If there's one thing that all of us in society can agree on, it's that we all hate people who park badly. It's one of the few things in the world that absolutely prove that someone is a total jerk. If you're a bad parker, there just is no doubt that you're an idiot, a fail, and also a pretty bad person in general.
Think about it—you might talk to someone and that person will act like he's superior to you and speak to you in a condescending manner, or someone might cut in line in front of you in the grocery store, or you might disagree with someone politically, or hey... maybe someone even flipped you off in traffic and yelled at you. Sure, all of those are pretty solid signs you're dealing with a jerk, but can you be sure? Maybe you were rude to someone and didn't know it, maybe you cut someone off by accident, maybe the person that cut in front of you in line didn't notice you and it was a mistake.
But when you park badly, there's no mistake. Anyone who does it simply has to know that he did it, which leaves no doubt that the person who parked badly is either one of the stupidest people in the world or simply is a bad person.
Here are 20 of the most ridiculous parking fails.
20 Oh, Am I On The Sidewalk?
Oh, come on... What a total jerk. Whoever parked this car was obviously in a hurry. Either that or he's just totally dumb. You want to think that this person attempted to parallel park and then just gave up because he couldn't do it, but that's giving this person way too much credit. You can tell by the way the car is actually nose first onto the sidewalk that this person was just like "Oh, I need to pull over for a minute. I'm just gonna drive up on the sidewalk there." Or maybe it wasn't just for a minute. Maybe this person decided to park there and leave it there for a long time. Either way, it's more than apparent that this person didn't park like this because he couldn't get the car in the space; he parked this way because he literally didn't care, which pretty much sums up why just about everyone hates people who park this way—they act like they're better than us and don't have to do the things that the rest of us do. I'm getting mad just thinking about it.
19 Fail
Sometimes, you see something that looks like a bad parking job but might just be a really bad driving job. There's a real difference between bad parkers and bad drivers, by the way. Bad parkers, we've already spent some time talking about. They truly are jerks. They don't care about you or anyone else around them. In fact, they seem to actually enjoy being the kind of person who flaunts how little he cares about other people.
A bad driver is a totally different kind of animal.
Sure, you might get mad at him because he's so bad, but he usually actually doesn't mean to be bad. It just kind of happens. So, point being, sometimes, you have to use a little bit of thought when you come across someone who looks like he's a bad parker; he might just be a bad driver. Or you know, sometimes, it's possible that he could be both, which is the absolute worst. Can you imagine being someone who's a total jerk and a bad driver? That sounds like the worst sort of curse.
18 You Gotta Let Them Know!
When someone parks like a total jerk, it might make you mad. When it makes you mad, you want to get back at him. But how? Sure, keying his car or busting off a mirror might sound fun in theory, but then, what happens? You might get busted and get fined and maybe even go to jail for a few days, and do you really want to to do that just because some other idiot made you lose your mind? Who really wins then? Not you, that's for sure. So, what do you do? Write a note. Some of them can be really long winded and clever, letting the person know how he really made you feel, while others can just be blunt and to the point and... you know... totally insulting. Sure, it might not have any real effect, but at the same time, you just let someone know how much of a total tool you think he is, and you did it anonymously—meaning, when he pulls that note off the windshield, he has no idea whether you're sitting in your car looking right at him laughing. Pretty effective, really.
17 Learn To Drive
On occasion, there are some bad parking jobs that aren't because the person is a total jerk. It's more that he's just an absolute moron. Now, maybe he's are just a moron temporarily—just about all of us have pulled into a parking lot before and felt a big crunch when we hit a curb. Some of us have left a parking spot and started to drive forward, forgetting a median is there.
Occasionally, we misjudge and park too close. These things happen. But some of these people simply can't drive!
Speaking of that, what is up with the people who need to back into parking spaces so they can pull out forward. Are these people just showing off? Because in all seriousness, it's pretty obvious that it's easier to back out of a parking space than to back into one. Just to let all of you people who back into spaces all the time know, we see you, and we know that you're trying to impress us. We should let you know that it isn't working, not even a little bit.
