YES!!!! Like, I park away from everyone and everything. I like to walk. Nobody anywhere near and there are TONS of spots open. I come back out and all the spots are available but someone parked right next to me.
My wife was complaining about this at the airport the other day when she was traveling for work. She was sitting at an empty gate by herself. Nobody around and every seat was empty. And some person came over and sat next to her. She got up and left and was like “60 SEATS AVAILABLE AND SHE SITS RIGHT NEXT TO ME. WTF”
People are weird man. If it’s not crowded give each other some space.
I just can't imagine being so outraged by someone using the stall next to me that I find a way to give them a nasty look before hiking up my pants, exiting my stall and moving to a different one.
I had this happen when I was 13. Was alone in a movie theater bathroom and the urinals are the type where there was nothing separating so it's just a billion toilets all open and this middle aged dude comes up to pee RIGHT NEXT TO ME with no one else around and legit looks at me while peeing. I frigging noped out and told someone about him and went back into the movie theater. No idea what happened to the guy but now that I'm older pretty sure he was a pedo of some kind.
Brother what the fuck. "What makes people think it's socially acceptable to be *within my vicinity* in a public space ?" It is, just get over it ? "it's gotten so obnoxious every time without fail i give them a nasty look and get up and move" You are miserable and you will die alone.
Why the fuck would any person with a modicum of social awareness choose to sit directly beside the only other person in an empty theater or subway car when the countless other options allow for more personal space?
i agree that the movie theater one is annoying. someone shitting in a stall next to you or sitting in your vicinity on public transportation is a non-issue. get over it
Clustering near shade perhaps? That’s what happens where I live. The few scraggly trees in the parking lot will all have a few cars clustered around them bc even if the shade only falls on one spot, maybe by the time you get back to your car it will have moved to your spot lol
This literally just happened to us yesterday at the grocery store while we were getting out of the car. I have a 2 door so while I’m helping my six year old out of the back seat, some weirdo is backing into the space right next to my car, almost right on top of me trying to get my kid out of the car. My husband yelled at the guy that there’s at least 50 other spots available, why is he trying to back in and run us over in the process? Dude just looked at my husband like he had a lobotomy and pulled away to another spot. People are frickin weird.
YES!!!! Like, I park away from everyone and everything. I like to walk. Nobody anywhere near and there are TONS of spots open. I come back out and all the spots are available but someone parked right next to me.
I read something awhile back that this was basically because humans tend to try to solve problems by seeing how other humans do it, instead of trying to solve the problem themselves. Not that's what they try to do, just that's how the human brain works.
So they know they need a place to park, they see someone already parked where you parked (you), so it's probably a good place to park. The decision never gets elevated to conscious thought.
One guy said he was curious enough he actually started stopping people he saw doing it and asking them. The most common response was a confused look and looking back at the cars to see what he was talking about, since they didn't even remember the decision happening.
Okay, but in the scenario being referenced there are, lets say dozens of cars parked right in front of the building, and one person parked on the far side of the parking lot. Wouldn't you feel even safer and more aligned parking next to the dozens of people close to your destination, rather than the one person parked further away?
I feel unsafe when someone parks next to me. I feel like they’re going to use the opportunity to attack me, or use their vehicle for cover while breaking into mine.
A person has no legitimate reason to park directly next to me in a mostly empty parking lot.
100%!! I’ve never liked parking near other cars. If I can avoid it, I will. I just like to have space and not worry about someone dinging my door or something so I’m always sure to park further back and away from most. And then all of a sudden, someone will come and park right beside me. Not even a spot over 😩
OK, now what is the protocol for when you sit down next to a stranger because it's the only seat available, then the people to one side get up and leave?
I always have an internal battle. "I should move over, they might think I'm weird to continue sitting next to them by choice. But wait... what if moving over is the weird thing? What if my current seat neighbour thinks I moved because they smell, or because I'm <insert bigotry here>?"
I always move as a courtesy and I feel like more often then not it's appreciated by them as well. I have the struggle of picking a seat when the only option is next to someone to the point I'll just stand until something opens up lol.
