Parking

'Only an asshole would park like this.'

That is a bumper sticker attached to my friend's refrigerator. I like to think it's waiting to be met with that special car out there--somewhere. Maybe you've seen it. Jutting awkwardly into the lane at your local co-op. Occupying two spaces like a corpulent airline passenger. Several feet over the line into the spot in front of it. Oh, if only people had to pay for the entire area they consume.

In the order of shameful parking practices none is more heinous than the infamous 'sports car parked diagonally across several spaces so as to prevent anyone else parking near it'. Cousin to the over-sized sport utility vehicle to whom the lines are invisible, they both favor personal satisfaction over social responsibility. The flasher exhibits selfishness and the tank exhibits laziness. It must be terribly embarrassing to drive a car you can't park.

My favorites are the more subtle botch jobs. The ones where they barely made it somewhat into the space. "Close enough." I used to think people who can't park between the stripes were the same who couldn't color inside the lines as children. Now I think they're people who are still children in that they live life completely oblivious to the world around them.

What I'm saying is I see a direct relationship between social capital and the quality of public parking in a society. This is important, so we will define it:


social capital : An economic idea that refers to the connections between individuals and entities that can be economically valuable. Social networks that include people who trust and assist each other can be a powerful asset. These relationships between individuals and firms can lead to a state in which each will think of the other when something needs to be done.


Or as I think of it: the social health of a society. Do people trust each other? Are relationships between citizens and government mutually beneficial? Furthermore, how interactive are communities? Do people pledge their support? You know, it's viewers like you...

Of course, with any intuitive idea, social capital--or more specifically the need for it to be good--makes perfect sense. Of course a healthy person is a better person, so would a healthy society be a more productive one. When you're not sick you get a lot of work done.

It also makes sense that the less people care in general the less they care about their parking job. What goes through the mind of a person walking away from poor parking?:

1.) Nothing (unfortunately).
2.) "I'll just- be right back."
     "There's plenty of other parking."
     "It's not so bad."
     "I don't have time."
     "Screw these guys."

It's a sprawled society that produces this sort of citizen. Suddenly everything that is important-- what you value--is not in your neighborhood any more. Your resources are flung across the globe and your families are spread across continents. You are the law of diminishing returns. The more disconnected every individual is, the less they care. My money and my daughter go to New York.

It's harder for a human to care if it can't see the impact of its actions. Not feeling confident in one's community certainly compounds the matter. To the detriment of social capital we have public trust scandals, disdain of government, xenophobia and less civic engagement. To bolster we have volunteer organizations, block parties/barbecues, religion when it behaves and the parks department. Among other things.

We are social beings and organize ourselves as such, even if in a perverted manner. In such a product-oriented world the ends are the only concern. Cheap produce. The Dollar Value menu. Outsourced technical support hotlines. We offer these services as a value to our customers.

Forgotten is the notion that the means are what produce good social capital. How we get our food or support or services. Playing a relay race across the country with invoices as the baton and the grocery shelf as the finish line disconnects everyone involved. This is a far cry from two small businesses down the street coordinating an effort to offer more comprehensive services to their customers and unify everyone involved. One size does not fit all, just as one chain does not meet well with every community. The future is customization.

Remember the old phrase, "Getting there is half the fun." Hold it close to your heart. It's through the daily interaction of neighbors and regulars that a wealth of social capital is built. It's knowing who lives next to you. It's contributing to the local economy. It's stopping to give someone your spare tube. It's empathy in practice. It's good parking.