#879 The Parking Lot Pull Through

Sweet roll

Backing out of a parking spot is no fun.

You’re turning side to side, checking mirrors, moving real slowly, trying to size up how far away your car is from the next one. It’s an awkward three, four, five-point turn, as you twist your spine up, scrape your tires up, dent someone’s fender up, and narrowly avoid hitting a baby in a stroller up.

It’s a risky, twisty game of Lot Danger.

Ripped from the pages of How To Awesome Park

So take no chances and go for that beautiful Parking Lot Pull Through, a classic parking move that lets you drive right in and drive right out. The trick to pulling it off is finding a double-empty parking spot, entering it, and then driving up into the second spot.

And it’s great, because you get two smirky, satisfied smiles for the price of one. When you nail that PLPT, you’re loving it. And when you return to your car and drive right out, you’re loving it again. For those of you keeping track at home, that’s two awesomes for the price of one.

AWESOME!

AWESOME!

Win

Photo from: here and here

52 thoughts to “#879 The Parking Lot Pull Through”

  1. Hi – I have been “lurking” at your blog for a while and wanted you to know that I mentioned it in a lay sermon I did at our U.U. church yesterday. The topic was gratitude and here is what I included in the sermon:

    ” A blog that I follow on line has been listing 1000
    Awesome Things. The author is up to number 880.
    Can you imagine dedicating the time to find
    something awesome to write about each day for
    almost three years? Some days the writer, Neil, is
    profound, while other days he is grateful for really tall
    people or the secret of peeing in a pool. But can you
    imagine how that project has changed that man’s life? How he has to be now looking around for
    gratitude each and every day – centering his life on
    gratefulness?”

    And so I am thanking your for sharing your thoughts with me and for letting me share them with others….

    1. There are two types of parkers. Those who back in — back-inners — and fore-inners. Those who are hard core do not pull through a pull-through. They go half way.

  2. We have our own name for the Parking Lot Pull Through, named after a friend of ours who parks exclusively in this manner. If there isn’t a pull through available, she drives on.
    She drives on.

  3. Okay, the pull through is awesome. And I am all about awesome things, but you know what is not awesome? When you go to park in a parking space and someone is in the middle of a pull through. And then they do not to back up and stay in the parking space where they belong but look at you like “What? I’m just pulling through”.

  4. Yep, awesome and SAFER, for the driver and little kids running 20 feet ahead or dawdling 15 feet behind Mommy.

    1. Canada does have angle parking! However, no one pays attention & often the lines are gone due to weather.
      But we are not a backward country and do have angle parking … check out strip malls.

  5. On “Says You” on NPR one week, they were talking about words from some website that has “words” for things that should have words but don’t yet. The website apparently lists the Pull Through Parking Spot as a “sprew”.

  6. I was at 24-hour K-Mart the other day and when we were leaving the spot in front of us was empty and I said to my mate who was driving “Dude, you can just drive out forwards! BRILLIANT!” and he goes “Yeah, that’s the Parking Lot Pull Through. It was on 100 Awesome Things just the other day.” And here it is.
    Dude, you totally get me!

  7. Story of my life. This is how I have to park since my good old beater of a volvo essentially does not back up. If there’s no pull through, I’m not parking there. End of story.

  8. My mom got poked in the butt she was doing a pull through and someone went behind her and hit her right in the butt. LOL she never pulls through anymore.

  9. Lazy parking is another good one. That’s when you pull into the parking lot and can just go straight into a spot, without having to go up and down aisles trying to find somewhere to park.

    1. Grammar? “THROUGHS IS” = plural. Plural verb is ‘ARE’. When will we learn the to use the language correctly, this person is probably complaining about people not speaking English – neither is J.

  10. You know what is absolutely not awesome: when you’ve found the perfect spot, you’re all geared up for a PLPT, your smirk is beginning, and some guy comes from out of nowhere comes from the other side and pulls into your perfect pull through spot. That is a sad, sad moment.

    1. Even sadder is when your cars collide and suddenly you’ve got a dinged-up car, a big expense, and you know your effin’ insurance company’s going to drop you, all so you could get a PLPT.

  11. i just did that yesterday and got hit by a person backing out from the space next to the empty one that i was about to go into. Cops came and said this move is illegal.

  12. This happened to me this morning, though I was the PLPT-ee.

    I think it’s alright, as long as you pause in the first spot and make sure no one is coming from the other side.

    1. First come first serve. Just move on if you didn’t get there first. Don’t wait for the next shopper.

  13. I had a large amount of time on my hands and had begun reading through the list starting at 1000. I left off at 885 a couple days ago and then just yesterday I experience a perfect parking lot pull through and I wondered is this on the list? and if it isn’t it should be. So I am happy, relieved and just all around glad you thought to include it!

  14. Got a new awesome thing to add – when you realize a crappy MS Paint picture you made about a decade ago to illustrate your Wikipedia article has ended up on a really awesome website – yeah, that’s pretty awesome.

  15. i do this all the time. when i go to work, employees park in the furthest row (which is closest to the road) so i can just keep going straight and pull right through and never have to worry about finding a place to park. AWESOME!

  16. My mother- in- law had to go for her driving test and at the little pre-test seminar, the instructor recommended that as a some seniors have difficulty backing up, they should always look for a pull through. So, of course, we call it senior parking.

  17. And ode to Sprewing, a.k.a. The Parking Lot Pull Through….

    I love to sprew..don’t you?
    It’s an easy thing to do
    When you parked in a lot
    and you see a clear empty spot,
    Just put it in Drive and pull through!

  18. Is it illegal in Florida to PLPT and then pull out of the driving space going the opposite direction of the parking lot aisle arrow?

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