16 Rock Out
We get it. It's hard to pay attention all the time, even when driving. It's one of those things that just start to seem totally normal, just like walking around. I mean, come on... it isn't like you pay a whole lot of attention to things when you're walking, do you? But the thing is, sometimes, we forget that driving a car is a lot more dangerous than walking. I'm not even talking about driving at high speeds either. If you're just walking around going slow, pretty much the worst that's going to happen is you'll bump into someone and say, "Excuse me," and that person will think you're a total idiot. Or possibly, you might trip and sprain your ankle or something. But in a car, it's a whole different sort of ball game. You might be pulling into a parking place listening to your favorite tune or maybe even texting your BFF when, all of a sudden, you hear a sound, and you're like "Wait, where did that rock come from?" Then, you might spend tons of money to get your car fixed and you'll look like an idiot and wind up on a list like this.
15 Total Anarchy
This is just absolute chaos and total anarchy. The whole thing is like one person just parked like a total clown, causing some other person to come in and do the same thing. And then, before long, it's like the parking spaces don't even matter anymore. It's sort of like the vibe that happens to a city neighborhood when you don't stop graffiti from spreading. First, one guy comes along and tags some random building, and it doesn't get cleaned off. Then, some other dude comes along and tags another building, and that doesn't get cleaned off either. Then, sooner or later, all sorts of other people come into the are area and put up some graffiti, too, which then leads to people thinking it's a totally bad neighborhood. Pretty soon, you have burglaries and muggings going up and drug dealers and prostitutes on every corner. So, that's pretty much what we're looking at in this picture—a perfectly nice parking lot turned into a car ghetto. These people should be ashamed of themselves!
14 Sweet Revenge
There's nothing worse than the person who just parks anywhere he wants and couldn't care less how it affects other people. I used to work at a place where there was like a 7-car parking lot for employees. It was a small place with not many employees, so that wasn't that big a deal. But the thing was, the owner would always park in the one handicapped spot that was in the lot even if the rest of the lot was empty. Think about this for a minute if you will. This dude would actually go out of his way to park in one of the few motorcycle spots that were available. I mean, it's bad enough to steal a spot if the lot is full, but doing it when the lot is empty? Come on! That's awful! This guy above learned what it's like to be on the receiving end of the wrath of a biker scorned; he decided he would just take up all of the motorcycle parking spots, and this dude blocked him in. There's nothing wrong with taking revenge against the bad parker, and this guy did it.
13 What The...
Sometimes, you just have to wonder what's going on with these people. Well, you might, but I have a pretty good idea. They just don't care at all about other people. Could all of these bad parkers have Antisocial Personality Disorder? According to psychcentral.com, "Antisocial personality disorder is a disorder that is characterized by a long-standing pattern of disregard for other people’s rights, often crossing the line and violating those rights. A person with an antisocial personality disorder (APD) often feels little or no empathy toward other people and doesn’t see the problem in bending or breaking the law for their own needs or wants. The disorder usually begins in childhood or as a teen and continues into a person’s adult life." So, what that really means is people with antisocial personality disorder literally DGAF about you or anyone else but themselves. It sounds pretty much like the type of guy who would park like the person in the above photo.
12 At Least He Avoided The Handicap Parking
There also is always the kind of awful parker who pulls something like this. Like, there are all sorts of spaces around, and you have to just park right in the middle of all of them. What makes people such jerks? Well, according to this from Inc.com, "The tendency for people to make excuses for themselves and never cut anyone else any slack is real. The reason for this is quite simply self-preservation. Our brains are really good at protecting our feelings. The problem with this is that it promotes people to act like jerks and underperform. If you always have an excuse for why you didn't do well, you have no incentive to do better. If you never recognize someone else's qualities that lead to his or her success, you have no incentive to try to emulate those qualities." So basically, what this is saying is that if you don't like people who park like jerks, don't park like a jerk yourself. One wouldn't think that would be so hard, but yet, somehow, it really is.
