Parking Lots

Most of my ire on this subject has historically been directed toward the Whole Foods parking lot on Ashland, however, I was there yesterday and the direction signs seem to have entirely faded (THEY'VE GIVEN UP) and thus my righteous indignation is less righteous. However. Back to the point:

In many parking lots there are arrows painted on the ground showing the direction of traffic. I point this out because most of you don't seem to notice this. You know why those arrows are there? Because if people obey them, we'll all get out of the lot faster, with fewer accidents, and in an orderly fashion.

I live in a city. Even in this city with lots of land, most parking lots are not big enough for each lane to be two-directional and for cars to pull in and out easily. It may seem sometimes that it will be quicker to cut across several lanes in the wrong direction. If it's 4am and there's no one there, sure. That seems reasonable. But at, say, 6:30pm on a weekday at a grocery store...no. Unacceptable.

But, you say, if I don't do that the car over there will get that space I see! That perfect space. True. That may be true. But you know what? I'm in that car over there, and I followed the god damn rules, and you're being an a-hole.

Ahem. Rudeness aside, going the wrong direction also causes the entire system to slow down. Cars can't pull out of spaces for fear of hitting everyone else. The cars with their lights blinking waiting for the other cars that are pulling out sometimes have to back up and go around. (only to have their slots stolen by a-holes, most likely). It all becomes dangerous, slow, and incredibly frustrating.

Anyone who has occasion to be near the aforementioned Whole Foods on a weekday after work can attest to this. Traffic will back up for blocks as people can't turn off the street into the lot because there's too much traffic within the lot. Some of that is not fixable. But most of it is, or would be if they hadn't given up and let the arrows fade. (Also, the problem at this lot is compounded by the fact that the Whole Foods patrons seem loath to use the indoor adjacent parking lot that is also free. So there will often be many empty spaces inside while a dozen cars back up traffic for blocks with their idiotic, non-arrow-following, ways).

I see three solutions:
1) Bikes and backpacks
2) Get rid of surface parking. Move it all into lots underground with their elaborate one-way lanes.
3) Stop being a-holes. Follow the rules.