Who's Playing Who?

This past Monday, I made a journey I know very well. You may too. It ends with a hasty left turn into Culloden Rd (you may prefer Balaclava Rd, I mean, it does have a pretty bad arse name), and a right turn into the drive of Macquarie University.

As I drove up the winding road, I knew what challenge was ahead of me. Obtaining a car park.

There’s an interesting phenomenon that is observed by many, and seems to occur around the 3^rd or 4^th week of every semester. You see, up until that point, at every time of the day (apart from say, before 9.30am), there is a constant battle waged between students and staff alike to capture that illusive car park.

Many strategies are deployed.

You’ve got your ‘camper’, who virtually parks themselves in an aisle and waits for anyone within a 50m radius to leave. Problems arise when they feel they are entitled to every car park in the area, simply because they sat themselves down in that row. They often try to reverse several metres, while another vehicle has positioned themselves on the other side of the vacated spot, ready to park. Yelling and horn-blaring ensues, until one party concedes defeat. They have their final say (usually riddled with profanity) and drive off disheartened but optimistic, hoping they can be successful with the next opportunity they are presented.

The second type of driver you’ll encounter is the ‘stalker’, which is an option relying heavily on stealth. These guys and girls drive slowly and quietly around the car park, searching for any signs that a park is near- sudden movement, brake lights and so on. When they spot a person walking away from the buildings, this is the time they usually strike. They approach them cautiously, hoping that the pedestrian is actually leaving and not just picking something up or worse yet, walking to the bus stop instead. However, relief comes in the form of a thumbs up or a gesture towards a car, and the ‘stalker’ knows that the park is theirs, and theirs alone.

That brings us to the final category, which I could best describe as a ‘Rambo’ (man, these names are getting lamer as it goes on, but eh). All guns blazing, they charge into the car park, turning corners at great speed, not stopping for anything. They see someone going, they flick on the indicator, and the car park is theirs. No nonsense. Just a single goal in mind. And they usually achieve success.

OK, so that went a little differently to what I had planned, but I guess it was sort of relevant. As I was saying, the first few weeks are much like what is described above. Then at that 3^rd or 4^th week… Suddenly, parks start appearing at all times of the day. The sound of car horns are virtually non-existent, and the stress levels of those in the car park seems to be a lot less. It’s around that time many people stop going to classes, and it’s a great time to drive into the place. This year though, I’m not sure whether this will be the case…

You see, they’ve gone and damn well knocked down a couple of multi-storey car parks. These parks are to be replaced by a temporary area where the Golf driving range currently exists. The real losers in all of this are golfers- where will they work on their shots now? Oh and also losing out, people who don’t like to walk long distances.  It will be opening around the 18^th of March. Until then? Chaos reigns.

If you have any interesting car park experiences or anything to say on this matter at all, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below, or on our Facebook page, or email us via whosplayingwho@gmail.com. Let your thoughts be known!