Loading Zones

I feel like ranting.  I've been holding onto this rant for two days now, since I went shopping on Friday.  My husband has heard this one like a million times before so I thought I'd take it here.  So now he can read about it instead of hearing about it, which probably sucks about the same amount.  Sorry.  I know I have like 4 readers, one of whom is my husband, and now I'm alienating him.  Oops. 

So anyway, here it is.  I fucking hate it when people pull their cars into a store's loading zone to load/unload passengers when it's raining (or snowing--I'm just picking on rain right now 'cause it's still summer).  Unless your passenger is rocking a pointy hat and green skin, he/she can probably walk across the parking lot in the rain without any serious damage.  And if getting wet is a really an issue I've been told that there's something on the market that can help keep a majority of the rain off of a person.

I know, there are some exceptions.  It can be difficult for some handicapped or elderly people to walk in the rain, It can be a bit slippery, and it can wreak havoc with walkers and wheelchairs.  However, it's not typically these people taking up precious loading zone space.  Nine times out of ten, it's someone with an infant.  There's nothing worse than seeing a young couple pull their shiny new OMG-we're-having-a-baby SUV up to the door of the local Target, take out their covered baby bucket, put the covered baby bucket into the stroller, pull the cover up over that, before finally pushing the giant travel system into the store after having blocked that loading zone for about 10 minutes. 

Now, I feel like I can speak with a little bit of authority on this as I've had a few children myself, so here goes.  Babies can get wet.  No, really, they can.  They'll be okay, they're pretty resilient.  Some babies even get regular baths and they're okay.  Also, that little hood thing on your baby bucket carseat, and that hood thing on your stroller?  Yeah, those help keep the baby dry.  Baby's going to be fine.  Just park, unload, and hurry into the store.  If you're worried enough about inclement weather that you need to take special precautions just to load/unload, then stay home.

Why do I hate this so much?  How does it affect me?  Because it's never just one car doing it.  It's several.  Every person who thinks they're too damned special to walk in the rain pulls up into the loading zone, and at any given time you have 3-5 cars blocking a good chunk of major parking lot thoroughfare.  It's dangerous.  Vehicles driving through the parking lot have less room to maneuver and more importantly, they're less likely to see pedestrians stepping off the curb.  Given the fact that visibility is already likely hampered by the poor weather, this additional impediment dramatically increases the risk for everybody involved.

It's especially bad at our local grocery store right now as it is under massive re-construction and their parking lot not in the best condition now as part of it is blocked off.  Add to that 3 SUV's sitting in front of their door and you've got a truly dangerous situation.  On Friday night when I was shopping I watched several near-misses of both the bumper-bumper and bumper-person variety.

It sucks having to go out in bad weather to do something you likely don't want to do, I get that.  And sometimes there are valid reasons for needing to use the loading zone, that's why it's there.  But please, people, be smart about it.  Use it when it's truly necessary, and don't take all day doing it.  Load/unload, but be quick about it.  Don't put other people in danger if you don't have to.

I'm done ranting, I'll save my parking space stalker rant for later.