Free Parking

When I lived in Madrid I was struck by the number of luxury cars in the city. I saw Lamborghinis, Maseratis, BMWs and Mercedes Benz and all of the other high-end cars on the market. While I admired these shiny cars, there were certain things I would not have even seen had I been riding on my bicycle because I would have been moving too fast. But as a pedestrian I was surprised to note that all of these fancy cars had dings all over their front and rear bumpers. I couldn’t believe that these people could be so careless with these expensive machines.

I grew up with two brothers who took tremendous pride in their restored ‘69 Camaros and they bristled at a speck of dirt on their cars. They would not have permitted a single ding to ruin their meticulously created paint jobs. They treated their cars with great care and the cars were a representation of who they were. I wasn’t sure what to do with the disconnect between these obviously expensive vehicles and the seeming inattention to flaws that were seriously devaluing their investment.

What I didn’t consider was the effect of having to park in a town where double and triple parking was common. I hadn’t thought about it much because I spent most of my time as a pedestrian and used public transportation, until I got an office assignment. In that position I had access to a car and I was excited to go out driving for the first time. The thrill was exactly what I thought it would be until it came to parking. This was no parking lot parking, this was squeezing a nine foot vehicle into an 8.75’ space. If you do it on the perfect angle, it apparently works. When I had to give up and let my companion park I started to pay a little more attention to the mastery required of the Madrid driver.

I came to call the technique that these drivers used, Parking By Braille. The steps occur exactly as they sound. In traditional parallel parking the driver pulls up to the the car in front of the space where he wants to park. He then turns the wheel sharply to back into the space. Once the rear wheel nears the curb, you turn the wheel sharply in the other direction and slide into the space. Once practiced it becomes a simple two or three step process. In Parking by Braille the driver begins the same, but backs into the space until he touches the car behind him. He then turns the wheel sharply and pulls forward until he touches the car in front of him. He repeats this process until the car is perfectly wedged between the other vehicles. This explains the dings in the cars.

I encourage everyone to travel to Madrid, but please take public transportation. But if you must drive, I suggest you practice parking while blindfolded. You’ll fit right in.