On Saturday morning I had an appointment at work at 11 a.m., but I had just purchased about $200 worth of cleaning supplies, micro clothes, chamois, etc. for my R129, and I was aching to use them.

So, I woke up about 7:00 or so, and rolled the girlfriend out of bed, too. We spent the next few hours washing, polishing, buffing, shining, etc. my baby. This was the very first time I got to do this since I picked her up early in August.

My baby was looking so beautiful after that. Super, Super, clean. We took the top off, and I left for my meeting with the top down, the weather clear and warm. I drove to work feeling like the king of the Interstate 5. The security guy at the parking entrance of my office building gave me a big smile as he waved me into the garage.

I am sure that he noticed the big grin on my face.

After my meeting, I was driving home, and I pulled off the freeway to grab some refreshments at a Jack in the Box off the South Bound 5, in not a great area of Los Angeles. But I was listening to George Thoroughgood, "Born to be Bad", so I was feeling rough and tough and ready for any trouble.

Anyways . . . I pull into the Jack, and notice that the sprinkler system was giving the drive-thru a good watering. So, I decided to definatly NOT go there. I don't like taking my baby through the drive through anyways, because it is kind of low class for her. But letting sprinklers defile her new shine job was absolutely out of the question.

So, I find a nice safe parking place, near the end, where I can park far away from other cars. I lock her up, and head for Jack's door. I notice that the drive-thru sprinklers have just turned off. My heart sank as I turned around to see the sprinklers near my baby turn on and start wetting her down. I ran to her, and pulled her out of the space.

Well, now . . . I figured that the drive-through sprinklers were the least likely to turn on, so I got into the drive through line. When the guy asked for my order, he must of thought I was a nut because I gave him a lecture about not turning sprinklers on during the day, and ruining all my hard work.

When I got to the window and the guy handed me my diet coke, I asked him for 15 napkins. He looked at me as if I were a mad man, but he gave me the napkins.

So, I pull into the closest parking space, no sprinklers are on. I get out and start gently drying my baby with the napkins. Just then, when I am standing in the neighboring parking space, one of many empty ones in the lot, a beat-up SUV with about 8 elementary schoolers and their mothers start pulling into the space.

My baby's door is open. I am standing in front of the SUV, then bent over to dry the rocker panels. The SUV continues to come into the space. I yell, "Can't you park in another space???"

But no, it keeps coming, slowly, but not stopping. I finally shut the door on my car. I finish the drying. The SUV keeps coming. Very slowly. It finishes pulling into the space, but I jump into the car just in time to pull it out of the space before the army of brats and their ignorant mothers throw open the SUV doors and pile out of the car.

But . . . my baby is looking good again, so I am happy. But I need to make a few stops on the way home, and head south on the 710.

I hit some stop and go traffic, and right in front of me, a guy in a crapped-out Corolla changes lanes without signaling. The problem is that the space is already occupied by a beat-up old Acura RS. The RS has no place to go, because right next to it, on the left, is another beat up old car (Like I said, the bad part of town). And an 18 wheeler is right in front of the Acura.

Well, Acura starts honking, but Corolla keeps coming. Right in front of me. I slow way down and give the fools plenty of room. Acura pulls all the way to the left in his lane, and Corolla takes the right half of the lane. Corolla finally notices that he is sharing a lane with Acura. But Corolla doesn't move out. Instead, he takes a feint at side-swipping Acura. Acura thinks this is funny, and for the next minute or so, the two share the single lane, riding at 40 MPH in front of me, playing a game of chicken, to see who is going to get to keep the lane.

Well, eventually someone pulled into the big space I had left, and I got to my exit.

I got to the mall that I was headed to, and could not find a save place to park, so I had to park with a car on each side of my baby. But they were both very small cars. Four doors, so all the doors were short. Late model, so at least the owner might care about not smashing its doors against my door.

I am in the store about 1/2 hour, and I find my baby when I get out. The two small cars are gone. In their places are two HUGE MONSTER TRUCKs. The tops of their tires are about 3/4 of the way to my roof. Both trucks are too big to fit into their parking spaces, so each one hangs over about 3 or 4 inches into MY parking space.

I inspect my baby and see she is not hurt. I open her door the most I can without hitting the fool's truck next door, and I can barely squeeze in. But I made it. I started my baby, and drove her home without further incident.

But I felt like she was a target that day. I find it so hard to leave her out in a parking lot where any Joe Plain-Jane-crapped-out-SUV/Pickup/Sedan-driver can ding her beautiful flanks. I know they won't love her and take care of her.

Maybe next time I should just keep her home. Are any of you as paranoid as I am about stupid people hurting yoru R129's??

 

yes i am!

the other day i went to get coffee with my friend,

i park and go inside and make sure i get a table that i can see my car from. im sitting there and this white POS pulls nexto me, and the lot is empty so i parked a little crooked (becsue there were 15 other spaces in the same row) and this car parks straight nexto me and i am crooked. like way to close. the mom gets out, safe rigt? moms on the other side. but then i see this little head in the back of the POS. fiew safe she gets out on the other side, little girl 8year old could have been bad! then i see somting terrable, the mom walks inside and i see another little bobbing head in the back of teh car, its an infant in a car seat on teh same side of my car!!! and the little FKNG 8 year old is going to open the door to the POS on my SL!!!
small panic
the kid opens the door slowley and makes shure she does not hit the fancy car.
im relieved.
then all hell breaks loose, she backs up into her door, hyper-extending the POS door straight into my door.

