parking fable
Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 4:16AM
Robert Twigger in cairo

When I moved into my building four years ago few people had cars and there were enough spots for all to park. I had my own slot in fact. Then people got richer, credit got looser and everyone got cars, or more than one in some cases. Then the parking got a little like a rubics cube solution- there was a way to park but it needed full cooperation and everyone had to leave off their parking brakes so you could shift cars to get out. But it worked. Then with the addition of just a few cars more and one person who sometimes left on their handbrake the cars started getting parked in a way that trapped in the inner cars. So you had to wait, get the doorman to call on the people who blocked you in and wait. Never longer than fifteen minutes - but still. So in order to avoid being blocked in people started parking way back- leaving a huge gap in front of them so they could leave. Thing is: the whole front area of the building- the original parking area in fact was now unused. So now only the same number can park as they did before except their cars hang way out into the street so that no one can park behind them. So there is less space all round but less parking too and more wasted space. And more cars everywhere else. The funny thing is- people pretty much get on in this building too. Some tension but no real feuds. And you want to solve the middle-east problem? 

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