Jeremy Stein Photography
www.jsteinfoto.com
  • Home
    • More Information >
      • About Me >
        • Jasper (Cadbury's Beautiful Brown Eyes)
        • Roxy (Desert Reef's Rox Star)
        • Gidgette (Noriko's Splendid Silver Chaos)
        • Niko (Adelheid's Night Light)
      • Artist Statement
      • Process
      • Prices
      • Links
      • Latest News
      • Latest Images
  • Galleries
    • Animal >
      • African
      • Furred
      • Which Birds? >
        • Hummingbirds
        • Roadrunners
        • Other Birds
    • Mineral >
      • Dry
      • Wet
    • Vegetable >
      • Cactus and Cactus Flowers
      • Succulents
      • Other Flora
      • 2014 Flowers
      • Roses
  • Macro / Close-Up Intro
    • Definitions and Some Specifics >
      • Cameras for Close-Up and Macro
      • Lenses
    • Setup, Lighting, and Exposure
    • Starting Out >
      • Equipment Choices 1
      • Equipment Choices 2
      • Equipment Choices 3
      • Real Macro Lenses
    • Techniques
    • Field Work
    • Special (Software) techniques
    • Useful Websites
  • Travel Snapshots
    • Netherlands
    • Brussels
    • Bruges
    • Botswana
    • Iceland >
      • Iceland 2
      • Iceland 3
      • Iceland 4
  • Occasional Blog

December 13th, 2012

12/13/2012

 
It's approaching Christmas, and I have a complaint. It's not a new complaint, but it's time to bring it up again. I'm here today to complain about parking lots! Not the lots themselves, although they usually have the lanes too narrow for easy and safe backing out, but the behavior of people in those parking lots.

Here we are in the season of love and charity, and it sometimes seems that it's really the season of parking lot gladiatorial combat. First of all, people almost invariably drive too fast in parking lots. They are in a hurry to get in the store and spend money, and so they race around the lot seeking a space within 10 feet of the store entrance. Of course, there isn't one, so they speed up and criss-cross the lot to find a space that's near enough for them. They wind up spending more time and energy by far than they would have spent just parking well away from the store in the first open spot. And while they are zipping back and forth in the lanes, they are looking only for spaces, not for people. I'm surprised that so few people are maimed in parking lot encounters. It's usually just fender benders, but lots of them!

And look at their faces while they are seeking space to park: there are no smiles to be seen. Grim, intent, tense, children crying, adults complaining - all in the spirit of a merchandise Chri$tma$! Add to that the harried people trying to get from their cars to the bargains, not ever looking behind them; and the children, often not holding parents' hands, bewildered by the whole thing - it's amazing that there aren't more accidents.

So, please, when you are in one of those parking lots: please slow down, take the time to look around, park relatively far from the store so you don't spend so much time and money just driving in the lot, and watch out both driving and walking. Pay attention to the people and cars around you, and smile and be happy and share the spirit of the season! And by the way -- Happy Holidays!

    Author

    An irascible polymath and autodidact

    Archives

    November 2018
    September 2018
    November 2015
    October 2015
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012

    Categories

    All
    Instruction
    Musings

    RSS Feed