My neighbor Bob told me to park farther away from stores to avoid door dings and I laughed it off

So Bob (retired guy two houses down, always tinkering with his old Mustang) kept telling me to park at the back of lots, even when there are spots up front. I thought he was just being dramatic, you know? But after finding three new dings on my minivan's doors over six months (one was pretty deep at the Target on Elm Street), I finally tried his method. Parked in the far corner of the Walmart lot last week, zero issues. Felt silly walking the extra 30 seconds but hey, van looks clean still. Anyone else have a parking tip someone gave them that actually worked?

3 comments

3 Comments

viola_ward8d ago

Three door dings later (ugh) I'm totally with Bob now.

william_torres8d ago

Bob's wrong on this one honestly. Those door dings are just a fact of life in any parking lot, not some major conspiracy against you, @viola_ward. People park too close, doors swing open, it happens. Getting all worked up over paint chips is a waste of energy when you could just park farther out like a normal person. Bob's whole "protect your car at all costs" mindset just leads to more stress and bad blood with strangers. Save the anger for real problems, not a scratch you'll forget about in a week.

the_eric5d ago

Nah I get where Viola is coming from. Three dings in a row is rough. I've had my car hit twice in the same week before and it just feels like nobody cares about your stuff anymore. It's not about losing sleep over a scratch, it's about people being careless and thinking it's fine because "it happens." Bob's not wrong for wanting to keep his car nice. Parking farther out doesn't stop every idiot with a giant SUV from swinging their door into yours. Some folks just need to slow down and be more considerate.