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    Home » Recipes » The Amish Editor

    Parking Lot Scrum: What Would Have You Done?

    Published: Apr 29, 2014 · Updated: Apr 29, 2014 by Kevin Williams | 5 Comments

    tractorRachel and I had just pulled into our parking spot at the annual Amish auction in Milroy.  I pulled beside a pick- up truck with a tractor lawn-mower parked behind it. Obviously someone had just scored a good buy at the auction and was preparing to haul it home.   Just then a Honda pulls in behind the truck.   As you can see it's a tad close, the Honda did pull up maybe a little closer than necessary to the lawn mower.  But overall there's some pretty good elbow room there still.  As we are getting out of the car and I am unpacking our stroller a middle-aged woman with the pick-up truck says to the similar-aged Honda woman (I am paraphrasing, but the dialogue was close to what appears below):

    "Hey we need to load this lawn-mower and there might not be quite enough room where you pulled in, would you mind backing up a couple of feet?"  (I'm not sure how they were going to load the mower, there seemed to be ample room to my eye, I just think the woman may have felt "violated" somehow having the Honda that close)

    The Honda woman seemed a bit taken aback by the request, thought for a second, and then replied:

    "You have plenty of room in front of you, so here's an idea: why don't YOU move up your car forward just a few feet and then there will be plenty of room."

    They bickered back and forth a bit more and finally the pick-up truck woman, in a huff, says:

    "Well, since it'd obviously give you a hernia to move your car, I'll move my truck."  (nice zinger)

    By then our stroller was set up, Aster was buckled in and not wanting to somehow get drawn into this cat fight, we headed for the auction.

    But it was an interesting exchange.  On one hand, the Honda lady was right.  The truck lady could have just pulled up a couple of feet and that's the end of it.   Or was the truck lady's request so unreasonable that the Honda lady couldn't have just take 15 seconds of her time to get in her car and appease truck lady by moving 2 feet?  I'm usually spoiling to avoid a confrontation, I probably would have never said anything to the Honda lady and just moved my truck up a few feet and been done with it. Human interactions - even the most mundane - are fraught with politics, politeness, civility, egos.   What would have been the appropriate way to handle this situation so that the lawn mower got loaded and everyone was happy?

    « Milroy, Indiana Amish Auction - Part I: Pies, Buggies, and Disappearing Ice Cream
    Milroy Auction - Part II: Buggies, Quilts, and Blurry Faces! »

    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Barb

      April 29, 2014 at 10:04 am

      Hi Kevin,
      Like you, I don't like confrontation and would've just moved my car away from the mower. The folk that purchased the mower may have needed room to set up a ramp to get the mower into the back of the truck, which may have been why they asked her to move the Honda in the first place. I'm sure the Honda driver was just trying to line her car up with the others, but I'm sure it couldn't hurt either one of them to back up or pull forward for a minute!

      Reply
      • Kevin

        April 29, 2014 at 10:10 am

        Barb - yep, that was my Dad's thought that they were needing room for a ramp. Probably right! - Kevin

        Reply
    2. Bonnie

      April 29, 2014 at 4:02 pm

      Common courtesy should dictate that the woman in the Honda move her car when
      asked politely. Yes, the truck owner could have easily moved, too. Sadly, we don't
      see as much common courtesy these days.

      Reply
      • Kevin

        April 29, 2014 at 4:05 pm

        Well, said, Bonnie!

        Reply
    3. Wendy P

      April 30, 2014 at 12:03 am

      Not that she deserves it, but in defense of the Honda driver, if she had backed up far enough for the truck owner, would she have had to wait for the mower to be loaded so she could pull back in (so as to not block the through-way)? Or could she simply have moved to the empty slot next door?

      Reply

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    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

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