From the Pet Peeve Department:
This photo was taken by my man, Mr. B, at Watchung Train Station’s Park Street drop-off last week. He bid me a quick adieu, exited the brown mini-van, walked up the stairs to the platform, then snapped this iphone pic — as the occupants of the SUV continued a deep and meaningful conversation for several minutes, oblivious to the gridlock they were creating behind them.
This happens to us all the time at the Watchung drop-off. We’re held hostage between several cars as the first guys in line take way too long kissing or discussing what√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s for dinner. Ya know, they can wait curbside, and really get into it…and let us get on with our stressful lives.
Baristavillians — what would you do? Tap gently on the window, honk the horn, or sit and stew?

26 replies on “What’s Wrong With This Picture?”

  2. I think a nice little double tap on the horn would be enough to snap most people back to reality and get the line moving (usually works at green lights, anyway).

  4. I find that a Glock or Uzi works best for getting someone’s attention. 🙂
    But seriously. When I lived in Montclair, I would encounter this on a regular basis in front of the Montclair Kimberly Academy. Parents would drop off their kids and then proceed to have “meaningful” conversations in the middle of the street. I didn’t want to be one of those obnoxious horn blowers so I would lean my head out the window and say something. Responses were mixed but they usually always moved right away.

  5. I’ve tried the “nice little double tap on the horn” and been shot the bird in response.
    That’s when the “beep beep” turns into “BBBEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP” hopefully loud enough to the point where the jerk wouldn’t be able to continue his/her conversation. The horn would be released only when said jerk put their vehicle in gear.

  8. Asshole-seeking missles work everytime: even if you miss the primary target, there’s always another one around.

  9. robin,
    I recently purchased an SUV and yes, surprisingly, along with it comes a sense of entitlement. Not to mention the monthly gas bill that used to be a car payment in my younger days.

  10. I would do the double tap and then the loud blaring honk if the tap didn’t work. But I’m usually on a motorbike anyway, so I would just scoot around them.
    Another thing I noticed out here is that people are far more offended by the use of the middle finger on the road. They practically teach it to you in driving school in MA.

  11. Yeah, Scott: folks around here wouldn’t last very long if they had to commute through Boston every day. I have actually seen people here use their turn signals. Shocking! And the wimpy roundabouts they have here with Stop and Yield signs; in Mass, it’s pedal-to-the-metal and don’t — ever — make eye contact.

  12. Well if the train station drop off point is getting ya down……what will happen at the “new” (now under coonstruction) drop off circle at the Mountainside Pool??

  13. Well if the train station drop off point is getting ya down……what will happen at the “new” (now under construction) drop off circle at the Mountainside Pool??

  14. yeah, the first time I hit the roundabout (in MA we call em Rotery’s) on Bloomfield Ave in Clifton I believe my expression was something along the lines of, “Holy S#!t, they gave it rules!”

  15. Ya know, if waiting a moment behind a car at the train station qualifies as a significant inconvenience in one’s life, we have much to be thankful for. Begin the new year by counting your blessings.

  16. So true, Spicoli, so true. Just head on over to the watercooler and there you can read about people lamenting over the Crescent Street lot’s payment system. So many things in life to drag you down, aye?
    Oh the humanity!

  17. Have the people in charge form a 2nd lane. Make THAT lane for SUVs and foreign cars. Maske the other lane for small trucks and domestic cars. Problem solved.

  18. Obviously they are not paying attention…. slip a banana into their tailpipe. (See Beverly Hills cop 2)

  19. Nothing worse then getting the finger by a woman. I go thru a gamut of emotions finally ending in sad….PAZ in GRrrrtown

  21. i too think holding up other drivers unecessarily is rude.
    i’ve also been frustrated by drivers who start to pull into a parking lot, such as kings or whole foods, and then stop short because they see someone pulling out. so instead of pulling into the lot, they sit there in the “neck” of the ‘enter’ lane and wait for several minutes until the person in that first or second parking space puts on their seat belt, calls their eyebrow waxer, and takes a swig of their moccachino. in the meantime, a line of 25 or 30 cars are stacking up behind them on valley road, bloomfield ave., or wherever, unable to move. if the space isn’t quickly available, i think it is more courteous and safer to pull further into the lot and look for another space.

  22. Dropping someone off a little ways away and letting that person walk the rest (god forbid) is probably the best suggestion on here so far.

  23. Take a deep breath. Let it out. Take another one. Let it out. After 5 minutes of deep breathing, I always feel much better and then I’m the a’hole that’s holding things up!

  24. I always have to laugh at the morning joggers who later HAVE to get the closest parking spot to the entrance, as they don’t wanna walk any distance. Explain that ! I usually will park in the furthest away parking spot – ‘ya know, the one nobody would ever select.
    Firstly, walking is good exercise and secondly, I don’t want any door dings on my car. With nobody parked next to you, you will not get any. She’s 5 years old, and without a single chip in the paint, nor dent. SUVs with children ages 6 to 14 with packages will throw open the car door into the car next to them, without a care in the world. NEVER park next to a SUV with visable balloons in it !

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