Model Citizenship

So, how nervous do you get when a police officer is driving right behind you? What feelings surface when you are motoring along, minding your own business (being nothing but a complete Model Citizen) and you look in your rearview mirror to find a good ‘ole black and white on your six? No matter how good your driving skills are; despite the fact that you know you have adhered to the entire applicable vehicle code, you cannot fight-off the nervous feeling….you know this to be true! You turn down your radio, sit up straight, grab the wheel at 10 and 2 and start praying for the police officer to pass you by. This story, I believe, is a direct result of that nervousness.

As I was on my way home the other evening, I was stopped at a red light at the intersection of MacArthur and Fairchild waiting to turn left onto MacArthur. As I looked to the left, I noticed a car moving rather slowly to the North on MacArthur in the right-hand lane. As the car approached the intersection, it moved into the left lane. It was at this point that the police motorcycle (depicted as a car in the picture) came into view, slowly trailing the car with lights flashing. As the car broke the plane of the intersection, the driver came to virtually a complete stop (in the fast lane, mind you) and abruptly executed a U-Turn. Just one problem here - the intersection is clearly marked with a NO U-TURN sign! After executing the u-turn, she slowed and eventually pulled-over.

Was this a case of extreme nervousness? Was she in shock - suffering from delusions as a result of the flashing lights??? Whatever the case, not only did she likely make her situation much worse as far as traffic laws are concerned, she risked the lives of complete strangers in the oncoming cars.

While most of us would agree that nervousness resulting from being pulled-over is understandable, it is likely that none of us would condone irrational, reckless behavior like this… Drivers oblivious to the rest of the world; definitely not Model Citizens!

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I am sure we will all agree that airports are busy places… cars flowing in and out - people moving in all directions. No matter how hard designers try to make these public facilities convenient and efficient, the human factor always seems to get in the way. I am sure you have all witnessed several examples of this:

• Passengers with excessive questions at the check-in counter (as if they are the only one flying)
• Passengers in the security line who wait until they are in front of the agent before they ready bording passes and IDs (which happen to be buried in their carry-on baggage…
• Travelers at the X-Ray machines insisting “they let me bring this last time.”
• People at the baggage claim who place their six oversized bags right in front of the conveyor as they wait for their small duffel (blocking access to the rest of the luggage for 5 yards in either direction).

So, this morning I witnessed a new one to add to the ever-growing list of airport insanities. The curb-side box-in!

I dropped my girlfriend at the John Wayne Airport this morning (SNA) - a relatively small airport that serves as an Orange County alternative to making the trek to the much larger LAX. Traffic at the terminal was steady but not too congested - it looked like curb-side check-in was going to be a relatively easy task… I pulled into the unloading zone (see the green car in the linked illustration) Curb-side Approach

I helped her with her luggage, kissed her goodbye and jumped in the car pleased with the ease of it all - an easy exit was just moments away. Suddenly, a car pulled into the space behind me (only temporarily mind you), around my driver’s side and stopped slightly ahead of me in a double-parked position (see the black car in the linked illustration) Airport Box-in

So, this aero-idiot takes it upon himself to box me in - forcing me to back-up and merge into the steady flow of traffic at a 90-degree angle. Not sure why the space behind me was not suitable, or why he didn’t pull up farther to allow me some space to get out. At least this time it wasn’t a Mercedes (Mercedes owners are probably getting a little sensitive with all the uber-bashing)… No, this was an Escalade - you know a Chevy nicely appointed with 22″ wheels and the skin of four to five cattle that had no idea they would serve such a lofty purpose as to provide comfort for some idiot’s ass.

So - plainly stated - double parking at airport curb-side check-in zones is in no way Model Citizenship!!! Thanks for reading!

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