Reverse Parking Rebuttal
Tim, at work, had this insightful rebuttal to my problem with people backing into parking spots:
The super hero theory is intriguing. But lets do the math. There are only an handful of super heroes. Lets exaggerate and say 100. Now the odds of you running into any one of them a single time would have to be pretty low. And running into more that one or the same one multiple times(presumably you have experienced this multiple times) would have to be way out there. Further I doubt that many(in any) drive(I don't think Batman is really a super hero – just a gadget freak). So you would have to be encountering a disproportionate number of these guys for the super hero theory to hold.As for impressing women with their handling prowess, this requires a) spotting the woman to impress b)locating said woman near a convenient parking spot c) getting her to see the awesome stunt of a crisply executed backwards insertion d) said subject would have to be pretty shallow to be sufficiently impressed with all of this. Sounds implausible. Believe me–I've tried. Of course, the driver could be operating from the premise that one day some woman might just observe this incredible demonstration of handling agility from across the parking lot and be compelled to introduce herself to the driver(never happened to me). A friend's mom did once ask if I was a wanted man, but that's not the same thing.
Or… maybe since parking is basically a symmetrical operation(you have to throw it into R at some point – unless you plan to abandon the vehicle) it could be viewed as an investment in the future to go on and back it into the parking space now in exchange for the ease of leaving later(pay me now or pay me later). Its actually not completely symmetrical – the car's wheels track differently in reverse and insertion is actually easier than when pulling straight in.
Having said that, my first rule of traffic is never ever impede other's progress under any condition if you have a say in the matter(I think it is just shy of a mortal sin(a symbolic statement as I don't subscribe to the heaven and hell stuff)). So while I prefer to back in as a matter of convenience, I will take the hit and pull straight in if there is traffic behind me. I'm actually more impressed with the people that can execute this maneuver in a tight space – its actually harder than backing in…
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