139th Example of Why I Wonder how People Survive

As I left work yesterday from our parking garage, I found myself in a hurry as I usually am on Wednesdays. By far, this is my "crunchtime" day of the week. I leave work en route to grab a bite of dinner with a friend and then on to church. Depending on how many of the evening activities I decide to participate in, I could be there until 10pm or 10:30pm. So, many times, I get a late start trying to beat the rush hour traffic out of downtown to begin what can be a very long evening.

I spun around the levels of the parking garage to arrive at my normal exit on to First Street with my window down, and my access card ready to swipe. I realized very quickly that I was behind a person without a clue. The first hint? She put her car in reverse while I was sitting behind her. Evidently she's a newbie to the parking garage gig and she got out of her car to tell me she was stuck - a slave to the obvious. I explained to her that she needed to wave her card over the scanner to allow the bar to raise. What had she done? She had put her card in the box below. I suppose she thought it was like an ATM and would spit it back out to her - but it just ate her card. So, I smiled, proceeded to back out and exit on to Main Street. I told her I would let the guard know that she was having issues.

Now, by my title you'd think I place all the blame on the driver who shoved her card in the unknown box. Although that probably wouldn't have been the first choice for me, I have to say that parking garages aren't great with their instructional direction. And, knowing the low level of attentiveness of drivers and lack of just plain common sense, they need to take some steps to correct that. A simple note under the scanning eye that states, "Please hold your access card over the green light to exit" would be sufficient. Of course, as I've stated before, instructions aren't always the answer.

Knowing how difficult it is for most people to operate in this world, it makes all the more sense why shows like Survivor are so appealing. Half the world can't find their way out of a parking garage, so surviving with 15 strangers on mangos and rice is definitely worth a million dollars.