As I mentioned before, the Kierland Commons in Scottsdale, AZ, can be quite a busy place during the Christmas shopping season, and from about 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm, drivers circle the parking lot searching for their prey…an open parking space.Some will take as long as 15 minutes just to find a space (a five minute drink at Starbucks is worth it). The hunting habits of such drivers can be quite fascinating. At first, a driver will circle the lots in search of an open space, expecting one to be available, but when disappointment sets in, he or she will then go into stalking mode, mirroring the hunting habits of the great cats of the wild.
The first thing a driver does is slow down, looking over the tops of other cars and through the windows of others, checking out the rows downlot in order to avoid an unnecessary trip down a full row. A favorite target for drivers is a shopper heading towards the parking lot with large bags under her arms.
Once the driver has spotted their prey, they move in for the kill—sometimes accelerating to as fast as 40 mph and stopping within 10 feet so as to allow the leaving driver enough room to move her car but not enough room for a rival driver to sneak in during the time when the leaving driver has moved out of the way and before he or she can acquire their fresh kill. Such dexterity and cunning is a skill honed only through constant practice, and the Kierland Commons has many skilled hunters.
If a driver has turned on his or her blinkers, most rival drivers will recognize the marked territory and move on to easier prey, but when drivers become hungry, they’ll take even the tightest compact space, regardless of how few inches separate their car door from the Hummer or SUV beast in the next space. Such placement makes sun roofs with remote controls a very popular addition to some cars; without such an advantage, it can be physically impossible otherwise for a driver to leave his or her car. The only other way for a driver to get out of his or her car in such tight quarters is to be actively employed at a car rental agency in an airport where such parking skills are practiced hourly.
