what are they waiting for?

[calimac]

Here's something that bugs me, and that seems to be happening constantly these days: People who get into their cars, turn the engine on, and then just sit there, maybe checking their phone or doing nothing at all.

The reason this bugs me is that they're doing this in parking lots, and my car is next to theirs or directly across the lane, and I want to leave but I don't want to risk hitting or being hit by another car leaving at the same time, because it's awfully hard to see behind you, despite turning head and rear-view mirrors, and they got to their car before I got to mine. So I wait for them to leave. And wait, and wait ...

Occasionally I've actually gotten back out of my car, gone to theirs, knocked on the window, and asked, "Are you planning on leaving soon? Because I'm parked next to you, and I don't want to move if you're going to be moving." But mostly now I give up, and figure if they don't leave after one minute they're unlikely to leave before two, and go out myself.

But if people would just go when they're ready to - again, they've turned the engine on - there wouldn't be this problem.

Comments

[sturgeonslawyer]

I have occasionally gotten into the car with something I needed to do before driving, but turned the engine on so I could use the AC or heater. But not often.

[calimac]

I don't know about the heater, but on my car the AC can run on the aux. But if I have to sit in an unmoving car that's just been turned on, I'd rather deal with the heat by opening the windows, and then turn on AC when I'm actually moving, because it runs better that way - than either aux or engine-on in that situation.

[sturgeonslawyer]

There's a sub over on Reddit called "AITA," standing for "Am I the Asshole?" Your original post had me pondering whether I was, indeed, being something of an asshole when I did that. I decided on a firm "maybe," with a side order of "it depends."

[wild_patience]

I hear you. Most cars are bigger than ours. When I go to leave the gym, I have to be so careful backing out because my view is blocked from larger cars on either side of me. I sometimes see a car behind me (parked) with its brake lights on, and have to wait to see if either they start backing out or if the lights go out.