Parking Lots

Since college, I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve been to a Wal-mart. I have two main reasons for my limited visits. For one, I remember watching a documentary proclaiming the evil practices of the giant corporation; I refuse to support any grossly unethical businesses. I wish I could say that that was my main and only reason for avoiding Wal-Marts.

Quite frankly, even if the company were entirely altruistic, I would probably still not visit because I never found the appeal of their low quality items. It was a wonder that I found myself heading towards the local Wal-mart at 11pm.

I vaguely remembered hearing that it was acceptable for people to openly park their cars for the night in a Wal-mart parking lot. I’m not sure how I even heard this rumor, maybe it was from the documentary; last night I thought it’d be an interesting theory to test.

I drove in expecting to see a small congregation of vans, trucks, and RVs forming on the outskirts of the parking lot. I imagined a camp filled with dark tinted vans, each with its own colorful history of police stakeouts and/or Amber alert kidnappings.

I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed when I found only one parked RV. All of the other vehicles looked like they were normal shoppers. I drove in closer to look for the telltale signs of a fellow road hobo; there would be curtains shut, windows wide open for ventilation, and maybe some form of light emitting from the cracks. I circled the parking lot and didn’t find what I was looking for.

However, I did find the security guard. He sat in his SUV and prowled the lot, occasionally driving up and down the lanes with his flashing orange lights. At first I didn’t pay him any notice; I figured I could park far enough away and he would leave me alone. I reasoned that the evil corporation probably didn’t pay him enough to actively look for trouble. On the other hand, I saw the signs that repeatedly stated “No Overnight Parking or You Will Be Towed”.

As much as I believe that ‘Bad Decisions make Great Stories’, there’s a certain line that has be drawn and having your vehicle towed while you’re still sleeping in it is not something that I’d like the pleasure of retelling. So instead of risking it, I simply drove up to the guard and asked him if it was acceptable to sleep in my vehicle.

The guard looked over at me with compassion morso than as a figure of authority. He explained how it was his job to make sure that no one parked overnight, with the exception of RVs (which were allowed a 1 day maximum). He gave a heartfelt apology. I told him no worries and that I didn’t want to make his job difficult (or get towed).

Just as I was leaving he mentioned that the lot further down the street (owned by Petco and Vons) was not guarded by anyone. He said I was more than welcome to stay there until the morning.

I thanked him and parked down the street in the nearly empty lot. It felt uncomfortable to be in such an open area, but I thought it’d be neat to try for at least one night. I wish the story ended here with me getting a good nights sleep, but you’ll be surprised at what goes on in a nearly empty parking lot at night.

My first interruption was what sounded like a drug deal that happened at 12:50 am. The two cars had parked approximately three car lengths away from me, with one car probably thinking that I was the initial buyer/seller. I peeked through my tinted window and lifted one of my blackout curtains just slightly to see what was going on. Since there wasn't much sound proofing in my vehicle, I could clearly hear their conversation, but I wasn't sure exactly what they were buying/selling, though it definitely seemed like a drug deal. After the deal, they surprised me with a quick conversation about the state of politics. Hmm, who would've thought?

I was woken from my sleep a second time by the sound of a nearby heavy engine. It scared me thinking that it was a tow truck. I hastily looked around and luckily it wasn’t. At this point, I started sleeping with my jeans on in case I needed to make a quick escape. It’s barely 2:30 am.

The third time I woke up hearing an engine rev loudly. This time I woke up more annoyed than frightened, thinking “Are you serious?” I looked through the back window to find someone working on his car just a few feet from my tailgate bumper. I look over at my cell phone and wonder who works on their car at 4 am in an empty parking lot?! After a few minutes, I hear his car revving away into the night (or what was left of it).

I've decided that I’m done with parking lots. I head back to my favorite spot, an apartment complex that sits inconspicuously a block away from the police station. I need whatever sleep I can get; I have work at 8:00 am.