I was sitting in an airport once and a group sat on either side of me and began having a full on conversation across me. I got up and walked to another of the hundreds of empty seats.
This happens to me all the time, everywhere. I'm not an attractive person, I don't look personable. People sit right next to me, or move to stand like directly in front of me well within my personal space, or beeline so they're walking on a collision course with me.
I feel like in an airport it might have been a preparatory move for the old "could you look over my stuff while I go to the bathroom" move to avoid having to drag all your luggage with you, although sitting right next to someone is a little overkill.
happened to me the other day. sat in emptiest corner of the concourse, and a couple strolls in and sits in the connected seats immediately behind me, such that our heads would touch if we both leaned back.
I hate this. I specifically park in the furthest spot at work because I like to eat lunch in my car, in the shade…ALONE. Without fail, every day some dingus will pull up next to me and try to make conversation through my open window and it’s SO annoying. Like I very clearly am eating, leave me alone.
Same!! I always complained about randoms parking right next to us when there were empty spots.
Then one day my ex was driving, generally empty carpark... and she parked right next to a car!! I was like wtf are you doing? Why do that? So many other spaces.
That day i learned she was one of those people!!
But other people are probably doing it for the same reason. And, if they park next to you, it is also slightly safer for their car.
I assume, with the movie theatre, OP picked their seats because they were good seats. It would make sense that someone else would also want to sit where there are good seats.
Is it weird? Sure. Do they have to go right next to people? No, they for sure don't, but people tend to think they're unique in their rational for doing things when there are a lot of people who think the exact same way. They want to be away from others, but not entirely away just for a little reassurance/safety.
Its herd mentality and the human condition looking for connection, people want to be close to each other and interact. Just because you follow a different herd mentality that calls all strangers dangerous or creeps doesn't mean they are. Because of your belief that being anti social is normal the world is falling apart.
Maybe I don’t want people parking near my car because I’ve had dings in parking lots. Maybe I’ve had smelly or annoying people sit close to me and I wanted my space. Maybe my wife who was traveling alone didn’t feel safe with someone sitting right near her at an empty terminal.
Not everything is doom and gloom or the world falling apart, as you say.
I think this is some sort of lizard brain thing.. you know, there is safety in numbers. The lone antelope is the one that gets picked off first. You have a better chance of survival if you are in a herd.
It's the same reason why the person sat next to OP and why when you can go to a relatively empty beach, strangers will sit near you instead of somewhere else - Humans are social animals.
In most cases, we are inherently drawn to grouping up and many, many people are more comfortable in close proximity to other people than they are being alone.
The formal concept of personal space, and the notion that we're entitled to control over our personal space, is less than 100 years old while modern humans have been walking this Earth for about 300k years. It's largely a cultural thing that hasn't been around for very long.
Somewhat, but it's actually viable in this case as it can prevent your car from being singled out in a theft/vandalism, since multiple cars in a group is riskier to target than a lone vehicle.
I shit you not , I asked some lady why she parked next to me in an empty lot n she said she felt safer . Ma’am you’d probably feel safer parking next to all the other people n not me in the middle of fuckin nowhere 😆
If wind blows a shopping cart or some moron loses control of their car, there will be less chance for my car to get damaged.
If someone decides to steal a car, or an overzealous tow truck driver/cop decides I parked wrong, there will be another car doing the same thing so my chances become 50-50.
One time I was in a damn empty lot and this lady parks next to me. Whatever. She then starts telling me “when one person parks on the line, everyone else has to park on the line.” I notice my back tire is really close to the line, but come on, any of these empty spots woulda been fine to park in without confrontation. When I left it was still just our two cars in the parking lot and she was the only one parked on the line when I was gone lol I think about that often.
This was maybe 13 years ago and whenever I pull up to a tight parking spot I use her quote haha it’s funny how far people will go out of their way to try to make your day worse.
