Hey lady -- why did you dent my car door?

Linda Mcavoy

"Lady, if you knew you weren't going to be able to squeeze yourself out the car door, why'd you park there in the first place?"

I didn't say it, but I did think it. Or words to that effect.

I know, I know – what a horrible person I must be for such rudeness to pop, unbidden, into my head.

Of course, any credit for not actually saying it aloud was totally negated by the fact that I thought it in the first place. Not to mention repeated it here.

Please, spare me the emails.

In my defence, I was angry.

The woman had just swung her door open and, as she struggled to heft herself out of the narrow space between our two vehicles, smacked her door into the side-view mirror of my truck. Bang!

Damage? Not really: a smudge, buffable. Nevertheless, there was contact.

When she realized I was sitting in my truck and had witnessed her carelessness, she mouthed a dismissive "Sorry." The word delivered minus even the slightest hint of sincerity. Forget sheepish or chagrined, the woman clearly could not have cared less. Off she went.

Silly me. I thought I'd parked far enough out in the mall lot to avoid such people.

When I'd parked the truck there wasn't another car nearby. While not quite the boondocks, it was, I thought, far enough out with plenty of other empty spaces considerably closer to the mall doors.

Yet, for whatever reason, the person driving the less-than-pristine car in which Careless Woman was a passenger chose the parking space right beside my truck. Had she chosen to park two, three or four spaces over on either side – all of which were available – her passenger would have been free to fling open her car door with complete abandon, unfettered by the threat of it smacking into someone else's vehicle.

I am at a loss to explain why Careless Woman didn't simply ask to be let out of the car before it was parked or request her driver park next to one of the many open spots. Or why she just wasn't more careful. Surely this wasn't the first time she'd found exiting a vehicle an awkward manoeuvre?

I have never understood why, when there's an entire wide open parking lot available, some drivers insist on parking right smack up against another car. Or why they would do so knowing full well that they or their passenger – due to infirmity, age, habitual klutziness, attitude, whatever – could use a little extra room when exiting.

I am painfully aware, as are my vehicles, that there are people who inflict dents and shopping cart scratches with nary a hint of remorse. Careless Woman and her ilk are the reason I park where I do. But sometimes it's just not possible to get away from these slobs.

Are there worse things in the world in the world than door dents? Of course.

Indeed, on the scale of possible catastrophes, if the worst thing that happens during the course of my day is a door dent, perhaps I should consider myself lucky and continue happily on my way.

That said, it still pisses me off.

Door dents are preventable. All it takes is a little less carelessness and a little more respect for other people's property – a combination we could use a lot more of, both in the world and its parking lots.

Linda McAvoy can be reached at lmcavoy@mcavoy.com

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