Get your lawnchairs back into storage.
Because I was perusing Jackie's blog and saw her lament about parking in neighborhoods after a snowstorm and because I have my own opinions about the whole thing, here I go:
This is actually a logical, scientific explanation as to why putting lawn furniture out in the street to save a parking space is a short-sighted, selfish, stupid thing to do. I know it's tradition but so was slavery.
Okay so say, on the block where you normally park your car there are forty spaces to park if everyone parks well. And there are twenty-four hours in a day. That is a total of 960 parking hours a day. So then ten people dig out parking spots for themselves and park. Fine. Great. Now they leave at 7AM, leaving in their place, lawn furniture. They return at 7pm (because it's winter and it takes a while to get home.) That's twelve empty parking hours times ten cars. So now from the 960 parking hours, one hundred twenty have been removed. That's a decrease in total parking spaces of %12.5. OR in a more clear definition, now there are only 35 spaces in the 40 space neighborhood for each 24 hour day.
That's also assuming that only 40 cars park in the neighborhood within the 24 hours. Chances are that in those "work" hours, others are parking (if only for a few hours) in the neighborhood. So really it's between 60-80 cars probably vying for space and time with the 35 (used to be 40) times 24 carpark/hours. It's simple math, but all I can think of is Mayor Daley sarcastically giggling and then telling people to respect the parking spaces that people hoard for themselves.
This is what I want to do:
I want to get some friends and shovel the ENTIRE block and put lawn furniture on every possible parking surface so that no one can park anywhere. My answer to those who would complain: "All these spots are saved. You'll have to park in Evanston." OR: "What? These are my spots. I dug 'em up. They're mine."
That's why I'm glad my wife has a jeep. 4-wheel drive. We can park in trees. And we knock out the squirrel nests and replace them with dollhouse furniture. "Sorry, squirrels. Humans movin' in. We dug out the spot. It's ours."
This is actually a logical, scientific explanation as to why putting lawn furniture out in the street to save a parking space is a short-sighted, selfish, stupid thing to do. I know it's tradition but so was slavery.
Okay so say, on the block where you normally park your car there are forty spaces to park if everyone parks well. And there are twenty-four hours in a day. That is a total of 960 parking hours a day. So then ten people dig out parking spots for themselves and park. Fine. Great. Now they leave at 7AM, leaving in their place, lawn furniture. They return at 7pm (because it's winter and it takes a while to get home.) That's twelve empty parking hours times ten cars. So now from the 960 parking hours, one hundred twenty have been removed. That's a decrease in total parking spaces of %12.5. OR in a more clear definition, now there are only 35 spaces in the 40 space neighborhood for each 24 hour day.
That's also assuming that only 40 cars park in the neighborhood within the 24 hours. Chances are that in those "work" hours, others are parking (if only for a few hours) in the neighborhood. So really it's between 60-80 cars probably vying for space and time with the 35 (used to be 40) times 24 carpark/hours. It's simple math, but all I can think of is Mayor Daley sarcastically giggling and then telling people to respect the parking spaces that people hoard for themselves.
This is what I want to do:
I want to get some friends and shovel the ENTIRE block and put lawn furniture on every possible parking surface so that no one can park anywhere. My answer to those who would complain: "All these spots are saved. You'll have to park in Evanston." OR: "What? These are my spots. I dug 'em up. They're mine."
That's why I'm glad my wife has a jeep. 4-wheel drive. We can park in trees. And we knock out the squirrel nests and replace them with dollhouse furniture. "Sorry, squirrels. Humans movin' in. We dug out the spot. It's ours."
posted by Churchill at 8:56 AM
1 Comments:
I would say that it's the city's responsibility to clear the streets - I've noticed that Skokie and Lincolnwood have no problems taking care of their citizens. Barring that, however, if every Chicagoan who needed it would dig just one space the whole street would be clean in no time. Of course the collective attitude is, "It's not my job. Why should I break my back?"
Okay. I'm done with the soapbox. Thank you.
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