Special Snowflake Stories

[norrina]

The parking stories reminded me of an incident DF and I had recently.

Background: There is an area of downtown where the street parking is either metered, residential, or free. There is also a parking garage, which charges $1/half-hour, compared to $1.50/hour at the meters. The free parking is next to a little greenspace. One of downtown's two main streets runs N/S, with the greenspace to its east. The greenspace is narrow where it intersects with the Main Street, but long. A one-way street runs down each of the long sides, connecting the main street to a residential street at the other end. The streets to either side of the park are residential parking on one side, free parking on the other. The residential street perpendicular to the park is half a block of residential, half a block of free, then half a block of residential again. The house on the corner lot catty corner to the park has been preserved as a museum. There is a section of free parking directly in front of the museum; I believe parking on the other road it fronts is residential.

Every so often, I have noticed that there have been orange cones in the parking spaces directly in front of the museum. I mentioned it to a friend of mine, and she told me that they were put there by the museum to reserve the spaces for their employees, and that she had been chastised by the museum for parking there before and had finally asked the city parking division about it. The parking division confirmed that they do not recognize orange cones as creating a No Parking area, and that the museum had been informed that they were welcome to file the necessary paperwork and pay the requisite fee to have the city install official signs reserving the spaces for their private use.

So, with all that background in place, on to the excitement. DF and I drove downtown to take care of some business, and found that all the parking on the streets paralleling the greenspace was taken, but 2 or 3 spaces in front of the museum were open. One orange cone had been set out, but there was plenty of space to park in front of the cone, which we did (leaving one space behind us, and 2 or 3 in front). Just as DF set the emergency brake, a car coming the opposite way on that street came to a screeching stop, blocking traffic, and a man jumped out and told us we couldn't park there. I responded mildly that we were in a valid public parking spot, whereupon his passenger jumped out to inform us that they had just left for a moment to get more cones. I reiterated that we were in a valid public parking spot, and they regaled us with the history of the museum. I reiterated that we were in a valid public parking space, and they launched into the tale of how they (allegedly) petitioned the city for that area to be non-residential, for the good of the museum, and the history of the museum was... I finally reiterated one last time that we were in a valid public parking space, and that if they felt otherwise they were welcome to call parking enforcement, but we would be on our way now. And we locked the doors and left, with them still hollering after us about the history of the museum, and their stopped car in the southbound lane and them in the northbound still completely stopping traffic.

[mmswm]

I just remembered another SS driver story.  When I owned my own home, I fostered cats and kittens.  I had a litter of "bottle babies" and one of them had become very sick.  I put him in my car and proceeded to drive to the vet.  To get there, I had to get on the highway.  It was a rainy morning and visibility was quite bad. I had to stop for the light, and when the turn light turned green, I started to make the left turn I needed to make. About halfway into the turn, I realized there was some debris in the middle of the road and my little Civic would not be able to drive over it.  Now, my car is a stick shift, and first gear is really, really short.  I shift out of it before I hit 10mph.  I wasn't  anywhere close to ready to shift to second gear. I couldn't do much as far as manuvering was concerned, so I slowed even further in an attempt to have enough space to get around the debris (it was a fairly large log...possibly a truck carrying cut logs had lost one).  Anyway, the driver behind me slammed into me at that point, pushing me into the debris. I managed to get my car around the debris and out of the way.  She comes up to me screaming at me for being such a horrible driver and so on and so forth.  She called the cops, and I said that was fine (by this time, I was really upset about the kitten, but what could I do?).  Anyway, she got back into her SUV and got back onto the phone.  I'm not sure who she was talking to, but she suddenly turned her engine back on and took off, squealing tires and all. My guess is that whomever she was talking to informed her that she is the one who rear-ended me, and in the state we were in, it would be considered her fault, not mine.  I called the cops, explained what happened and did what they told me to do from there.  The kitten did not make it, but unfortunately, that is all to common with orphaned newborns.

