Parking lot etiqutte??? Need your opinion!!!!!?

Question

So, I just went to Wal-Mart on my lunch break to grab a few things I needed. I was just about to turn down a row of parking spaces and saw that the first car on the right hand side was backing out to leave. So I stopped, turned on my turn signal and waited for her to leave. As I started to pull into the spot, a lady in a car that was past that parking spot in the row started to yell at me. She claimed it was her spot. Her car was facing the same direction as mine, so she obviosly had pulled down the row and then saw the car leaving in her rear view mirror. Apparently she would have attempted to back into the spot from where she was (which would have been really difficult, by the way). So I told her it's my spot since she had already driven past it and basically lost out on the chance. She then waited for me to get out of my car so that she could yell at me and call me a bit....h.

Who do you think the parking spot should have belonged to?

I'm glad to hear so many of you agree with me. I came back from lunch really upset.

Hey Charles. I'm way ahead of you on that one. I thought about what could happen to my car while I was in Wal-Mart. I wrote down her license plate number. When she started yelling at me in the parking lot I told her that I had written it down and that the whole parking lot is under video surveillance. She didn't touch my car after that. I checked.

Answer 1

Of course it was your spot, if she passed it by then she didn't want it or just plain wasn't paying attention. I understand why you're upset, I'd be upset too if someone started yelling obscenities at me for their oversight. It's obvious to me that this person has no class or couth and was probably raised in a barn. If anything feel sorry for this poor soul that must continue through life with their vocabulary in the gutter and their finger up their nose where they they obviously keep their etiquette.

Answer 2

Honestly, its just a parking spot! People need to get over this sort of behavior really...its not that difficult to WALK a little further if you don't get you ideal spot. That lady you encountered sounds crazy, and I'm sorry you had to experience that. Guess that's stereotypical of Wal-Mart (SOME people I mean, not all, don't get mad at me for saying that).

In your case though, she was pointed the wrong way, you were already there, she passed it up. It was technically YOUR spot. And she had no right to really treat you like she did over a stupid parking spot. I would have said something to security about her.

My 2 cents though, were you waiting just as the other patron was pulling out, or did you wait from the second they pulled their grocery cart up to the car? That's another bit of etiquette that I find is a pet peeve of mine. Sure, you can have the space after I'm done with it, I don't mind you waiting, but don't follow me to my car, don't wait from the second I actually get the cart to my car door, and don't stop to ASK me where I'm parked just so you can go wait....that's just extremely rude.

I hope you don't have to experience that again. And no eye for an eye please, sometimes its just better to ignore people like that.

Answer 3

Some people do back into spots rather than pull in so she could have been there waiting however, I think she had driven past and then saw them in her rear view. At that point it technically was you spot. I'm glad this crazy lady did not mess with your car (see obviously has a screw loose - it's just a spot for heavens sake.)

IMHO - it was yours.

Answer 4

That lady was being terribly obnoxious and petty. I've had it happen to me too in crowded parking lots - I have my turn signal on and am waiting for the car to pull out and some idiot thinks that the spot is theirs instead. That really burns me! In fact, we have a notebook of novelty "tickets" we keep in the car. They look like regular parking violation tickets, but you can check off things like "Hogging two spaces" or "Inconsiderate of others." It's fun to leave them on people's cars just so they can see how truly selfish can be are when driving/parking.

Answer 5

If the woman who yelled at you drove PAST the parking spot that was becoming available, then she lost out! You were patient or lucky enough to be there and turned on your signals. That is fine and you deserved the spot. That woman was probably frustrated because she was circling for more than 30 minutes. . . don't mind her.

Answer 6

Because of the facts that she was already past the spot and you were the next one to come upon it, the spot belongs to you. And ya know what, if she'd have said something like that to me I don't think I'd have been very polite in return. I know that 2 wrongs don't make a right but...if she was brazen and bold enough to say that to you then she deserved it back twofold. Hope your day is going better now.

Answer 7

Obviously you were there first.

I pass up on most of these opportunities, because they're needless confrontations and you're usually arguing with someone who is in a pissy mood to begin with. But if you feel like getting your point across, you could say something like:

"You know, if I was as fat as you are, I would want a close parking spot too. Would you like me to move so that you can have this spot? You need it more than I do."

or my favorite (people hate this one, rightfully so):

"Simple mind, simple pleasures".

Answer 8

I used to work as a security guard at a large grocery store and you'd be surprised at how many people DON'T see those big yellow arrows pointing a certain direction and will try driving the opposite way. Then,they complain at how they pass up a space,YET try to back up and don't realize there's traffic behind them.
The one s that would get me were the husbands who would send the wife into the store and then when it starts raining,everybody and their mother is trying to drive up on the sidewalk . Heaven forbid anyone gets a drop of water on them and melts.

Answer 9

It's yours. She's an idiot. I don't know what's wrong with some people these days. Clearly, it's your space. She drove past it. Really, is it worth arguing about with someone? Please. It's a parking space at Wal-Mart. Move on to the next one.
Did you smile at her and say Merry Christmas. I would have and moved on. I might have said Get a life if she continued.

Answer 10

Most walmart spots are angled so that you can't back into them, and they usually have rows that only go one way, so for her to back into the spot would mean she would have to go against traffic!!!!

People are so crazy at Christmastime.
I would have told her that she was welcome to have the spot when I was done shopping, if she didn't mind driving around the parking lot until i was done!!!!