When I realized I had a string of live events coming up starting the end of August I never imagined I’d become an expert at waiting in long lines of cars to get into and out of parking lots. That is what I have been doing the most lately and I have to say I was exactly right about the Dome parking lot being run completely incorrectly and the overabundance of parking attendants causing more trouble than they solved.
Where are parking attendants when you enter an event venue parking garage? Think about your experience through the years. Most of the time they are at the entrance and that is the last you see of an attendant. Once you’re in it is a free for all and cars simply park where they can.
This is how it worked at Northwest Stadium and at the Norfolk Scope, but the Dome had a different idea. They had attendants on every level of the parking garage trying to park cars like a county fair. It was a little crazy to see, because it slowed things down tremendously and it also didn’t help that a lot of the drivers acted as if they’d never been in a parking garage before, but looking back it could have been the parking attendants that caused the confusion.
Last night when I entered the parking garage I was told parking was available on the fifth floor and then sent on my way. I had waited in a line of cars about a mile long just to get into the parking garage, but once in there was no more waiting. I drove to the fifth floor and then two more levels up before parking directly next to an elevator.
At the Dome despite waiting in a much shorter line of cars to get into the garage once in the line continued with parking attendants at every level. If you haven’t guessed my strategy it was to drive to the most deserted level and park directly near an elevator. It was easy at the much more crowded and full Scope parking lot than the Dome, and I did run into my own bit of numbskull nature in that parking lot.
Remember how I said they were parking people like at a county fair? I finally reached the level I wanted. I saw the elevator and all the parking near it. I turned toward it, the parking garage had signs directing traffic both ways, a parking attendant jumped in front of my car, started pointing at the spaces in front of me like a circus clown, and when I tried to simply turn my car the other way started beating on my window. This caused me to yell, “Why can’t I choose my own parking space,” at them and drive to the parking space I wanted.
Now, I am hoping to chill out on live events for awhile, and not end up in so many parking lots. the fight to get out is even worse than the one to get in, but as long as people follow common parking lot customs everything flows smoothly, and what I learned last night is people are much better at doing so when no one is watching.
David Huzzard Writes 