How lazy are we?
On my way to work, I walk past the Clarendon Starbuck's every morning. I've observed an interesting phenomenon. Customers will ignore the empty metered street parking spaces, and instead try to squeeze onto the small on-site lot. Cars are frequently parked on the sidewalk.
This morning, two cars were trying to back out onto busy Clarendon Blvd., while other cars were waiting to pull into the small lot (causing some pedestrian problems, by the way). At the same time, I counted at least 5 empty parking spaces nearby, all about 20-40 paces away. The cars backing onto Clarendon Blvd. -- along with the cars waiting to pull in -- caused some traffic congestion and led to some honking excitement there for a moment. Here's a pic I snapped just after the rumble.
I'm at a loss to explain the phenomena. Are we just lazy? Are we just in a huge rush all the time? I have trouble believing that it's faster to try to back out into busy traffic than walk 20 extra paces for an empty spot.
Diana Sun is Director of Communications for Arlington County, a walking commuter, a new biker, and a happy resident of the urban village of Clarendon.
