A Line or Two!

   I waited in the car while my wife looked for
an item on her shopping list.
   I was parked in the kind of lot you'll find at
most any Shopping Center or Big Box store.
   There are so many things to see...if you just
look a little.
    There are, for instance, white lines painted
all over those acres and acres of parking. I think
the intent is to get you to park your car or truck
in between two of those lines.
    Some drivers, however, don't seem to have
grasped the concept. A few seem to believe the
idea is to have your tires on top of the white
line. Others believe it should be directly under
the center of their car. Still others are under
the impression they're OK as long as their
front wheels are between two of the white
lines....no matter where their car's tail end
ends up!
   I get the feeling they are the same people
who couldn't stay within the lines when they
colored in kindergarten!
   And yet....so many of the same people
manager to leave their shopping carts
within those very same parking spaces!
    The markets have special cart return
lanes set up throughout their parking lots.
    But you'll find most of the empty carts
abandoned in parking spaces.....usually
making the space unusable for shoppers
looking for a spot to pull in!
    One woman, who finished her shopping
shortly after I arrived, negotiated her cart
carefully between our two cars till she
could unload her bounty in the rear seat
of her vehicle. We had to be within 20
yards of the store. But she elected to let
the cart right where she unloaded it.
    I felt bad for the next shopper who
pulled into the space. His turn put him
on what could have been a collision course
for the now empty cart.....but he stopped
in time.....still half way in and half way
out of the spot.
   He got out and pushed the cart ahead
a little so he could use the space. Then
the cart would be right there for his
use...right!?
   Nope. Instead of using it or taking
it back since he was headed in the store
anyway he pushed it on top of a small
island that separated the front of his car
from the rear of those parked in the
next row.
    The guy with the pick up truck
just ahead had to move the cart again
if he intended to put his packages in
the bed of his truck.
     I don't know if that cart ever did
make it back to the store or if it's
still out there somewhere lost in
between an endless supply of
Honda's, SUV's, and Mini Vans.
 I didn't stay to see the end of the
comedy.
    My wife returned, without a cart
by the way, and we negotiated our
way into what appeared to be a
driving lane. The arrow painted on
the pavement was facing 'out' and
that's exactly where I wanted to
go. 
    If you shop where I do here's
hoping you're reading...and
parking.... between the lines and that
all your NEWS is good!