[BarensMom]

I just remembered another SS driver story.  When I owned my own home, I fostered cats and kittens.  I had a litter of "bottle babies" and one of them had become very sick.  I put him in my car and proceeded to drive to the vet.  To get there, I had to get on the highway.  It was a rainy morning and visibility was quite bad. I had to stop for the light, and when the turn light turned green, I started to make the left turn I needed to make. About halfway into the turn, I realized there was some debris in the middle of the road and my little Civic would not be able to drive over it.  Now, my car is a stick shift, and first gear is really, really short.  I shift out of it before I hit 10mph.  I wasn't  anywhere close to ready to shift to second gear. I couldn't do much as far as manuvering was concerned, so I slowed even further in an attempt to have enough space to get around the debris (it was a fairly large log...possibly a truck carrying cut logs had lost one).  Anyway, the driver behind me slammed into me at that point, pushing me into the debris. I managed to get my car around the debris and out of the way.  She comes up to me screaming at me for being such a horrible driver and so on and so forth.  She called the cops, and I said that was fine (by this time, I was really upset about the kitten, but what could I do?).  Anyway, she got back into her SUV and got back onto the phone.  I'm not sure who she was talking to, but she suddenly turned her engine back on and took off, squealing tires and all. My guess is that whomever she was talking to informed her that she is the one who rear-ended me, and in the state we were in, it would be considered her fault, not mine.  I called the cops, explained what happened and did what they told me to do from there.  The kitten did not make it, but unfortunately, that is all to common with orphaned newborns.

I'm sorry about the poor kitty.

What that woman did by leaving the scene of the accident was a criminal offense.  Did the cops do anything about that?

[eltf177]

I'm sorry about the poor kitty.

What that woman did by leaving the scene of the accident was a criminal offense.  Did the cops do anything about that?

Agreed, we need closure on this!

[o_gal]

We've often joked that our little Toyota Echo is an accident magnet.  We've had at least five accidents since we bought it in 2006, and none of them have been our fault.

What color is it? I knew of someone who had an accident-magnet car; the color sort of blended with the pavement so that it was hard for other drivers to see it. She started driving with headlights on all the time, and the number of close calls dropped dramatically.

Is it Moonshadow Metallic? That's the color of my 2004 Toyota Corolla - kind of a dark grey. Never buy a car the color of the road; I've been rear-ended 5 times.

[Ginger G]

Never buy a car the color of the road; I've been rear-ended 5 times.

I have to respectfully disagree, my Mustang is dark gray, I've had it 11 years and have never been struck by another driver.

[RingTailedLemur]

Never buy a car the color of the road; I've been rear-ended 5 times.

I have to respectfully disagree, my Mustang is dark gray, I've had it 11 years and have never been struck by another driver.

Argh!  Don't tempt fate!

[HorseFreak]

We've often joked that our little Toyota Echo is an accident magnet.  We've had at least five accidents since we bought it in 2006, and none of them have been our fault.

What color is it? I knew of someone who had an accident-magnet car; the color sort of blended with the pavement so that it was hard for other drivers to see it. She started driving with headlights on all the time, and the number of close calls dropped dramatically.

Is it Moonshadow Metallic? That's the color of my 2004 Toyota Corolla - kind of a dark grey. Never buy a car the color of the road; I've been rear-ended 5 times.

There was a study done on daylight headlight use and the impressive reduction in accident rate. My car's taillights also come on with the headlight so I always use them when driving my graphite colored car. No accidents in 10 years *knocks on wood.*

http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/drl.aspx

[mmswm]

I'm sorry about the poor kitty.

What that woman did by leaving the scene of the accident was a criminal offense.  Did the cops do anything about that?

Agreed, we need closure on this!

I didn't want to stray too far into legal territory, which is why I left it as "followed the instructions the police gave me".  Yes, she was ticketed for several offenses, including rear-ending me and the hit and run.

[Shalamar]

What color is it?

It's blue, which you'd think would be easy to spot.  Funnily enough, I have a co-worker who used to own the exact same car, and he said the same thing about being an accident magnet.

[FlyingBaconMouse]

What color is it?

It's blue, which you'd think would be easy to spot.  Funnily enough, I have a co-worker who used to own the exact same car, and he said the same thing about being an accident magnet.

