Stupid People
7 November 2003, 9:36 AM

I just don't understand some people. Take, for instance, the idiots in the SUV in front of me at the parking garage this morning.

I pull into the small entrance from the street to find an enormous SUV with darkened windows sitting in the spot next to the card access for the gate. They fully block access to the gate, but I assume (wrongly) that they're just fumbling around for their access card.

Nope. It's a student, dropping off another student. Mind you, they're not dropping off this student in the turn-about to the left of us, where they can easily move around and where they wouldn't block access for anyone needing to get into the parking garage. No, instead they actually pull right up to the gate arms and block the entrance while they drop off the other student. So I have to wait.

I didn't realize any of this until they started backing up. Whoa! Someone's behind you! [honks horn] What do you think you're doing? I can't go anywhere! I'd have to back up BACK INTO THE STREET, where I'd risk getting hit by someone else stupid.

Then I see it. I just *barely* see it. There's someone inside the back of this SUV, waving at me that they want to back out and go left into the turnabout where they should have gone in the first place. Waving at me from behind windows that are after-market darkened SO NOBODY CAN SEE INSIDE THE SUV.

How stupid are these people? First they don't pull in where they're supposed to. Next, they expect me to be able to see them behind their overly darkened windows and then they expect me to back up into the street.

[sigh]

I ended up backing up after-all. It's the only thing I could do. They couldn't go forward since they didn't have an access card, and their vehicle was too big to simply pull back into the small space slightly to the right of them without me backing all the way out back into the street.

This isn't the first time this has happened, and it hasn't happened just at this parking garage. There's another gate access parking lot on campus with a huge, wide open expanse of asphalted area in front of it. You can pull into that area, turn around and sit there for days if you like, without blocking anyone.

But I can't tell you how many times I've seen people pull right up in front of the access gate, that small spot, and block it completely while they unload or load people. With all that huge amount of space to wait in and load and unload in they have to cram themselves into the one spot that will inconvenience everybody expect themselves.

Ugh. I really dislike people sometimes.