Thursday, November 11, 2010

Parallel Parking Dilemma

When people say that San Francisco is hilly, they aren’t messing around. I thought that New England was hilly, that I could handle San Francisco streets. Oh no! I have never seen streets so steep in my life. My first thought is always, “that would suck in the snow” but I guess that’s not an issue here. Today I had to parallel park on a hill. As if regular flat parallel parking isn’t bad enough. I found a spot near a drive way that I could just pull straight into, but the car was too big for the spot. As I was going to pull out, I realized I had to reverse up the hill and not hit the car behind me. Every time I lifted my foot off the break to shift into reverse, the car quickly fell forward, getting closer closer to the car in front of me. Finally, I was so close to the car, I was too terrified to even back up. A gentlemen in his 30s came out of his house (to get to his own car) and I asked him for some assistance. He told me you have to put the car in reverse with the emergency brake on. Then floor it backwards, steer, and release the e-brake simultaneously. All while avoiding the oncoming traffic, because your still on a city road. Uhhhhhh….. RIGHT?! I tried. I slipped forward more. I told him I was absolutely horrified and couldn’t do it. My leg was shaking and if I pushed the brake pedal any harder, I would have pushed it right though the floor. I put the car in park, pulled the e-brake as hard as I could, an then pulled it up even more, and asked him to just back the car up into the street for me. Fortunately, he was a very nice guy, backed up the car in one shot, and sent me on my way with a handshake. Thank God to the kindness of strangers (and for being in a safe, wealthy neighborhood). I drove for blocks and blocks, hoping to find a flat parking spot. Finally, I found some street parking that you could pull into, not parallel. It was on such a steep angle, I had to pull the emergency break just to pull into the spot.

Currently, I’m sitting in my car writing this. I can sit regularly in the driver’s seat because the car is angled so much on the right side, that it’s physically painful to just sit straight up and work against gravity from keeping you from sliding in my seat. I’ve ended up sitting sideways, with my butt in the drivers seat and my feet bracing me on the passenger’s side door. Insane! I don’t even want to get out and hike these hills. Who knows where my school is from here.

For a quick history lesson, you probably know that San Fran is famous the cable cars, which are like trolleys but grip a cable in the ground. Think like a kid pulling themselves up the rope in gym class, just a little more horizontal. The cars don’t have drivers, they have grippers, whose job is just makes sure the car grips the cable as it travels. The cars were invented by a guy over a hundred years ago because too many horses were dying from carrying wagons up the steep hills. The horses couldn’t keep traction going up the hill, and the whole wagon would slip backwards down the hill. I imagine killing people. How frightening! If horses can’t even walk up it, think how steep these hills really are!

Always pull the e-brake
- J

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