Open Letter to the Tailgater

[mesotablar]

This is not going to be a vile rant, I wish it to be balanced criticism. So first I would like to thank you for the applause. It is always nice to be complimented by having someone slap their hands together for you. However I am unclear as to what you were applauding me for…

was it the fact that I can smoothly reverse park or was it the fact that I know where the reverse gear is (as you surely don’t)? 

 

Applause or no, you should not be tailgating in a carpark, even if you were just using it as a shortcut to avoid the traffic lights on that corner. Though be realistic, the traffic wasn’t that bad and the carpark was busy, so assuming that cutting though the 10km/h parking zone would be faster than waiting at the red light is a bit too optimistic.

 

I did not see a P plate on your car, so I have to assume you have been on the roads for a while, though what a sheltered life you must have had! Reverse parking may not be taught in the standard driving lessons but it is a common parking maneuver, probably only slightly less common than parallel parking. Certainly you haven’t been to country New South Wales where reverse angle parking is the norm. Nor been to any of the old leafy suburbs which have cute little (infuriating) ‘vintage’ parking lots where reverse parking is preferred if you ever want to get your big SUV in and out without scratching something. In many situations it is the safer option because when exiting a carpark you can very clearly see what is in front of you. I don’t think it is entirely a coincidence that it was a primary school teacher who taught me how to park this way.

 

So even if you have never seen someone do a reverse park before and had no clue as to what was going on, the preferred action would be to reverse and give the other driver room to do what they are going to do. I did not mind that you honked your horn as my reverse lights came on, bust resting both elbows on the wheel was a bit much, especially as you only did that. Perhaps you were warning me not to park in the McDonalds carpark? Thank you for your concern about my health but don’t worry, I was going to KFC next door.  

 

I know that new things can be scary and I realise you had a car behind you at that point, but unlike you they had left a sizable gap between your boot and their front bumper. If you knew about the reverse gear, this would have been the situation to use it. Alack, you forced me to adapt my reverse park around you so that I ended up slightly crooked in my white lines. So yes, I did show quite a bit of skill manoeuvring around your obstacle. So yes, thank you for the applause.

 

Kind regards,

Meso