Karen 'parallel parks'

Westtown Willy

TJ dummy
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This is prompted by the 'aggressive drivers toward Jeeps' thread from the other day, and yesterday's events.

So I took my son & his fiancé out to lunch at one of my favorite local small town microbreweries, the boy drove us in his new car, 2023 Elantra, pretty sweet little ride, they’ve come a long way. We end up getting a parking spot on the street directly in front of the bar & the hostess seats us at the table right up against the giant garage door/window thing so we were literally maybe 8 feet away from his car. There was one more parking spot in front of his & beyond that there was a sidewalk bump-out. When we arrived only our spot was open so he parallel parked into it. I only bring that up because he did the one-turn back in/cut back so perfectly he didn’t even need to pull up an inch or make any other adjustments so I commented nice job dude, most people don’t seem to have that skill anymore. Maybe it was just luck, dunno, don’t care, but I digress.

Over the two hours +/- we were there, the car in the spot in front of his departed and we were treated to a procession of idiots that couldn’t parallel park to save their lives. You know the kind. The dopes that pull in headfirst & no matter how many times it doesn’t work they just keep trying, eventually they leave in frustration. Then there’s the back in types that never know when to cut the wheel. They either back directly into the curb or cut it way too soon & end up 3 feet from the curb. Yesterday, I’m not exaggerating when I say this primo spot, directly in the center of downtown where all the action is, remained empty because no less than 4 cars ‘tried’ to park in it & left in frustration. And it was a GIANT spot.

Fast forward & we’re done, we walk outside & we’re standing directly adjacent to my son’s car & the empty spot chatting about whether we wanted to bolt or roam around town for a bit when I see a giant Escalade pull up next to the bump-out. I say outloud watch this guy, my money says he nails it. The thing back up, cuts the wheel in perfectly then cuts back perfectly & brings the boat in maybe 6 inches & perfectly parallel to the sidewalk. As I’m standing there patting myself on the back for calling it all 3 of us watched in slow motion as the dude kept coming back, far further than he had to & boom, kissed the front of my son’s car, pushed it backwards maybe 2-3 inches, then he decides to pull forward for the final resting spot.

No big deal, it wasn’t a high-speed thing, but I’m a dick so as soon as the door opens I say thanks for hitting our car, assuming they knew damn well what happened. To my surprise it was an overly aggressive & annoying fat woman whom I assume after the exchange that occurred could only be named Karen, commenced to scream at me like a lunatic denying that she hit the car, telling me she has a reverse camera and would have seen it, & that I was crazy, then ran around taking pictures of everything saying show me the damage. I reminded her I didn’t say there was damage & I had only thanked her for hitting it.

This 1000% entitled Karen then jumps back in her giant waste of space Escalade & screams "why do you care you’re only driving a piece of shit Hyundai, & you wouldn’t say anything if my husband were here”, to which my son says “yea because he would’ve been driving & wouldn’t have hit my car” :ROFLMAO: , she then storms off presumably to go crash into someone else’s car.

Anyway, the anger & rage in this woman was palpable. After she rolled the three of us were just laughing, no damage, just a very odd incident & a beyond odd overreaction. My first question was am I crazy, cause that would be believable, did I not see her hit your car – they both said no, we all watched it.

2022, the human race is circling the drain.
 
When it comes to parallel parking, "threading the needle", or any number of driving practices that require at least a basic level of skill or talent, I always preach "Know your vehicle". That is, know the size. Have points of the vehicle where you draw a visual reference, and know what to do when you reach that point. Parallel parking isn't that difficult. Apparently, neither is being an entitled bitch. :rolleyes:
 
When it comes to parallel parking, "threading the needle", or any number of driving practices that require at least a basic level of skill or talent, I always preach "Know your vehicle". That is, know the size. Have points of the vehicle where you draw a visual reference, and know what to do when you reach that point. Parallel parking isn't that difficult. Apparently, neither is being an entitled bitch. :rolleyes:

Squatch parking

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I've noticed that many have no clue how cameras work. There is an inability to translate what is happening on the screen to what is actually happening outside. I watched a guy at work use the camera to back into the shop garage and land squarely in the corner of the building. He said the camera was out of adjustment.
 
So she was so mad she got back in and drove away?

our working theory was she knew damn well she whacked us, how could she not, & the aggression was the overreaction to freaking out thinking we were going to claim some sort of damage... it was bizarre to say the least. But that's just a theory

When it comes to parallel parking, "threading the needle", or any number of driving practices that require at least a basic level of skill or talent, I always preach "Know your vehicle". That is, know the size. Have points of the vehicle where you draw a visual reference, and know what to do when you reach that point. Parallel parking isn't that difficult. Apparently, neither is being an entitled bitch. :rolleyes:

Both my kids remind me all the time how I hounded them to back up every day when I was teaching them how to drive. Parallel parking, backing into parking lot spaces, backing into the driveway, just pounded them with it. It paid off.

I've noticed that many have no clue how cameras work. There is an inability to translate what is happening on the screen to what is actually happening outside.

I figured that happened here, this woman clung to what she saw on this screen as proof positive that our lying eyes were just that.