I FREAK
like FREAK
and she does one of those WOOPS!! looks to her mom adn quicky closes the door in a panic.
a cringe lay apon my face.
they come inside, im Gnar-cheeses (very pissed) but i dont show it beacause i dont want to look like an *** with my "fancy" Mercedes (thats 11 years old and costs as much as a nice new Honda.)

i nonchalantly go to my car an hall *** home to inspect,

verdect? some POS white paint, and a perfect flat door panel with NO dent!

thats why im not having kids-

MArk

 

I´m relieved that nothing happend, but I know the horror you must have gone through. I was not that happy the day before I went to Scotland despite I like you, try to protect it at all cost

/Håkan

 

Joe, did you ever consider making the car a Trailer Queen LOL.

 

The 2 incidents in regards to where you park surprised you why ?

# 1 - You went to a Jack-in-the Box , what did you expect , a valet to take your car to a special spot? You were also suprised when a SUV pulls up with a cargo full of Rugrats ?

# 2 - you park at a mall - a collection of all the cars within a 15 mile radius , you had to know you're exposing your car to every possible situation from dings to scratches to hit and runs.

Lighten up , lifes about choices - look at the choices you made.

 

I don´t know how it is "over there" but here in Sweden, during the last years, the respect for other people and their object have drop. These days you don´t give a guy a fist. You stab him with a dagger. And if you leave a dent in a another car, you don´t leave a not, you run away ... and think thats ok.

Where is the world going?

 

Yep . . . I would say that is how it is going here, too, but I think even worse. I could write a long essay on that, but it would be off topic. As it applies to owning cars, the WORST place is the west-side of Los Angeles. I lived there a few years ago, and at least 40% of the cars are MB's and Bimmers. But the real-estate is so damn expensive, all the parking spaces are really really small. You can barely fit the car into the space.

Almost every little corner store has a valet. But is that the answer? Valets? How do you know what they do with your car after they take it?

 

speaking of valet service - remember the Seinfeld episode when a valet gives him his car back with a terrible body odor that he left behind?lol

 

I hear you man!

What I hate is here in Phoenix, it RARELY rains.. so you can go a whole month with a car that's never been wetted... EXCEPT if you are unlucky enough to turn down a street where the freaking sprinkler system has been on for 5 hours watering the sidewalks! and there is a pool of water spanning the entire width of the street!

You now have two choices, reverse the car and get nailed by all of the guys coming down the street (not really an option!).

or drive over the pool and totally thrash the sides of your new car and the wheel wells..

We're in the desert! Can't we just have rocks and cactus!

 

We don´t have any valets here up in the north, and as you say -Don´t think that is the answer. You have to begin with the kids and to learn them to respect people and property.

I drove down to the habor and parked the car in the space for cars. No other car on the left or on the right. I went up to a bench to eat my evening meal, and a had a god view over the car. After a while a another car parked on my cars right hand. I saw childern (6-8 years) in the back of the car and I think "Oh, NO". However. The man in the car did careful get out first of the car. After that he open the backdoor for the children to prevent any dent into my car. Probably had he said to the children to not open the door themself. That´s respect for others property!

 

I feel your fear! Last month while at a rest stop in Maryland some guy squeezes into a spot next to my SL and parks crooked! As im coming out from getting a cold drink i see him open his passenger door to bump my car! I was furious. His car was a new black SUV so you would think he'd be concerned! I yell at him of course and he speaks an Indian tongue to apologize. Then he does the ultimate of NO...NO's. He actually spits on his finger and wipes the spot where his door hit mine!! I was steaming!! I immediately jumped in my car and left him with this dumbfounded look of "what is the big deal". Further up the highway i had stopped again to get gas. While pulling back onto the interstate, I see him and his wife putzing along in the fast lane at 40 mph max. I speed up and toss the finger as forcefully as I can. I feel terrible for I am not a raging idiot on the road nor in life. I am usually calm and collected but this guy really pissed me off.

Glad to know Im not the only SL driver passionate about others respecting her car.

smile

 

R U SEREOUS!! he "finger fixes" your SL!!! I WOULD HAVE FAINTED!!! AHHHHhhhHHhh

mark

 

Thanks for the advice Racer X.

But, come on . . . at Jack in the box, I put my car in a special place, and the ditz turned the sprinklers on . In So Cal, it isn't even advisible to water your lawn when it is 90 degrees and the sun is shining. The water evaporates before it can soak down to the roots.

Then when I was parked later, there were at least 10 other parking spaces the SUV could have chosen. But no . . . it had to be right where I was standing.

And as far as the mall . . . what am I supposed to do? My other car was in the shop. Other people aren't allowed to hurt my baby just because I have the nerve to go to the mall.

The point is . . . under the circumstances, I was trying to take care of my baby, and my attempts kept getting defeated.

But given that Racer X is about one of the coolest Race Car Driver Cartoons ever, I'll forgive you.