Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Are You Good At Backing Up?
Are you good at backing up in a car? Did you ace your parallel parking on your driver's test? I did - but then, I'm one of the 7% - a left hander. (Sinister!) But even though I'm a good backer upper, I don't agree with my husband on the issue of the best way to park in ones garage. Now, this never came up before, since we lived in a house without a garage, or any type of driveway at all for over 25 years. (And if we are keeping track, that would mean that for 8 years, [33 years of marriage minus 25 years in a house without a garage], we were just so madly in love that I could have parked on the roof, and he would have thought it was sweet.) (Of course that doesn't account for the 3 1/2 years we dated, but I think we both only had driveways then and the issue didn't come up.) What issue? Whether cars should always be backed into your garage? To me this doesn't make sense - you are entering a narrow building at a time when you are probably more tired than when you left it. I think that when you are leaving your home all fresh and rested, you are in better shape to be backing up. And you are backing up into the wide open spaces - easier to than trying to fit between the walls of the garage. But John thinks you should always back into the garage - no logical argument offered - to him it's the only sensible thing to do. Isn't that sweet?
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Beryl, I don't think I quite followed the statistical analysis, but in the matter of backing into the garage, your husband is 150% correct: anytime HE is driving that car, HE should back into the garage. After all HE is driving at that moment. What YOU should do when YOU are driving is another matter (though I would perhaps re-consider the wisdom of parking on the roof as I'm not certain the beams up there will hold the weight over time). When YOU are in control of the wheel, YOU get to decide the direction of the car. All these folks ranting at other drivers are completely insane to my thinking; one can only drive one car at a time. I don't see why there is any other logic to apply (but then there are a number of things I refuse to discuss because I know we cannot agree).
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the title I was covered in guilt: I'm lousy at backing up my computer and I know I'm going to pay for it one day! HA
How funny about backing up the computer! Do you know anyone (other than the odd proffessional) who regularly does this?
ReplyDeleteAnd I am always glad when my husband drives, and how he parks is fine with me. But - it's when he's miffed that I don't do it the same way - without any logic to back him up - that I'm writing about.
I am so lucky to have a great long distance driver for a husband. We have driven to Southern California from Tulsa a number of times, and I have yet to drive a mile of it. I read and nap and we do crosswords together. (The only puzzle game we both like that he can do in his head. But then, he was a Middle School Chess Champion.) Very pleasant life. Good Times!
Nope. I don't back up. Nor do I front in. I park in the middle of the Driveway of Death and let my husband maneuver the Straits of Narrowness. I'd rather brush snow off the car than get it through our skinny, house-bounded driveway.
ReplyDeleteHey Class - The Driveway of Death, huh? I get scared everytime I have to even drive in snow, much less parking in it. I agree with leting your husband do the hard work.
ReplyDeleteI just had to laugh at this. I have teased my husband, a backer-upper if there ever was one, that this is a predominantly MALE thing to do and that somehow males perceive this as showing off their ability to manuver. I see it everywhere. He argues that especially in busy places that it is better to see ahead of you when you are pulling out.
ReplyDeleteI am not left-handed, but DH is.
Well Terri, I can see the point of this in really busy places. That is almost as good a point as yours about them showing off. They are pretty cute, afterall! But I will say that being left handed makes backing up a lot easier. I am not particularly skilled at driving forward, but at backward stuff, I'm better than most.
ReplyDeleteBeryl--WE are arguing about this at our house at 1:10 a.m. in the morning. DH wishes to say that whether you back in or back out, you have to back up just as much as you pull in forward no matter where you are at any given time.
ReplyDeleteHaving spent the last two days in the pursuit of that torture masquarading as a medical proceedure, the colonscopospy, I can't be sure of being back in my "right mind". (A left handed joke!) Seriously, not eating for almost 48 hours? Not eating just doesn't work for me - I get all woozy and stupid. But, the difference for me is that when you back into a garage, while you have actually backed the same length, as your husband says, more of your backing is done in a tightly confined space. Draw it on a piece of paper - see how you head into the confined space of the garage and the rear of your car is only about 10 inches inside when you are done? So the difference is between backing 10 inches out of a garage you have driven 10 feet into, or backing 10 feet into a garage and then pulling out 10 inches. The total distance is the same, but if backing is harder than driving forward, it is easier if you pull into your garage
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