Should I feel bad about this?

Well, I think you’re venting your anger at the car’s driver on the car. It would be a useful exercise in the art of compassion for you to care for the poor car regardless of how you feel about its driver.

A car is an inanimate object. I have to get out of my car. Why should I suffer because someone else cannot park within the designated lines?

Compassion can extend to inanimate objects. Shutting ourselves off to that possibility is also a cause of suffering, arguably greater than the inconvenience of walking from a farther parking space.

Story: This morning at my Starbucks stop, there were no parking spots, save for one that was so small only a car as small as mine could fit in it.
The reason it was so small is because the car to the left was a good foot over the line. I need coffee. I had no time to wait. I parked in that space and hit the car with my car door while getting out of my car. What to do? I didn’t feel bad at all.

It’s negligent (contributory if nothing else) and illegal damage to someone else’s property.

So, I’m not gonna tell you to feel guilty about it, but you very well could be found culpable.

No damage whatsoever.

Some people have crappy depth perception. That’s why I usually park in the back of the parking lot. I do much better now with a small car than I did with a big van. I will apologize to you now for all us crappy parkers out there. On the other hand, If the parking lot is crowded and I notice after I get out that I parked crappy I WILL get back in the car and fix it. I know there are also those who take 2 on purpose so no one will park next to them. Those are the ones that tick me off!

I sure don’t mean to scold. I know I’ve done the same.

My Canadian perspective is this: the lines pretty much disappear when the snow starts, because it’s very hard for plows to scrape down to showing the line, but it’s harder to actually get cars OUT of the spots to plow em. Parking lots and roads also shrink due to having snow on and around the curbs. So one really can’t use the excuse of “well there was a LINE” or continue using summer driving habits, or rely on the rules, because it simply does not work, and if you follow this you will be killed very quickly while driving.

I believe part of being a responsible driver is taking responsibility for all of your actions while in control of the car, and making your own decisions based on the situation. Not everyone will follow the rules, you need to take charge and find an appropriate action in said circumstance that ensures your survival and well-being.

I have been in your situation before many times. I have never once jammed my car in with the knowledge that I would have to touch the person’s car to get out. In cases like this I find another spot, or I go to another location for my item or simply abandon the mission.

Now, sometimes it does happen that my car door will touch another person’s car, and based on the tiny dimples on my car’s body it’s happened to mine before as well. In tight situations, I open my door slowly and try to squeeze out without my door touching their car, which always works fine for me. I see my car as being a transportation device and nothing more, so I am not concerned with my car being imperfect with 136,000 kilometers on it already it sure isn’t perfect anyway. But I do know some people who value their car very highly and would be very irate at having an imperfection.

So to answer your question: should you feel bad about it? Well obviously I can’t say whether you should or shouldn’t do or feel ANYTHING. But since you asked, I would have chosen to not get my coffee at that place in lieu of forcing my way in as I feel you did. Also I find a bit of inconsistency with your desire to not hurt your own car, but your willingness to hurt other cars who don’t follow the rules. You have prioritized your need for coffee over the well being of another person’s possession, so based on that I guess you shouldn’t feel bad about it. But I play by the golden rule, and I sure would not want to have a pushy person damage my property just cause they needed their morning fix. I would also not have parked in more than one space, and I can imagine you are the same. But you simply cannot control the behavior of other people, and there will be people who break rules for all sorts of reasons or non-reasons.

If you didn’t do any damage then don’t feel guilty, but double parked or not you aren’t suppose to mess with someone car. My mom has key marks all over her hummer H3 where some assholes took it upon themselves to tell her exactly what they thought about her car. They have no idea that she sent my father to buy her a new Honda and that is what he came home with and they also don’t know that the hummer spends most of it’s time in the garage and she drives her old beater honda to work everyday. I know this is off topic but it pisses me off when people mess with others peoples stuff out of anger. I would love to catch someone in the act because it happens all the time. People also shoot her the bird constantly and she could never figure out why for the longest time.

You go girl, Judi! Stick up for those of us who are depth perceptionally challenged! I would have re-parked toot cuz I would be embarrassed to park so poorly. My luck too that I would get chewed out by some crabby inconvenienced person.

I wouldn’t feel too guilty if I did not damage. I can feel guilty over the most minor things though…

Yes, compassion is generally a good thing to have. What if that double parked person had just found out a close relative died? Or was just having a bad day? The last thing they need is someone bitching at them for a foot of parking space, and if I were in that situation (being the person having a bad day) the bitcher would sure get an earful from me. Then both of our days are tainted by meanness, ugh. jessturtle23’s experience is a great example.

I would have gone through the drive-thru. If they didn’t have one, I would have left, knowing that if they had a passenger, said passenger would dent my door. I try to park away from other cars to protect my own vehicle, even if it inconveniences my day a bit. I wouldn’t feel bad about bumping their vehicle slightly, but denting it out of frustration or bad intentions, yes I would.

