11/25/2008

Are you a Backer-Upper?

Lucky for me, I am NOT hosting Thanksgiving this year. My mom just moved into a newly built house and she eagerly offered to have our 15 family members over. I was a little disappointed because I really like Thanksgiving and I have a great dining room table, but now that I am sick with a cold, I am quite happy to only have to bring my assigned task of my famous salad (recipe follows) and apple pie.

Tonight, I foolishly thought if I went to the store now, I would beat all you other people, but looks like that was wishful thinking. The Little Monkey and I headed to Sam's Club where he got signed up for the Cookie Club. I got what I needed and was out the door when one of my biggest pet peeves began happening all over the crowded parking lot.... THE BACKER-UPPER!!

What is gained from backing up into a parking spot? I have never understood this. You certainly aren't saving time. There is no way I believe that it takes more time to back up upon exit than the time it takes backing up when entering. Additionally, it seems to me there is more risk damaging your car since you certainly have to rely on your side mirrors to ensure you do not hit the cars next to you. Needless to say, the Sam's parking lot was a mess with all the backer-uppers doing their thing. Can anyone explain this phenomenon to me?

Sara's Really Good Salad Recipe

Get lots of lettuce (I use spring mix, thus the Sam's trip)
Peel and cut up several apples (I like granny smith because they are tart)
Toss apples in a bowl with lemon juice (this keeps them from browning)
Get bag of pecans (if they are not crushed, put in ziplock bag and use meat mallet to crush)
Get crumbled feta cheese
Get any off the shelf balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
Mix everything together
Eat

People rave about this salad everytime!



11 comments:

Cara said...

My husband does that all the time. It drives me insane. I can't explain the backer upper. Maybe b/c I can't do it. I also can't parallel park. Yes i grew up in New Orleans and in Lakeview of all places and I can't parallel park to save my life.

Sara said...

Oooh! I am an excellent parallel parker. But that is a blog post for another day. That is actually one of my claims to fame!

Sara said...

And, why would you ever need to parallel park in Lakeview? They make it so easy to park they even have slanted spots on Harrison Ave and secret streets that lead to private driveways.

Mike Golch said...

maybe they want to have a quick escape.

Mystery Man said...

and i thought i was the only one thaty noticed that about the bakers...lol

i can't parallel park to save my life. guess if i ever to park downtown or something i'll just stop i nthe middle of the street...lmao

Cara said...

Oh there is reason to parrel park in Lakeview, we had one drive way (in the back off the secret street) and three cars, guess who got stuck having to park on the street? not fun when all your neighbors are also parking on the street and you need ten acres to park your little bitty car.

AR said...

I'M IN YOUR TOWN THIS WEEK!

Anonymous said...

Ah, Thanksgiving is one of those amateur days at the supermarket, along with New Year's Eve and Super Bowl Sunday. These are days when you'll find people who haven't been near a grocery store in the past 12 months, wheeling their carts the wrong way, calling their spouses to ask where to find things, and yes, backing their cars into parking spaces.

HawgWyld said...

Bleck. The backer-uppers. They drive me up the wall.

Want a tip on how to mess with them. When they're going through all the elaborate, show-off "let's back into the spot" stuff, steal their spot right out from under them.

Drives 'em nuts.

The Natural State Hawg

Wendy said...

Okaaaay, here's my defense for backer-uppers...

My hubby worked for a company who did some kind of study & found that a huge proportion of the accidents happening in their company vehicles were happening when people backed out of parking spots. And that for some reason people pay more attention when they're parking than when they are leaving.

At any rate, they made a strict back-in-only policy for all company vehicles, and their accident rates plummeted.

Interestingly, my hubby's current company also requires back-in-only in the parking lot, for all company vehicles and all cars parked next to the building.

It does take longer to get IN, but boy you can get OUT really fast.

Sara said...

Wendy,

Thats the first explanation we have gotten. I can actually see that being true because people DO take their time backing up! Never thought about it from an insurance perspective.

Sara