Crazy Philly Drivers

After a tryst with the King of Prussia Mall's parking lot on Saturday, I've come to the conclusion that Philly drivers have got to be at their worst in any and all parking lot situations. Due to a simple desire to go drop some cash at the mall, we had to first get through the parking lot experience. Something does not seem natural about hesitating to go to a mall simply because of the parking lot experience. We agreed upon leaving, however, that it will not always be necessary to visit King of Prussia for our shopping needs--there are closer malls with more accessible parking lots where we can both park with ease and drop bags as needed throughout the day. Neither of these seems to be a possibility at this monstrous, incredibly surreal location.

We pulled into the parking lot/garage, expecting to have to settle for a not-so-perfect place, but then we got stuck in the middle of this bizzare state of chaos. We surfed what seemed to be a sea of unnecessarily large SUVs, most with the real fancy insignias, and every single driver (and passenger for that matter) seemed to wholeheartedly believe that their fellow parking lot drivers owed them something. We had cars zooming around us, thinking they were getting somewhere, when the reality was just that there was a traffic jam ahead where the passenger of one car was ready to lay down in the available parking spot to keep the other dude from taking it. (This really wasn't the case, it was that two spots were available side-by-side, but this is how it appeared to us...and it was a great thing to laugh at). Then, after holding us up in this spot for what seemed like an eternity...the passenger from the SUV in front of us, whose driver was taking one of the spots, exited the car, and walked around like he was flagging traffic while the SUV driver took his time in backing his SUV into the spot! That's just not the way to go when you have 30 cars backed up behind you, people honking, ready to runover pedestrians, challenging one another for spots, etc. It was unbelievable.

So, after looping the parking lot (at least one of them), we found a space where a woman was preparing to leave, and all was well--the shopping extravaganza began. However, there is a top 5 list that I've come up with for improvements in Philly-area parking lots:

1.) Arrows don't hurt...It's always nice to be sure of which way traffic is meant to be going. I realize that people, especially here, would probably ignore them though, so I think this calls for barriers of some sort. Although it was amusing to watch people cut around us, thinking they were getting somewhere, only to end up behind us at another point.

2.) Segregation can't hurt...There are those who think the world owes them something and those who just want a parking spot. I say all cars that cost more than an average-sized home should have their own lot.

3.) Crosswalks aren't good enough...just like with traffic flow, paint is not good enough. Barriers...I can't say it enough...you put your life in the hands of very eager shoppers when cutting across these lots.

4.) Exits...There need to be signs clearly showing you how to get out. The last thing you want after a long day in a crowded mall, carrying heavy bags, is to become stuck in the parking lot madness again.

5.) Public transportation...There should be a King of Prussia shuttle or train. This would eliminate the most dissatisfying aspect of King of Prussia shopping.