11 I Got A Truck; I Can Park Anywhere
Truck guys are a different breed. There's always the guy in the truck who wants to show you that he can park pretty much anywhere he wants to and that nothing is going to happen to him or his truck because it's so big and bad. This person will often go "off-roading" right in the middle of the parking lot. Thrillist gets it, saying, "He knows exactly what he's doing, which is deliberately antagonizing those around him in an insecure display of dominance. He's completely clueless that his actions are only effective at warding off women." The thing is, we all know this guy, too. He actually thinks that we think he's cool. You can picture him talking to himself out loud: "I don't need no parking spot. Imma just gonna park my truck right up here on the median. I bet all these other losers around here wish they were me, driving my big old pickup truck." The thing is, though, we don't wish we were you, Mr. Dumb Truck Driving guy. Learn how to park, or just go away.
10 Really?
The biggest reason that we bug out about bad parkers is that they're not only selfish but also simply don't care that people know it. Although that isn't necessarily true, just like the proverbial Internet tough guy who'll talk smack on the Internet but not say anything to your face, the bad parker messes with people, then takes off and goes about his day without anyone knowing what a jerk he really is. What's a selfish person? According to psychmechanics.com, "A selfish person is the one who puts his own needs first. He's primarily concerned with himself and seeks out only those activities that fulfill his own desires and wants. Anything wrong with that? I don’t think so. So far so good. The problem arises when we do things for ourselves and at the same time ignore the needs of those around us or when we fulfill our needs at the expense of others. When you make life difficult for others to meet your own ends, then that kind of selfishness is the selfishness that you’d like to avoid." Yep, that sounds like a bad parker.
9 It's Only Illegal When You Do It
It there's one thing that irritates just about anyone, it's a hypocrite, and probably the worst type of hypocrite of all is the cop who breaks all the rules.
Have you ever seen a police officer who's driving around, rolling through stop signs, speeding, and not using his blinker?
Sure you have; all of us have at one point or another. But then, if you do it, he'll pull you right over. It is pretty much the same thing that goes on with parking. A cop will write you a ticket for parking the exact same way that he does. If you do it, the way you park is a problem, but if he does it, the whole thing isn't a big deal at all. Now, for all you cool police officers out there, don't get all wound up, find out who I am, and pull me over for speeding the first chance that you get. I know that not every cop is the type who does something like that. But enough do it so that photos like these aren't that uncommon. Come on, all you police officers. Park better!
8 Uncomfortably Close Parkers
This guy is just awful. What's up with that? You shouldn't park so close to another car that a person can't get in or out, and yet, a certain type of person does it all the time. As Thrillist says on the subject, "Honestly, this one's the absolute worst. Not only can Uncomfortably Close Parkers not follow simple lines; they have zero respect for personal space—they're the parking-lot equivalent of the Seinfeld 'close talker.' How they managed to open the door on their way out of the car is a mystery, and if they happen to come back while you're inspecting your car for the new door ding you're sure is there, they'll think you're the a....... The nerve." And it's true too. Just another variation on the same old theme, people who are bad parkers just don't care about other people. And this type even puts you in the situation to fail. If you hit their car with your door while you try to get in, then they could come back and act like you're the one who did something wrong.
7 Got You Back
Here's a typical bad parker who parked like an absolute idiot and in a way that obviously made someone mad, so the angered person took a whole bunch of grocery carts and boxed the jerk's car in with them. Sure, it probably took a long time to do, but hey, getting someone back or teaching a jerk a lesson is always time well spent. As we've said before in this article, when you' are messing with a bad parker, you really want to make sure that you don't mess with yourself, too. As tempting as it is to do something to damage a bad parker's vehicle or even if you see the bad parker do it and confront them, it just isn't worth it. You already know the person is a total idiot—why would you want to deal with someone like that? Which is why leaving a funny note or playing a prank is totally the way to go. You get the satisfaction of knowing that you totally bummed a bad parker out and caused him some angst, and you don't have to deal with repercussions. That's what I call a win.
6 The Rules Don't Apply
Here's another fabulous job by someone who just thinks the rules simply don't apply to him in any way whatsoever. This person just rolls up and parks in a spot that's simply not for parking at all. Recently, I was at an airport and getting ready to board a flight, and there was a really long line to be able to get through flight screening. This older woman basically just tried to skip the entire line of people that were waiting to get on, and when she was caught by security, she seemed to show no shame whatsoever. What is it about people like that? Most people think, "Oh man, there's a super long line. That stinks." But some other people think, "Oh man, there's a super long line. There's no way I'm going to stand in that line with all of those other idiots. I'm smarter than that." And I guess that's really the whole thing—some of these people are just bad parkers, and others think that the rest of us are idiots. And those are the ones whom most of us hate the worst by far.
