WTF Friday: Shopping Center Considers Women Special Needs Drivers.

Image by dklimke via Flickr



Car park offers wider spaces, signs to help women drivers in need | News.com.au
 
 

Oh men and their need to malign women drivers. Are we really auto dysfunctional or just preoccupied with stuff, like screaming kids and husbands yelling at us to “hurry up and park the damn thing?”

Just as men suffer from “stopping for directions disorder,” women have spatial relation issues when it comes to in-laws and parking spaces. Maybe not in-laws, per say, although having a mother-in-law riding shot gun, just two-feet away, complaining about how you’re raising her grand kids like feral children, would not be conducive to a successful parking experience.


Well, the Wanxiang Tiancheng shopping centre in Hebei province’ has devised a way to improve that parking experience.

A SHOPPING centre in China has opened a car park that offers women drivers bigger-than-normal parking spaces to accommodate what it sees as their special needs.

I resent the name calling, referring to women as special needs drivers. I admit that I’m a crappy parker and that the parking lines seem to move with the car, but I get the sense that there’s a bit of chauvinism going on here. Special needs drivers, indeed.

Wang Zheng, an official at the Wanxiang Tiancheng shopping centre in Hebei province’s Shijiazhuang city, told AFP the women-only parking lot aimed to address women’s “strong sense of colour and different sense of distance”.

“Different sense of distance.” You mean like sticking your head up your ass, while writing a memo about adjusting the parameters of parking spaces in order to accommodate special needs women drivers. Geez! And what was all that about a “strong sense of colour?” You won’t find it at the News.com.au link. You have to jump over to the BBC News website to find out more details on this incredibly important topic.

The women-only car park in Shijiazhuang city is also painted in pink and light purple to appeal to female tastes.

Okay. I do like pink and light purple but think it might be a tad bit distracting to admire pretty colors, while parking at the same time. Don’t get me wrong. Women are great multi-taskers. We can smack the kid in the back seat; run a red light, while also making dinner reservations. But when we see pretty colors, we lose our train of thought, as soon as the dopamine in our brains kicks in.

At least that’s what Wang Scheng would have you believe. The BBC article provides details on how Wang Scheng  intends to condition women drivers to respond like rats behind the wheel.

The Wanxiang-Tiancheng shopping centre had also “installed signs and security monitoring equipment that corresponded more to women’s needs”, he said.

The Global Times website says female parking attendants have been trained to help guide women drivers into their parking spaces. The bays also have extra lighting.

Ohhhhhh! Pretty lights, too. I bet those women parkers in China will never make it into the store. In my opinion, the light and color combo is an accident waiting to happen.

Let’s face it. Maybe we’re better suited at being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen while parking baking dishes in ovens. Hence, my previous post on a study concerning women’s parking habits. Women better at parallel parking baking dishes in ovens than cars on streets.

Haven’t any of these reporters heard about global warming or the high unemployment rate? There is important news out there, somewhere. Go find it! For God’s sake.

What say you on pink and purple parking spaces with all those purdy lights – parking salvation or parking hell?

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14 Comments WTF Friday: Shopping Center Considers Women Special Needs Drivers.

  1. ReformingGeek

    Um, yeah. It's China. I don't expect much respect from them. But, I do have a response.

    See this "pink" middle finger and this purple cattle prod? …where the sun don't shine…where the sun don't shine.

    Reply
  2. Me-Me King

    I agree with you, I would be very distracted by the pink and purple spaces. Do you think this has anything to do with "Hello Kitty?"

    Anyway, I am proud of the feral children I raised and the feral children they are raising. Take that mother-in-law!

    Reply
  3. Bonehead

    So I'm guessing I'd be out of line to suggest that perhaps some shoes and handbags outlining the parking spaces might make be another way to encourage efficient parking?

    Kidding – just jokes….;)

    Reply
  4. Jen

    Ooh, I like pink and purple! Where do I park?

    I once heard that women have difficulty with depth perception, we aren't able to correctly identify size of some things. Which men would be wise to leave as it is if they are smart.

    Reply
  5. Carl

    Well..I probably should not touch this with a ten foot pole.:) However I can only say that I wish all spaces were a little bigger.In an effrot to maximize space we are more and more crammed to the point where it is hard sometime to open the door.
    Having said that I have 3 sisters and I will say I have ridden with all of them and consider myself blessed and lucky to be alive! haha
    I say take the special parking and don't get in a huff.There are too many important things to be concerned with .
    Nice find..
    I am never disappointed here.
    Happy Valentine's Day Lauren,
    Carl

    Reply
  6. Mr. Stupid

    I wonder what I will do when I am caught up with a Car in a parking lot. It takes me quite sometime to manage a Bicycle park.
    I don't suppose any colors or signs would distract me. In fact, even a "NO PARKING" sign didn't distract me once… hehe

    Have a nice Sunday!

    Reply
  7. Will

    Hi Lauren.
    Weird that's the least you could say.
    Maybe they are planning guided tours to that parking spot?
    Get all chinese women park in the same way?
    Anyway what can you expect from made in China?
    Probably the pink paint is highly toxic and the lights will trigger migraine attacks.
    Have a great week-end!
    Will.

    Reply
  8. Lauren

    RF: Nicely stated.

    Me-Me: Ha!It's got "Hello Kitty" fingerprints all over it.

    J: I think heavy on the shoes.

    Jen: "we aren't able to correctly identify size of some things." Originated by a man who was self-conscious about his, uh, ahem, shoe size.

    Carl: Thanks!!! Good idea not to ride in the death seat with either sis. : )

    Mr. S: Parking in China would definitely be a problem for you.

    Will: You're probably right about toxic pink paint. Their motto might be: "Sell then send them to hell." Have a great weekend, too.

    Reply
  9. Lauren

    Tracie: I think China is one giant cesspool, heavily polluted and highly toxic. I think their country's landscape is reflective of how they value life. You're right. Not a lot of great decision making happening in that part of the world.

    Reply
  10. Mrsblogalot

    Do you think this would this be a bad time to admit that I've hit two deer, scratched three cars and lost my keys three times in the last 6 months?

    Reply
  11. Lauren

    Shraddha: Ha! This is like driver AA. Please join us by participating in WTF Friday. McLinky Link is at unscriptedlife.com. We'd love for you to join us.

    Reply
  12. Lauren

    Mrs. B: Thank you for the much-needed laugh. Working 9-5 has pulverized my funny bone, not to mention my brain. I can't play as much as I'd like to with my imaginary friends.

    Reply

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