The Law of Physics?

We may not all understand the law of gravity...but we certainly accept it. It works, and that’s all we really need to know about it. There are hundreds of physical laws affecting us each and every day, yet we don’t have to acknowledge them in order for them to keep working…they just do.

So now I have a dilemma that confounds me to this day. Is it a law of physics? I just don’t know. It’s more likely a law of sociology, however, I still like to think of it as some overarching scientific law for which we have no control and just shouldn’t worry about……..parking.

Yes, I said it. Parking. I don’t mean the frantic dog-eat-dog quest for a spot in the mall’s parking structure; nor am I speaking of that scenario when the only spot to be found is that intimidating curb maneuver we affectionately know and fear as “parallel parking”. What I am referring to is this unknown gravitational force which causes other people to park next to me….right next to me. Sure, I’ll give you some grace in a crowded situation. But I can park in a large parking lot where I am sure to be in the “safe zone”, with 15 empty spaces to my left and to my right. Once I exit the store and return to my car…..doggone if there isn’t someone that just had to park next to me. No reason; no rhyme; it’s got to be some law of nature I just never heard about in school.

If it’s a sociological phenomenon, is it something primal that goes back to the early days of man when herding was a form of survival? Perhaps it’s simpler than that and people just find comfort in being close to someone…albeit in a 4000 pound hunk o’ metal. Another hypothesis is that people truly deliberate over where a “good” parking spot is. Hey if that guy way over there is alone and chose to park there…he must have some inside scoop on the blessedness of that location. I must join him.

My wife and I actually have bets going as to whether someone will park next to us…even after intentionally parking waaaay away from everyone else. More often than not...gosh-darned if there isn’t some other car visiting mine when we’re done shopping.

And then again...maybe it’s not the drivers at all! Perhaps our vehicles have an intrinsic power over us far beyond what we can comprehend and we are simply doing their bidding. Lonely, needy cars….now there’s a law of physics we should be teaching our elementary students in science class.

I’ll end this by stating this just isn’t something to figure out and I’ll probably go to my grave wondering about this phenomenon…if it doesn’t drive me crazy first.

Greg Morton
© May 2, 2011