Perils of Parallel Parking....

My lunch date with the hubby was so nice. The weather was sunny and warm, around 75 degrees. We sat outside at a trendy lunch place in the ritzy little town of San Marco. Now, dh and I are neither trendy nor ritzy, so it made for some very interesting people watching.

San Marco is a cute little town made up of a main street, with the old storefronts, brick streets, etc. I would say that 90% of the people that live there are doctors or lawyers, and all of the cars that park along the way are of the Cadillac, BMW, Mercedes make. (I, however, parked my Dodge Caravan on a side street....)

As we were enjoying our $7 salads, we noticed a woman trying to parallel park just across the street from us. She was driving a new Murano, and trying to maneuver it between a brand spankin new Hummer and a mid sized sedan. She would back-up, turn the wheel, pull forward....back-up, turn the wheel, pull forward. Being a former truck driver, I heard my dh mumble, "Cut the wheels lady, you aren't driving a Freightliner!" Chuckling, we watched her try time and time again to get into the spot. Soon, she had made her way near the curb, and decided to back up further. Inch by agonizing inch she slllooooowwwwlllyyy went. I sat, fork poised in mid air thinking, surely she will look in her mirror and stop....come on lady, that's far enough, for Pete's sake STOP. And she did. Of course by this time her bumper had made contact with the Hummer, which was at this point rocking to and fro....

Then, she pulls a bit forward, gets out of the car, and is on her way to lunch without even a glance at her bumper or the Hummer. Amazing. I was not surprised, however, when she walked past our table, got halfway down the street and turned around, realizing she had missed the door to the restaurant. Sheesh! I know money doesn't buy happiness....apparently it doesn't buy common sense either.