There are several reasons I like parking on the roof of the parking garage next to my office. Most of them are practical. It’s the easiest place to find a parking spot and that has a related benefit that it’s less likely anyone will park around me. That makes it easy to get in and, more importantly, to get out in the afternoon. The one downside of that is it takes a little longer to go in and out but I don’t mind. It’s also easier to remember where I parked. Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds but it can be useful. Routine can be limiting but it can also create a space where even a little mind can explore other ideas, other possibilities.
There’s also a psychological, or maybe philosophical, aspect to parking on the roof. It prompts me, every morning, to look out at the city and even, on very clear days, beyond, to imagine what’s happening in all those buildings out there—all the people going to work, all the people in hotels who are just waking up, or maybe just going to sleep. I can see at least half a dozen restaurants that don’t open until lunch. In the mornings I know they’re not open for business but busy-ness is still going on: all the prep work that can be done is being done. Dough is being prepared for pizza crusts and bread, frozen items are being pulled out to thaw, griddles are being heated. In offices people are just starting to trickle in; computers are being turned on, emails that came in overnight are being read, replied to, most likely deleted. There’s always construction work, and that’s usually just starting when I go and work.
In the afternoon I also take time to stop and look and think about all the people who are leaving work, going on to whatever’s next. In those same restaurants the lunch rush is over but there’s so much to be done for dinner. The construction crews are still going, cranes swinging back and forth, and sometimes I can see the electric glare of welding, sparks competing with the sun.
In the winter there’s a practical reason too: the sun warms my car throughout the day. In the summer it’s not so great. Then I might change my routine enough to find a shady spot, but in the winter it’s nice to not have to wait for the heater to warm up.
Today, though, was a little different. I could have probably safely parked on the roof, and it looks like some people already did, but I decided I’d rather not risk sliding around and instead allowed the change to be the focus of my little mind.
Parking decks stress me out, and I like roof parking for all the reasons you mention, plus freedom from claustrophobia. It’s replace with the phobia of accidentally putting your car in the wrong gear and backing off the roof of the parking deck, but hey, warm car!
Backing off the roof is definitely a fear of mine! Even standing at the edge looking over I get a little vertigo. Fortunately the spot where I park backs up to a wall so no matter how hard I floored it in reverse I wouldn’t go off the deck.
I’m always glad when I park myself here, Chris.
This blog is like a spot on the Monopoly board: Free Parking.