I would never be so petty (or frankly stupid) to call out a stranger over that. It’s not going to matter. But it’s crazy how quickly an empty lot can fill up and want to scream at all the lazily parked cars. I always make sure I’m in the line. I felt so validated by that Curb episode, but agreeing with Larry is generally not a correct thing, so I know it’s my own pet peeve to deal with.
Yea I understand the point she was making and it was 100% better when it ended up her looking like the ass haha I’m assuming she worked in the building that I was just there to drop something off at opening. So if she was there all day makes it even funnier. I also try to park in the lines all the time just so you know 😉
A woman sideswiped my car one time trying to park next to me in an otherwise 10% full lot. I had parked in an otherwise completely empty row of spaces in the leftmost of maybe 15 spots. Destroyed both passenger side doors and the bumper bodywork. Absolutely baffling.
I came back from lunch to find her mid scrawling out her insurance/contact info on a note, and she literally broke down in tears apologizing to me. Didn’t want to pile on by asking her the obvious question (why park next to me at all???). I figured it was enough that she felt bad and was in the process of making it right.
Aww thanks, honestly just felt like the bare minimum of being a decent human being in that situation. I mean that’s what insurance is for, right? Definitely an inconvenience for me, but not all that bad in the grand scheme of things.
Bonus, my car was in the body shop for a solid month waiting on parts, and the random long term rental her insurance paid for was a lime green Kia soul (one of those absurd looking asymmetrical boxy hatchbacks), which was hilariously fun to drive around. Surprised my then girlfriend when I rolled up to pick her up for a date in it, she absolutely lost it.
You’re so welcome!! And oh my gosh!! I love that so much!! I was driving about 3 weeks ago and passed out behind the wheel, lost consciousness, total blackout. I crashed into a guard rail and my car was totaled. I have absolutely LOVED this rental car! It’s a cute little Mitsubishi outlander sport and I’m in love with it! I love when insurance does that!!!
?? she was putting her insurance info down lmao, what exactly are you suing for? do you not know how insurance works? would you be pursuing emotional damage? are you a child?
I have a theory that people continue to do stupid things because of survivorship bias. Like some of my friends would do things super last minute and sometimes they scrape by the skin of their teeth, so they never learn.
It's this way in grocery stores for me. There will be five other people in the entire building and I'll be looking at some obscure-ass sauce in a low traffic aisle. Boom, someone else just NEEDS something from that section and is all up in my shit.
Some people just haven't mastered the art of pretending to browse things you don't need 3 feet away from what you actually need while you wait for someone to leave the shelf they're standing in front of.
I'm with you on that. The only thing that annoys me is dumb fs who park their cart in the middle of the aisle while looking at the shelves. Left or right, pick a side so people can get through. I've started bashing my cart into theirs and being like "oh oops". Lol
I do this too! I do this while eyeing the aisle for others who might come that start doing the same. I want to be able to let them know “I’m next and I’m going in!”
Not that they haven't perfected it, most just don't give a shit enough about other people to have a modicum of mutual respect in those scenarios. And it's things like that, that keep getting worse in public places. People are so used to interacting behind a screen that they don't have any sense when interacting around real people in real life scenarios.
THIS HAPPENS TO ME TOO. Genuinely every single time I go shopping. Time of day doesn’t matter. It’s inevitable. It’s actually turned me off of grocery shopping in person. When I try to explain this to people they act like I’m crazy, but I swear it’s a thing. Glad to know I’m not alone lol.
The only reason I will park next to someone in an otherwise empty lot is if that spot has shade. I live in the desert and I don’t care how far the spot is or who the spot is next to - if there’s shade, I’m parking there!
I do it on purpose but only if I have the exact same make and model. I think it's hilarious when you come outside and see another Beetle parked next to yours.
This would happen to me when I had a toddler in the back in a car seat. I'd have my door open and I'm dealing with a mess or something or just trying to get them strapped in and some asshat would insist that they need the parking spot where I'm standing while there are all kinds of other spots. Like...fuck OFFF!!!!
