Combat Parking & Reflective Reinforcement

Combat parking. You've all seen it. Some of you do it.

Combat parking. Women have trouble doing it. Men can't control the urge.

Combat parking. Few know the correct term. How else can one explain the burning desire to BACK into a parking space instead of pulling straight into it thereby causing the gnashing of teeth of the driver behind you?

I live in the land of 90% combat parkers. Even the women do it! They can skillfully whip that Toyota Voxy into the smallest of parking spaces. And boy, are they small! The spaces are small. The vehicles are small. Even so, can you believe most vehicles have side mirrors that you can just flip a switch and the mirrors retract? If you have to do that then you're parked too close! Honestly, I have enough trouble trying to park with the nose in. I don't know if it's being on the other side of the car or what, but I CANNOT stay off of the lines! I don't pull in far enough. I pull in too far. I park too close to the left line. I park too close to the right line.

There's one new thing I've learned about driving here. Okay, there's about 3 dozen new things I've learned about driving here but this one sticks out the most. There are a lot of blind spots on the island and some of them are at intersections, around curves and in alleys. In order to lessen collisions (or else to contribute to the vanity of drivers) there are mirrors placed at strategic points along the way. These mirrors are about 2 feet in diameter. At one particular intersection on the way to Jenna's school there is a 2-way stop. I stop at the stop sign but have to watch the mirrors to see if any cars are coming. You quickly learn that if you see the ends of cars in the opposite mirror you're good to go. It's not too bad. Twice a day it goes a lot like this...

1. Come to a complete stop at stop sign.

2. Look at mirror on the left and right to determine where traffic is.

3. Say a prayer.

4. Close eyes.

5. Floor it.

Yeah. It's worked so far. I'm about to try it again in 20 minutes.

If some of you are puzzled by the Toyota Voxy I mentioned earlier then keep a watch for a blog I'll be writing about vehicle names.