Have you ever been so annoyed when trying to find a parking spot that you start cursing and doing things you would not normally do? Trying to find a vacant parking space at the Riverside Community College can often do that. Although my drive to school takes only twenty minutes, I leave my house at 9am to be at my 10:30 class. At about 9:30 I pull into the parking lot only to find hundreds of other students trying to hurry up and park their vehicles before they are late to their classes. Once I arrive in my classroom, I am late and behind on the class discussion. By this time, I am very frustrated and trying to concentrate in my three-hour class becomes extremely difficult. Although there are many different ways the RCC parking lot annoys me, the main reasons are that it takes too long to find a parking space, the parking spaces are not wide enough for larger vehicles, and many students are not responsible enough.
RCC Ministerial meeting in Armenia
Diagram of example parking lot layout with angle p...
English: Photo of parking spaces in an American Pa...My first reason why the RCC parking lot annoys me is that it takes too long to find a parking spot. I have to leave over an hour in advance just to try and make it in time for my morning class. Once I wake up in the morning and leave for school, it takes double the amount of what should only be a ten-minute drive down to the RCC campus. Upon arriving at the parking lot, stress has already become a huge factor thanks to the morning work traffic on the way there. By the time I get to the parking lot, there is already a huge line of what seems like hundreds of students trying to find a parking spot for their vehicles. From this point on, it becomes pure luck to get a parking spot early enough before class starts in the next hour. As I drive down the long elongated lanes of cars and around and around the winding parking area like a merry-go-round; cars in front of me fill up the few empty parking spaces that open up. Soon it becomes obvious that it is going to take a miracle from God to find a parking spot. After more time passes by and class is about to start in twenty short minutes, I finally come into realization that the only solution to making it on time is to go the extreme and literally become a hunter and scout out another student walking to his or her vehicle. When I finally do see someone walking to their vehicle, I quickly drive towards their direction as fast as my truck will go only to get there and see someone else pull in that parking spot. At this time I am very stressed since class has already started ten minutes ago, so I decide to just go ahead and park in the staff parking and risk getting a parking ticket which always happens. I am already fifteen minutes late so I quickly grab everything I need so I can run to class. Once I walk in and try to focus and hurry and catch up on the notes I was suppose to have already taken, I am too stressed and my concentration appears to be non-existent.
Another reason why the RCC parking lot is annoying is thanks to the narrow parking spaces. The parking spaces are just not wide enough for my truck along with other large SUV vehicles. Since my truck happens to have an extremely large lift on it and sits really high off the ground, the turning radius on it sucks! Not only is it hard enough alone trying to find a parking space, I also have to make sure it is wide enough for my truck to fit in. Along with trying to find a parking spot is other students in front of me blocking the lane waiting for another student who is about to leave. Rather than being kind and pulling off to the side so larger vehicles like mine can go around; they decide to stay right in the middle of the lane. When I finally do find a parking spot wide enough for my truck, it takes a long process to keep my truck from hitting other students cars parked on both sides of the narrow and small empty parking space. First, I have to try and take my truck as wide as possible to keep me from having to put my truck in reverse so many times. While doing this, I have a huge line of cars behind me honking their horns and telling me to hurry up. By this time I am filled with rage and cursing back at them and my stress, anger and frustration has made me want to just leave school and head back home. After a few times of putting the truck in reverse and then forward, I finally get the truck straight enough so I can pull into the parking spot all the way. When I try to open my door, I have very little space to get out and keep from putting a dent in the vehicle next to me.
Finally, the last reason why the RCC parking lot annoys me so much is because many of the other students are not responsible enough and rude. Most of the students there are always talking on their cell phones while trying to drive and park their cars. Instead of trying to find a parking spot for themselves, they decide to talk on their cell phones while holding up other people. After getting honked at for the fifth time they finally wake up and realize that there are no longer any cars in front of them and hundreds behind including myself waiting to get around them. There are also a well number of students who instead of leaving and going somewhere else after class, decide to be too busy making out with their boyfriend/girlfriend in the parking lot. Instead of being kind and hurrying up to their cars to drive off so other students can park, they decide to be rude and not care. Along with those students are other students who instead of wanting to be shot at would rather want to get ran over by my truck. This has happened many times before as I come barreling down the RCC parking lane and come across groups of students standing right in the middle of the lane talking to each other. Unbelievably, they decide not to move until I actually almost run them over.
The RCC parking lot will always be annoying until the day comes where I do not have to leave over an hour early or go through the trouble of trying to find a parking space wide enough for my truck. Until the students learn to be more responsible and until more parking structures get built, the parking there will always be extremely stressful and put me in a bad mood. Adding more parking structures now will not only benefit current students, but also will allow us to welcome new students to a school where they can concentrate on learning instead of where they are going to park.