Manolo Blahniks and Parking Lots

In my book thisand this have a lot more similarities than meets the eye.....





I went to have breakfast with friends at Seacliff this morning and found myself looking for a place to park. This might be an unremarkable (and decidedly annoying) experience for city kids but here in Dar, where the sun shines all year and the breeze blows extra lazily, parking places are a shilling a dozen.

Especially in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week but for some reason, there were no parking lots available this morning.

I didn't know this at that time but I was in for a rude shock. In Dar, life might be slow but I found out today that laid-back Tanzanians can sometimes give, rude, aggressive big city drivers a run for their money.

I had just driven past the front entrance of Seacliff Village when I decided to double back, quite sure that I'd spot a parking lot right near the entrance (I wasn't about to park farther away and walk - I AM a diva after all *grins*).

Just as I had predicted, I spotted someone reversing out of a spot right in front of the entrance. I quickly used my indicator to signal that I'd be turning in. Just then, someone else ( a young, local man) appeared out of nowhere in his car and tried his best to cut into the lot from the opposite direction.

Not about to be outdone, I pressed my 2-inch heel down on the accelarator and also headed into the lot. I think the guy must have noticed the look of crazed determination on my face because he stopped at the very last second and allowed me to park.

I swear there was less than an inch between the front bumpers of both cars.

What suprised me was my contender's attitude which I felt was suprisingly aggresive and competitive for a Tanzanian. I was definitely at the parking lot first and I couldn't understand why he'd want to push for the space. Maybe he thought I'd back down coz I was a woman?

He had no idea that he'd taken on the wrong person. How could he have known? Years of literally fighting for space in hot, overcrowded, carbon monoxide filled parking lots in Malaysian malls have trained me. I treat a good place to park like I would a new pair of Manolos - they're both incredibly valuable, highly treasured, remarkably rare and sometimes, even life-changing.

I'm not proud of my mad behaviour behind the wheel but maybe the bully will think twice the next time he tries to terrorize someone to give up their precious parking space : )

pics courtesy of coyoteblog.com and net-a-porter.com