Invasion of Space

Some people can be really shameless.  Inconsiderate, rude and shameless.

Tonight GM and I met some friends for dinner.  There was a carpark near the restaurant we were going to which had a flat fee of £1 after 6.30pm and that’s really good by London standards so we opted to park there.  When we got into the carpark we realised that a fair amount of people also thought it was a good deal as the carpark seemed to be relatively full.  That wasn’t a problem though, we just went higher up the parking complex thinking that there would be a space somewhere soon.

So on we drove.

On the 6th floor we saw a group of people walking presumably towards their car so I asked GM whether he wanted to wait for them to leave and park in their space and he said maybe not because they looked like they might take a while getting into their car.  So we went one level up, still no spaces.  But by the time those people had already gotten into their car and looked like they were ready to go, so GM decided to go back down and grab their space after all.  It just so happened that their space was right in front of the way down so we stopped on the decline and waited.

Whilst we were waiting however, a red car drove up from the 5th floor and they had to wait on the incline for the car leaving to get out of their way before they could drive on.  I thought out loud, “They’re not going to park in the space are they?” but GM caught the driver’s eye and motioned that he was waiting so we thought all was well.  The previously parked car left and we waited for the red car to drive past and go on its merry way before we parked.  However, before our very eyes, that red car very slowly rolled into our space.  The space that we had so obviously been waiting for!

I was outraged!  But evidently not as much as GM.  Those of you who know him will know that he is mostly calm and non-confrontational.  But he was livid.  He actually sounded his horn and he never does that, ever.  Then he rolled down his window and just sat there in the car with a grim look on his face.  So the red car obviously knew something was wrong and the driver wound down his window and kind of half-hearted stuck his head out.

GM shouted, “I was waiting for that space!” and the driver of the red car had the cheek to say, “Can’t you just go take those spaces further on?” (There were NO spaces further on so he was blatantly talking shit).  GM replied, “No, YOU go.  I was waiting for that space!”  The driver of the red car tried his luck again and said, “But….. can’t you just go further on and take those spaces?”

Now, if it was me, by this time I’d be royally pissed off but I’d have given it up as a lost cause, flipped the red car’s driver the birdie and driven off, shouting profanities. Not GM.  He just sat there and repeated, “No!!  YOU go and take those spaces!  I have been sitting here waiting for that space!”  Amazing.  Even more amazingly, guess what the driver of the red car said?  He had a kind of fed-up with the whole situation look on his face and said kind of hopefully, “Can’t you just go down and take those spaces?”  To which GM just sat there and shouted, “NO!  YOU GO!  I even showed you that I was waiting!!!”

In the end, the driver of the red car finally gave in, pulled out and left, with him and his passengers (he had three) giving us the daggers on the way out.  Well yeah, we’re soooooooooooooo scared.  We’re sooooooooo concerned.  I think not.  Bloody rude bastard.

Some people are just ridiculous!  I’d be ashamed to steal someone’s parking space because it’d show me up as an ill-mannered asshole, but obviously some people are okay with that.

But GM.  I’ve hardly ever seen him so angry ever.  I was quite shocked; he can be pretty scary!