Here’s some basic parking lot etiquette that you aught to be aware of. The unspoken rule is really easy to follow.
There are certain things you just shouldn’t do if you have some spatial awareness, like sit next to the only other person on a bus full of open seats or use the urinal next to another guy when there’s enough available for a buffer in between.
This is the parking lot version of that.
Woman calls out fellow driver
In a viral video with nearly 500,000 views, driver @roxstar2005 pointed out the one thing you shouldn’t do when choosing a spot in an empty parking lot.
“I had to record this because I swear to God nobody would believe me if I didn’t,” @roxstar2005 said.
In the TikTok, @roxstar2005, who seemed to have just come from Guitar Center, showed the retailer’s parking lot.
There were a handful of cars parked toward the front of the store, but other than that, there were plenty of available parking spots. The Daily Dot counted at least a dozen, but there were easily more.
@roxstar2005 showed that her black SUV was parked a bit toward the back, away from the other vehicles.
She was taken aback when she stepped out of the Guitar Center and found that her car wasn’t in its own little bubble anymore.
Not only did a big white truck park right next to her, but they also didn’t even do a good job parking the car and were tilted, taking up some of @roxstar2005’s parking space and making it much more difficult for her to get into her car from the driver’s side door.
A manner of parking lot safety
While there don’t seem to be any credible articles or studies addressing this specific situation, people have their theories as to why someone would do this.
One columnist said that it may be because, even subconsciously, people “associate social cohesion with safety.”
“They might think that parking next to another car reduces their car’s chances of being broken into or crashed against,” the columnist said.
Others might do it out of habit or practically; maybe they always park in that area, or they prefer to be close to the cart return, the shade, or the door.
And others may just be completely oblivious to the fact that they’re breaking a social contract.
The traditional factors one prioritizes in a parking lot spot when it comes to safety are visibility, location, foot traffic, and blind spots, per Higgins Insurance. Those didn’t seem to come into play here, however.
It’s not just the parking lot
“That is something I have always wondered why people do that,” a top comment read.
“People do this at the theater also. empty and will sit next you,” a person said.
“This is my biggest pet peeve. Like it needs to be studied on why people do this,” another wrote.
“Yeah like being on an empty beach and someone spreads out their blankets with 3 children literally right within 2 ft. Of you and you are just trying to have a day for yourself! I feel ya!” a commenter added.
The Daily Dot reached out to @roxstar2005 for comment via TikTok direct message and comment.
@roxstar2005 Parking wars #why #rude #unnecessary #fyp ♬ original sound – Gimmieurtots
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