Sunday, January 07, 2007

In Position

Parking is war. Ask anyone who lives in Los Angeles and they'll be all too eager to tell you their personal battle story. Hell, I've seen people in the Century City parking lot so desperate for a spot that they resorted to waving $20 bills out their Mercedes windows at holiday shoppers walking back to their cars, loaded down with shopping bags. "$20 if you lead me back to your space!" Sicko, right?

Pauly took Showcase, Tina and I out for a bon voyage dinner Wednesday night. The restaurant's outdoor parking lot was pretty crowded and I cruised the aisles knowing I'd have to get aggressive. See an opportunity and pounce on it. A silver Camry with it's backup lights on was just what I was waiting for. I counted my chips and got ready to make my move.

I had the advantage with a clear shot straight forward into the space. I threw my blinker on to further mark my territory. But the white Honda Accord had other ideas. He had just cruised past the space and was now backing up to try and cut me off. (Uh-uh. Too late! You had your chance!) And then there was the little VW Rabbit just behind him, who looked like he was going to take a shot as well.

Fuck it. Here's a diagram.


The Camry slowly backed out. He knew what was about to happen.

"You have position, you have position!" cried Pauly.

"Don't kill us!" whimpered Showcase.

"Kids, I've got the best hand and I'm going ALL-IN!" I squealed as I shifted into first gear.

The Camry took off. I gunned it straight for my target as the Accord slammed into reverse, heading straight for me. Hefinally came to his senses and slammed on his brakes as I cruised into the spot.

VICTORY!

Pauly was the first to speak.

"OK, I guess I'll be the first one out of the car in case he wants to beat us up."

2 comments:

KrazyBangs said...

Ok, Pauly's line was the best. Hope there wasn't a bad beat.

Anonymous said...

Nicely done, Change. Your position was an ugly one, but nice to see the hand held. Did I miss something and you got a new car, or was the Camry a rental?