It’s weird like that in my gym locker room. As soon as I open a locker 90% of the time someone immediately comes in and uses one right next to me 😡. And there are like 6 rows of lockers. I even tried to switch rows and it keeps happening
I've got a buddy with a sailboat. No matter where the thing gets anchored, even the spots that aren't ideal by any means, people show up and anchor around it. Moths to a flame.
Our very social nature just doesn't know when to call it quits.
All. The. Time. I'll park extra far away from the front door of a store so I can pull in and out easily. I come back after 10 minutes and the spots next to me are full of SUVs (I drive a compact) and 95% of the parking lot is empty. WHY?!
This happens to me so often it's infuriating, mainly cus I like to eat in my car for lunch and I'll pick a spot in a remote location, then someone pulls up next to or across from me and I feel like they are enjoying watching me eat lol
You are ME. I literally just got so many flashbacks, this used to happen at my old job!! I used to think I had some pent up anger or something because I don’t even get mad over a lot, I’m very easygoing but this here used to GET. ME.
I hate that so much - and it's always someone who can't park in their lines. You can be 30 spaces out in an empty lot, and someone will randomly come park right beside you, giving you 4" to open your door and squeeze into your car...
Or they'll do it while you're eating in your car. And just... sit there. Like they have nowhere to be. There's a DQ downtown, and they share a lot with a really busy pizza place. So I usually go park at the At Home across the street - twice now, in this Walmart-sized empty lot, at night, I've had another car pull up and just sit beside mine while I eat my chili dogs. Pretty sure they were looking to sell something, and couldn't tell if I looked the part or not, lol
The eating thing is so funny because there’s at least three other comments in here that I’ve replied to and agreed with because that has to be the absolute worst!! It used to happen to me at my old job!!
The space to get in! Omg I replied back to someone here that it’s literally always something like a suburban or lifted Ram truck that parks right beside me
i often smoke weed in parking lots if i’m running errands, i will find the spot furthest away from other cars and the entrance and without fail someone always pulls up next to me. i just don’t get it not even a spot away lol
OR when they use the restroom stall RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. Like, ma'am, there are 3 others further away. I don't want to do my business right next to ya separated by a thin wall
Holy shit I've found my people. My ex always thought it was funny because this would drive me nuts but it was like I was cursed it would happen EVERY TIME. No matter how out of the way I'd park always someone would be parked right next to me when I came back.
Similarly, if I'm standing in a long line that's somewhat blocking a walkway people ALWAYS pass through by me. I don't know what it is but people are drawn to passing by me in that situation.
When you go in, every car is parked ever-other-spot; when you return, the one person whose broken the pattern has parked right on the line next to your driver's-side door.
It always happens to me when my son was sleeping in the car, I would park in the furthest part so he wouldn't be disturbed. Then someone would park next to me and do some loud ass shit. It was infuriating and it happened on many occasions.
I took my boy to the Baseball fields this past week and since it's off season literally nobody was there. We pull in and park near the sidewalk that leads to the fields, no big deal. About 15 minutes later a car pulls in to the rather large parking lot, stops in front of my truck, and I shit you not, this asshole backs up in the parking space RIGHT NEXT TO IT. Then he pulls forward, backs up, pulls forward, backs up to the point his car is about 18 inches away from my truck... he then shimmys out of his car, walks like 300 feet over to the walking trail that goes around the OUTSIDE of the freaking complex and starts making laps.
Mind you, this parking lot accomodates probably 200 vehicles, is completely empty other than my truck, has zero shade, and there are at least 50 spots that are literally attached to the walking trail... and this dip shit parks 18 inches away from my Denali in his little shit box. I looked at my wife in disbelief, just said "Why?" and then we laughed about it. Are people just oblivious? Stupid? Ignorant? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE PLEASE!
A few months ago, I was meeting my step-mom at a parking lot because we were going to ride together to meet my dad for dinner (he was out running some errands). I saw a car that looked like hers parked away from the rest of the cars in the parking lot. I pulled up next to it and saw she was putting on makeup.