I don’t think you should feel bad but sounds like you might because you asked! I live in San Francisco and pretty much everything is parallel parking and spaces are tight and hard to come by. Every time someone parks, they usually hit the car in front, back, or both. I call it the “San Francisco Bump”

I myself don’t drive, but if I was a passenger in said parked really close car, I wouldn’t care if my door hit the door of the other car.

Like stevenb a slight bump is not a big deal, denting the car or messing the paint is kind of rude.

There could be lots of reasons that the car was parked one foot over the line.
The person is a jerk
The person is visually impaired in some way
The person is not familiar w/ the dimensions of the car they are driving
There was no handicapped parking available and the person needed extra space

No you should not hit the car w/ your door. You could have backed into the space and had your side facing the side w/ more space.

Give people the benefit of the doubt.

Personally, I park waaaaay out where there are no other cars. I don’t want to park next to someone who might ding my car. My pet peeve is the ass who parks waaaaay out where there are no other cars. Right next to me. Sheesh!

I fume constantly over people in huge SUVs that pull into a slot at an angle, or over the line, and clearly just can’t be bothered to do it right. I’m not talking about parallel parking, or limited parking in a big city, I’m talking about a half empty parking lot. Sometimes I’d love to have an old junker and just scrape my way along their car as I struggle to maneuver my way out of the tight spot they’ve left me. But I don’t, so instead, in extreme cases, I leave a card that’s printed with “Nice parking job, dumb ass.” on the windshield.

(Yes, I have clear bitch tendencies.)

Maybe that person had to park crappy because the person parked on the other side of them parked crappy and left before you got there. I’d be pissed too, but I wouldn’t let my dorr hit their car. Even if that car was parked sideways no one has the right to hit it with their door. I’m glad you didn’t do any damage.

You might want to think about looking into the possibility of a caffeine addiction if a wrongly parked car upset you that much. Or maybe have that first jolt before you leave the house.

btw… @tinyfaery, seems like you are taking care after all in that you’re being cautious enough to ensure that, even though you bump the other car with your door, that you don’t leave a mark.

No harm, no foul.

And no worries then, in my book.

1. No matter how bad someone’s day is, there is no excuse to be so self-centeted as to be oblivious to other people’s needs.

2. I never slam my car door open. I open it, rest it on the other person’s car, and squeeze out.

3. Why should I go out of my way to park elsewhere, go elsewhere, or park backwards, when the bad parker couldn’t bother to park correctly? I say it’s karma.

4. I wasn’t upset about the situation, I bumped the car and got my coffee.

Thanks rob.

If done on purpose, that’s one thing. If done because it was the only way to get out of your car, that’s another. As long as you are careful not to damage the other car I see no reason to feel bad, or go out of your way to get your coffee elsewhere.

@Syz, I hope you don’t live in my town!

Your point is valid. Sadly there are many many stupid and self centered people in the world, and everyone has to deal with them in all sorts of situations. I go out of my way to avoid stupidity if I can. Know what that crookedly parked car means to me? It means there’s a person who thinks its fine to park crookedly inside that shop, and the last place I’d want to deal with a self centered idiot is at Starbucks while waiting for my morning coffee.

Personally I gain karma in these instances, because I don’t stoop down to their level, I remain civil and respectful even when others don’t treat me so. And do note, that you doling out karma means someone is the recipient of bad karma, which by karma logic tee hee means you’ll be getting hit by bad karma sometime else…

Of course a lot of this is moot if you simply touched doors together to squeeze out. It’s a car, if you don’t want it damaged you don’t drive it in public! Plus door dents are a simple fact of car owner life. I got the impression from your question that the door hit was large enough to leave a mark or damage and that was what my answer was based on.

Nobody can tell you how to feel.

I think it would be ok if you dinged this one:

http://www.holybug.com/imgs/holybug/Bad-parking.jpg

don’t feel bad tinyfarey! i am sur that others have done this too. i know that i have. and it was a mistake because it was their fault for not parking in the right spot within the lines, they were way to far on our parking side! it is ok. it is not like you ment to do it.

I do this too.

PARK IN THE DAMN LINES PEOPLE!

@tinyfaery after reading your last post, I completely agree with you. You did nothing wrong.. so no reason to feel bad. At first I thought you put a ding in the other driver’s door when you opened yours..

@scamp.. that was very nice of you! :)

@rossi_bear .. Thanks! I misunderstood until that last post.

@scamp..it is ok we all do that once in awhile. LOL! no worries! :)

Accidents happen.
Intentional malice would be different.

One time i dinged a new scion in the show room. My heart stopped for a second and then I remembered that no harm was done it was just a loud bang. I didn’t get in trouble and I hope that I don’t do it again. I drive a giant pickup truck, thankfully I am skinny and not bad at parking. The truck that I drive is much easier to park backwards and not that hard to drive in general. I have never parallel parked though.