$5. I’m not proud, but there it is. 3. The only accident I have ever been responsible for as


a licensed driver – knock wood – occurred in a parking lot. And it wasn’t your average “put it in reverse, but forgot to look behind me” kind of accident. The week after I got my driver’s license many, many


years ago, my mom conveniently bought a new sports car, and the old family van was mine, all mine. It was a gigantic metallic blue vehicle, with interior curtains, a couch that folded down into a bed, huge tires and seating for 12. In the high school years after the incident I am about to


relate, the van came to be known as the “BeanMachine” (see my maiden name, on the previous page). It was the subject of many student government motions and the chosen trans- portation for all when my parents infrequently gave me gas money. (I cannot discuss the things my younger brother did with the van and its couch after I left for college.) So, the first day I drove alone, I was in an accident in a


parking lot, except I wasn’t exactly inmy van when the acci- dent happened. Let’s say I learned the hard way about the importance of parking correctly and the magnitude of a cer- tain gear called “park.” I went to a youth group meeting at our church in the


foothills of my hometown.We teenagers and our lone advi- sor had the place totally to ourselves, and we all parked willy-nilly, completely ignoring the painted stalls. It was probably the most rebellious thing any of us had done that day. I pulled in late, jumped out ofmy van and rushed inside. When we adjourned, everyone headed out to the park-


ing lot. There I found myself wondering how someone could


have moved my van without the keys. It was not where I had left it.As I attempted to absorb and assimilate this informa- tion, I scanned the rest of the lot to findmy van “parked,” 20 yards downhill of where I’d left it, on top of a friend’s tiny Honda Civic. The Econoline had rolled backward and was actually


perched, its back passenger wheel dead center on the hood of the devastated little hatchback, with the entire rear of the hulking van pointed up toward the sky. It was a David-and- Goliath, King Kong-and-that-blonde-woman totally dispro- portionate disaster.


My friend, and I use that word hesitantly, a nice guy with a


The only accident I have ever been responsible for as a licensed driver – knock wood – occurred in a parking lot.


tendency toward neither revenge nor forgiveness in this episode, was standing next to the carnage, covering his eyes with both hands, his lips pursed in pain, while our saintly youth group friends peeled away laughing and pointing, having realized my mistake long before I did. We didn’t need a tow truck. I drove my van off his concave car and told him my parents would call his parents and I was so sorry and sob, sob, sob. He was stoic but obvi- ously disgusted. How could I have forgotten Park? There wasn’t a single scratch on the BeanMachine.


Lucky for me, my parents were kind, said this is why we


have insurance, and aren’t we all glad the unfortunate Civic was between my van and the church or the Econoline might have gone through the wall and come to rest in the pews somewhere? Hmm? Those are all my confessions. Since that accident, which my


family and friends have never allowed me to forget, I have been an exemplary parker. Except for the stealing part.


Melissa Bean Sterzick is PT’s amateur parker and proofreader. She can be reached at Melissa@parkingtoday.com.


PT


Complete Systems Integration for Parking...and Beyond.


PARC Group is the leading network of systems integrators in the parking industry, and your one-stop resource for the design, contract, installation and service for all of your access control systems.


From parking control to a customized integrated system,we can help you achieve your goals.


PT’s Webinars Always Free


www.parkingtoday.com


Find your local integrator at www.parcgroup.com. 28 locations across the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean


JULY 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com 43


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56