Parking lot or fishbowl?

Brenda Flanigan posing for a parking lot blog

When does a parking lot double as a fish bowl?

Perhaps the intent of a parking lot is just to store vehicles while their occupants conduct business nearby. This is frequently true. Yet upon further inspection, a real parking lot reveals a life of its own, sometimes even a little microcosm of humanity.

For example, I may or may not have seen some, shall we say, extraordinary activity in our own College parking lot. The vagueness is to protect the innocent, or at least reassure them that in no way are their activities being judged. They could, however, be noticed. Even though scattered throughout the lot are folks who seem to view the cozy walls of their cars as invisibility shields.

Take for instance the young woman who just the other day appeared to be making great wide swipes with paint or some such thing under her arm. A moment to process revealed she was actually applying deodorant! In the parking lot. I winced and looked away as if I was violating her privacy. Whew! Safe. But no, only to land on the girl parked kitty corner with the big sparkly sunglasses. An aspiring actress rehearsing for a part? Why else was she turning this way and that in the mirror, making and watching her exaggerated faces. Perplexed, big smile, sad, thoughtful, surprised… but invisible?

Lives are lived in parking lots. The guy sleeping in his car on lunch hour may be a young father enduring infant-induced sleep deprivation. Another is mustering up the confidence to head inside to a really important interview for a job he desperately needs. A woman is frantically cutting out shapes between classes, spreading them on her dashboard and laughing hysterically. What? Turns out her kid’s daycare needs the Valentines early.

A lot goes on in a parking lot if you’re willing to look around. Remember though, we can see you.

Note: What zany parking lot story can you share? And, if you think our parking lot is something, you should venture inside of Moraine Park to see the cool stories unfolding here. Someday they could even include you.

Written by Jean Dodge
Design Specialist, Creative Services