Given the girth of her vehicle (& her hindquarters), I guess it's possible the impact wasn't physically transmitted to her closest nerve endings thus she didn't actually feel the impact as it was at such a slow speed, & that's a no biggie if that was the case.

It was the full blown nutty that she threw my way that was noteworthy.

By the way don't those overly complicated new luxury vehicles have sensors everywhere that tell the dummy in the driver's seat when they're too close to something by relentlessly beeping?
 
our working theory was she knew damn well she whacked us, how could she not, & the aggression was the overreaction to freaking out thinking we were going to claim some sort of damage... it was bizarre to say the least. But that's just a theory
That was my assumption also. Fight turned to flight.

By the way don't those overly complicated new luxury vehicles have sensors everywhere that tell the dummy in the driver's seat when they're too close to something by relentlessly beeping?
Yes, unless you shut them off.
 
I trained the kids to parallel park in front of the house with two rubber trash cans. They parked over and over until they could get in. I would shrink the distance as they got better.

They had to get out and check curb distance.

Both of them impressed the driver's ed guy. He's the guy that passes their driving for the first license.

I made fun of their parking in lots until they were perfectly centered between the lines.
 
That was my assumption also. Fight turned to flight.


Yes, unless you shut them off.

YEP. I had just bought my 2014 RAM, it was less than 3 months old. we had borrowed a friends trailer and had it parked across the bridge in my driveway. well I leave for work at 3am and go backing out across the bridge. not even thinking about the trailer, I hear beep, beep beep getting faster and faster and I'm thinking to myself "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS THING BITCHING ABOUT " as I feel it hit the trailer 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 get out shine the flashlight on it and after a few more 🤬🤬🤬 it creased from the tail light to the tire. damn truck smarter than I am 😢😢
 
Modern vehicles certainly are way harder to see out of rearward, but there's just zero excuse with a camera on the thing. People are surprised I can parallel park the old MBZ like I do because you can see out of it, and I grew up driving one. My wife's Fiat is actually a bit harder for me despite its minuscule size as I'm not used to it, and it doesn't have the visiblity the Benz does (although its not as bad as many). When in doubt, open the door and look!

Many, MANY years ago, I had some fucktard park behind me where there wasn't a space but squeezed in anyway. He was literally about 2 inches off my rear bumper. The vehicle in front of me was probably about 1 foot or so away. I got out without hitting anything although it took me awhile (Datsun pickup). The air was purple by the time I left, but zero damage and no touching. No power steering either.
 
Modern vehicles certainly are way harder to see out of rearward, but there's just zero excuse with a camera on the thing. People are surprised I can parallel park the old MBZ like I do because you can see out of it, and I grew up driving one. My wife's Fiat is actually a bit harder for me despite its minuscule size as I'm not used to it, and it doesn't have the visiblity the Benz does (although its not as bad as many). When in doubt, open the door and look!

Many, MANY years ago, I had some fucktard park behind me where there wasn't a space but squeezed in anyway. He was literally about 2 inches off my rear bumper. The vehicle in front of me was probably about 1 foot or so away. I got out without hitting anything although it took me awhile (Datsun pickup). The air was purple by the time I left, but zero damage and no touching. No power steering either.

I just cant get used to the camera. I guess if you started driving a car with it it's ok. how many cars do you think get side swiped by the front fender while watching the back up camera ?
 
I just cant get used to the camera. I guess if you started driving a car with it it's ok. how many cars do you think get side swiped by the front fender while watching the back up camera ?

That’s where the 360 cameras come into play.

Cameras are only an additional tool in the arsenal. You still can pay attention the same way you did before.
 
If you're gonna patch holes in driver education with technology, I think a beep beep beep alarm works better. You don't have to be looking at the thing.
 
I just cant get used to the camera. I guess if you started driving a car with it it's ok. how many cars do you think get side swiped by the front fender while watching the back up camera ?

It's no different than a mirror. You're still looking at a flat thing that shows what is going on behind you.
 
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If you're gonna patch holes in driver education with technology, I think a beep beep beep alarm works better. You don't have to be looking at the thing.

yea, I've gotten used to it now. If she starts beeping I stop and figure out why. just wait until we have to get used to self driving cars !!!
 
I just cant get used to the camera. I guess if you started driving a car with it it's ok. how many cars do you think get side swiped by the front fender while watching the back up camera ?

Same. I travel for work and rent cars about half a dozen times per year and pretty sure I haven't seen a rental car without a backup camera since 2014, but I still crank my neck around and look behind me the old fashioned way.
 
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yea, I've gotten used to it now. If she starts beeping I stop and figure out why. just wait until we have to get used to self driving cars !!!

They beep at litterally everything. It’s a pain trying to figure out what it is the car is angry about. I don’t need the car to think for me, I can do that myself. Same with cameras, I mean I’m sure they’re helpful in certain cases, but I just think it’s people being lazy most of the time that they use them. And the fact that some new cars won’t let you open the door and back up at the same time is stupid. I like dumb cars, my tj has all the technology I need - and that’s basically none.