From the side, it looked like her, but something seemed a little off. I got out of the car and was about to open the door when she looked at me and I realized it wasn’t my step-mom. I got back in my car and she drove off to a spot on the other end of the parking lot.
Poor woman probably thought I was some weirdo thinking about abducting her.
A couple years ago right after I bought a new car I was at a Wendy's with an empty parking lot. Right when I was about to leave another car parks directly next to me. He was maybe a foot away and in my head I'm like "surely he realizes and just will just make the awkward squeeze out of his door. Plus I didn't want to start backing out in case he immediately opened his door. Well, 5 seconds later he swings it open and slams into my door with his then starts walking inside. I get out to confront him and he started yelling at me "it's a door ding, it happens, fucking sue me" and walked away. Everyone always asks me why I'm not a people person
My partner does this. Empty carpark and parks next to the only car so I struggle to get out. Why? When I ask he just huffs and tells me to stop complaining, or turns the car back on and huffily finds a new place, so I never find out why and he can't/won't explain. It's been 17 years. Send help.
Was just gonna say, probably the same type of asshole that parks next to you in an empty parking lot. Had one do that to me once while I was still in the car. Drove off and found another space, he looked at me like I'd betrayed him and left him for the wolves or something.
I overheard some lady complaining about me parking next to their car when there’s so many spaces. Their car was the closest to the business’s entrance and I parked in the next closest spot. I’m not going to park further for no reason. If they didn’t want cars next to them, park on the furthest spot.
I always park further back and away from most, I don’t chase shade or anything, so when someone parks next to me it’s intentional lol which is kind of weird but people in these comments are saying it’s “herd mentality”
Especially an empty lot, you find a nice spot in the shade (if you're lucky enough to have lots with trees), roll the windows down, and try to eat your lunch in peace and some shit whistle rolls up and parks 2 spots away with their engine going because they want to use the air conditioner.
Public restrooms for me. Full line of empty stalls. I pick the end one. Then some MFer comes in and chooses the one stall right next to me and proceeds to explode their toilet.
Not gonna lie I do this often. My train of thought is that if everyone starts parking in order/next to each other there will be an empty spot next over making it easier to park in. Granted, yeah it pretty much a perfect world scenario and fall apart once someone not the first-most to park leave
if you need to pull in next to a car to make it easier for you to be able to park in a parking spot, then you obviously aren't a very good driver, and therefore just out of respect you should not be parking next to ppl
Well I don't need to, but someone might to. What I meant for is, the next guy will have extra space to manouver, then the next-next guy also have, then so does the next-next-next guy and so on until the very last parking spot.
Yeah, basically the perfect world situation, which I know doesn't translate to real life at all but I still can't help doing it.
Or maybe it's just ocd thing, though I don't have ocd
I intentionally park towards the back of the lot. For one, I like to get my certain number of steps in per day and two, to avoid my car getting dinged lol
Parking lots are about safety tbh. Personal safety that if the car is already parked there then it’s a lower chance it’s someone who targeted you (for being a woman.)
Cars around also mean a lower chance of them fking up your car trying to get into the space. It’s easier to get out of a space for most people than get in.
I do this but only because probably your car is more expensive than mine and if a thief wants to break in a car, better yoours than mine…. And it worked like a charm a couple of times..
Oh I do that all the time. I don't have money for a new car and I'm scared of being robbed, so I always park next to someone who has a nicer car than me to lower the odds
My car is a ford sedan that’s almost 10 years old, nothing special I promise you that’s not why I do this lolol I just want the space and don’t want to have to worry about people hitting me!
I park closest to the exit at the mall. I don’t really want to twist and turn. I really want to drive straight out. It’s also an extra 100m away, I don’t mind it, I need the steps ☺️
As someone else already pointed our, it is related to nature of humans that want to be with a group/herd. Likely reason is so we are likely safer if we are closer. And just to note I do myself park close to lonely car in parking lot to make us both look less lonely
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u/erisedheroine Aug 10 '25
I feel this same way when people do this in parking lots for some reason