5 The Inventor
This type of person who doesn't know how to park is more interesting than most. He really doesn't seem to be a jerk. He's more the type of person who thinks outside of the box and doesn't follow rules. He probably doesn't even think he's doing anything wrong; he even might think that he's smart for parking the way he does.
We don't totally hate this type of person, but we still don't like him for the same reason that we don't like a whole lot of other types of the parking fails.
Sure, it's cool when he does it, but what if all drivers just started parking anywhere they wanted? Then, everyone would basically be screwed, which is again what pretty much what all of these people have in common—they feel like they're living on an island unto themselves. Sure man, go ahead. You can park wherever you want; don't worry about it. The rules don't apply to you at all. Just kidding. Find a parking space like the rest of us, you scrub.
4 The Genius
This type of person thinks he can outsmart everyone. He's the kind of person who takes every single loophole he can through life. He messes around on his girlfriend, he cheats on his taxes, he lies about what he has for a score when you play cards against him. Basically, he's always trying to be one up on the rest of us. The car in the photo is a perfect example. Of course, the driver who did this knows this isn't a parking spot, but since he has a cute, small, and expensive car, he'll just park it in a spot that's meant for people returning grocery carts, and no one will care just because he's so cute and funny. The thing is, though, this person isn't cute, funny, nor smart. Once again, that's the whole point—what's smart and cool is being able to figure out the right time to go to a store to get a good parking spot. It's also smart and cool to park far away and actually walk and get a little bit of exercise. Being a jerk is never smart and cool.
3 The Copycat
This one's pretty common. Someone parks in a totally awful way; then, someone else does the same thing. This isn't just something that happens when it comes to people who are bad at parking; it happens in all sorts of aspects of life. It's sort of like this type of person is a huge overgrown child. He sees someone doing something wrong and getting away with it, and then, he feels like he should be able to do something wrong and get away with it, too. Instead of looking at someone who just committed a major parking fail and thinking, "What an idiot," these people think, "Man, look at what that guy got away with. I'm going to try to get away with it, too." I pretty much have no respect at all for this type of parking fail. At least the first guy had guts; he showed up and just acted like a total jerk and couldn't care less, while the second guy is nothing but a copycat. And as we should all know by the time we reach 6 years old, nobody likes a copycat.
2 Curb Appeal
No one has any respect for this guy. As Thrillist says, "For everything a curb is, it's not a step on which it's OK to park. Anyone that would willingly drive their car onto the curb a) has no clue what the words 'curb rash' mean, and b) is perfectly comfortable showcasing his or her egregiously bad driving skills. And that kind of lackadaisical 'oops, oh well' attitude is not to be trusted." That's the thing. People who are jerks, none of us like, but at least we might still be able to respect them. I know I've spent a lot of time making fun of people who park like jerks, but if you can't park your car without hanging up on a curb or a median, then you just need to hang it up. None of us respect the curb parker. Is it really that hard to learn how to park a car? Apparently, for this person, it is. It really is a hard question—which is worse, the person who parks badly on purpose or the person who doesn't know how to park? I guess we'll have to hate them both for now.
1 Savage
There's probably one person who parks badly that we haven't mentioned, and that's the one who breaks all the rules without inconveniencing anyone. This type of person is almost mythical, as it's almost impossible to do it, but when it's done correctly, it actually is a work of art. You know... when you see someone parked in a certain way, and it isn't the right way to park, but instead of getting mad or thinking that person is awful, you actually get a little bit jealous and wish you were that guy? I mean, no one wants to be a common criminal, but all of us want to be Robin Hood, at least a little bit anyway. So, remember when you go out today and look for a parking spot, do your best to park well, and do your best to park legally. But if, for some reason, you can't do that or even if you don't really want to, don't be a parking fail. Instead, use your imagination, and do something special with your parking abilities. Good luck.
Source: thrillist.com