quickly than the afore-mentioned ice cream could melt....Eureka!!

A vacant parking spot into which we could slide, parallel to the curb in front of a hodgepodge of busy restaurants and shops, loomed before us.

Backing into the vacated spot, we noticed her. 

A lone woman.  Dressed to the nines.  Very nonchalant.  Truly, the only thing missing from the panorama was an emery board with which to file her nails while she waited - to make it look even less like she cared about what was transpiring around her in this lively atmosphere, never looking up to acknowledge that the distance between our vehicle and her body was shrinking.

And so, she waited.  

"Waited for what?", one might ask.  I assure you that we pondered exactly the same query - particularly as our car edged ever backwards to claim the recently evacuated real estate.

As our car came to a stop, in order to wait for this lady to relinquish that small plat of ground, she remained glued to the road's surface, like a vertical speed bump.

Now, we are faced with some choices.  

Do we:

1) Continue our backwards progression until she looks up and notices that we are, indeed, trying to park a car in a place most certainly designated for cars?

2) Honk to let her know that we are there?  

3) Forget about this prime spot and continue our quest for parking further down Main Street?

4) Approach this female figure fixed in the road, where a car belongs, and ever so kindly, inform her that we are attempting to back into the parking spot in which her feet are currently "parked".

We opted for the combo platter of numbers 3 and 4, a very enlightening choice, given that none of our party of four had ever encountered a situation like the one that revealed itself upon benevolently confronting the woman in an attempt to make person to person contact (rather than horn-to-person or car-to-person), offering a gentle explanation of our intention to park there without causing her bodily harm.  

"Excuse me, Ma'am.  We're just trying to park here."

"This parking spot is saved."

"What?"  

"I am saving this parking spot for the rest of my party who just circled the block."

Boom!  Mic drop! 

In all honesty, I have joked with any number of people in overcrowded venues, that I would happily lie down in an empty parking spot to "save" it for their next swipe through the lot. However, I, unlike this gutsy gal, realized that we were not in a movie theater or on a Southwest Airlines flight where people actually reserve space for their companions.  I have also gone so far as to say, in jest, (when we have been fortunate enough to acquire a prime space) "We should sell this spot!" But to actually do it?  

More choices.  I didn't know whether to:

1) Applaud this spot-stasher for her nerve. 

2) Laugh at her and inquire as to the seriousness of her intent. 

3) Call the police (but was she even breaking the law?).

4) Revert to my own outlandish quip and offer to buy it from her.

5) Let her stand there, nonchalantly, (minus the imagined emery board prop) - pretending to be a car while the actual car for which she was saving this coveted vacancy trailed the still-growing line of cars seeking a place to land for the evening.

Do you have the visual?  A woman is parked in a parking spot!

#5 was the winner this time.  If we'd had an exhaust pipe attached to our car, we would have tucked it between our collective legs and slunk away in disbelief and utter hysteria, having come across a human being parallel parked on Main Street until her party was able to circle back around, at which time, she would "put it in drive" and pull out of the spot, allowing admittance of an actual automobile.

This "road block" is one for the books, owners' manuals, law enforcement, city government, and comic entertainment for those of us with a sense of humor.  

Should we have been angry at this display of gumption and selfishness? Could we have been more emphatic about our resolve to park a tangible vehicle in a parking spot populated by a person?  Would we have believed it had we not witnessed this act of brazenness? Might she, for just a few moments, have been identifying as car?

In short, probably yes, yes, no, and highly unlikely.

She was just a woman who wanted to perform an heroic act for the friends with whom she was dining, in a town teeming with tourists taking in the splendor of Park City's charming downtown district. 

Perhaps, she was hoping for a pat on the back, a good story to tell, and a laugh from friends and strangers alike.

And, perhaps, she has acquired all of those things! 

The irony is that, after writing about her antics, I, too, will have obtained all to which she had aspired, sans the possibility of bodily harm!

© Cre8ive Writes, LLC  2023