Oh the Creativity of Our Local Drivers

Earlier this week I documented yet another of the many examples that illustrates the creativity of Tucson drivers.  On our way home from another long day of classes, my roommate and I stopped at the grocery store.  It was in the parking lot that we encountered a seemingly oblivious driver who had positioned the vehicle, upon parking, so that it occupying two spaces.  As I was reaching for my camera, to commit the moment to pixels, an individual on a cell phone emerged from the store and headed towards the area of the parking lot where the aforementioned vehicle was parked; with no regard for the traffic driving through the parking lot (or safety in general).  We then watched that individual get into the poorly parked vehicle and leave, remaining on the cell phone the whole time.  Thankfully it was raining a bit that day and I was able to photograph this moment of creativity sans the vehicle itself.

Evidence left by today's creative driver

 I would like to mention that in this instance, the creative driver was operating a vehicle with divided attention.  However, often times I witness creative driving by Tucson drivers who don't seem to be holding an electronic device, or anything but the steering wheel for that matter.  This is the why I like to call them creative drivers and not careless, dangerous, distracted, or oblivious drivers even though they are surely that too.  The lesson I have learned while residing in the city I have come to love is:  while driving expected the unexpected, quite literally, at all times.

Cleaning Feet?

In my latest trip to Walmart.  Yes, unfortunately I do make the occasional Wally-world run.  For some reason that is the only store in this city that carries a couple of my daily sundries.  So, I make a monthly trip just for those items, which is another entry entirely.  So, moving on from that digression.  On my last trip I ran across a new item (new to me anyway) on one of the isles housing the cleaning supplies that forced me take pause, and a picture.  I think it was the bright green color of this Slipper Genie product that caught my eye more than the ridiculous concept of it.  The label reads "Slip em on and they'll do the cleaning for you," and calls them "Microfiber cleaning slippers."  Now, I don't know about you, but I don't actually walk every square inch of my tile flooring.  I guess dusting the high traffic area is better that no cleaning at all, but I can get the same result by walking around in my socks!  The discovery of the Slipper Genie has prompted me to ask, are we that busy or just that lazy?

 

What Color is Your Water?

There was time, in the not so distant past, when I thought the water fountain at the entrance to my apartment complex was nice, tasteful even.  Perhaps it could have used a little descaling with the hard, desert water that was gracing its stones 24/7, but aside from that I liked it.  Then, one day a few weeks ago they began a little maintenance on the ol' water feature.  They did get rid of the mineral build up on the stones, which I applaud them for.  However, that was not the only fix in their plans.  It turns out that adding a fresh coat of paint or two was part of the program as well.  Typically I would say that a fresh coat of paint is an easy way to keep of the facade of a property, as most people would.  The only caveat to this would be color choice.  In the case of this fountain it seems that the person in charge of picking the paint colors was not informed of this very important stipulation.  As a result of what seems to be an attempt at an illusion of a clean, clear body of water is, in reality, an ostentatious eyesore.  While it's quite unsightly, and even blinding in lieu of sunglasses at high noon, I find for one am amused by the blunder.

Frozen Yogurt

I was sitting out side of my favorite frozen yogurt joint enjoying my tasty treat in the cool spring evening with my roommate and her mom.  We were having a nice relaxing chat when a car pulls in to a spot near our table.  A very understandable and common occurrence given our location just outside, on the sidewalk, right next to the parking lot.  However, this was the most creative parking job I have ever seen!  Not only did the driver pull only 3/4 of the way into the spot, but she did so positioning the car perpendicular to the curb in a diagonal spot and left the lights on (car not running) as she went inside Nico's Taco Shop.  This driver gets the Most Creative Tucson Driver Award for the week.....No, there's no such award, but if you've ever lived in Tucson you know that there should be.