I had something like three close calls in the first week after I bought my little red car. It was flabbergasting. (My second choice would have been the graphite, but I was afraid of not being easily seen!)

[Outdoor Girl]

Red seems to be a bad colour for cars.  Even though it would be more noticeable, red cars seem to have more collisions.  Maybe because people are looking at it and steer towards it unconsciously?  Red cars are often more noticeable to police, too, when identifying a car to pull over.  A buddy of my brother's drove an old beater.  He bought a new, red, sporty number.  Didn't change how he drove but he suddenly started getting all these tickets.

And there was a study done in the UK that showed red cars get nailed by birds more often than other colours, too.

Sure, this all mostly anecdotal but it has convinced me that I won't be buying a red car any time soon.

[Firecat]

Red seems to be a bad colour for cars.  Even though it would be more noticeable, red cars seem to have more collisions.  Maybe because people are looking at it and steer towards it unconsciously?  Red cars are often more noticeable to police, too, when identifying a car to pull over.  A buddy of my brother's drove an old beater.  He bought a new, red, sporty number.  Didn't change how he drove but he suddenly started getting all these tickets.

And there was a study done in the UK that showed red cars get nailed by birds more often than other colours, too.

Sure, this all mostly anecdotal but it has convinced me that I won't be buying a red car any time soon.

Let's just say that the expression "Give Me A Ticket Red" exists for a reason....

[Outdoor Girl]

Red seems to be a bad colour for cars.  Even though it would be more noticeable, red cars seem to have more collisions.  Maybe because people are looking at it and steer towards it unconsciously?  Red cars are often more noticeable to police, too, when identifying a car to pull over.  A buddy of my brother's drove an old beater.  He bought a new, red, sporty number.  Didn't change how he drove but he suddenly started getting all these tickets.

And there was a study done in the UK that showed red cars get nailed by birds more often than other colours, too.

Sure, this all mostly anecdotal but it has convinced me that I won't be buying a red car any time soon.

Let's just say that the expression "Give Me A Ticket Red" exists for a reason....

I've never heard that expression - but it totally makes sense.   

I'm a lottery player - there is a big one tomorrow night ($50 Million - tax free in Canada) and I always dream of what I'd do with the money.  I have two nephews that I would buy a car, with stipulations.  Has to be a 4-door, unless it is a truck, can't be a luxery model like Acura, Audi, BMW, etc, and it can't be red!  (I'll have to include the cost of their insurance, since they couldn't afford a vehicle, otherwise, hence my stipulations to lower the insurance costs.  I figure I'd pay it until they are 25, when the rates go down, but they would have to pay any increase because of an accident.  But since the chances of me winning are infintesimally small, I'm not too worried I'll have to follow through.)

[faithlessone]

Red seems to be a bad colour for cars.  Even though it would be more noticeable, red cars seem to have more collisions.  Maybe because people are looking at it and steer towards it unconsciously?  Red cars are often more noticeable to police, too, when identifying a car to pull over.  A buddy of my brother's drove an old beater.  He bought a new, red, sporty number.  Didn't change how he drove but he suddenly started getting all these tickets.

And there was a study done in the UK that showed red cars get nailed by birds more often than other colours, too.

Sure, this all mostly anecdotal but it has convinced me that I won't be buying a red car any time soon.

Let's just say that the expression "Give Me A Ticket Red" exists for a reason....

My ex had a blue car when we met. Never been stopped by police in his life. About two months in, he got a red car. Within three months, he had been stopped more than ten time. His driving hadn't changed, and he soon had his car resprayed blue!

To get slightly more back on topic, a mini SS story for you all!

I was out in the local big city shopping last Saturday. There's a big Christmas market in the middle, and, obviously, there are loads of people there. It was also a nice sunny day, so it was pretty busy.

However, I spotted a woman, barrelling through the crowd with her bags, loudly saying "[City] WOULD BE SO MUCH NICER WITHOUT ALL THESE ******* PEOPLE EVERY ******* WHERE!!!"

At 11am, with kids everywhere. Wow. I understand being frustrated with the crowds, but was there any need for that? I also saw her pushing people (quite hard) out of the way at a market stall, so that she could see the goods on offer.