Reverse Culture Shock

I discovered today my car’s most powerful tool in eluding tow trucks: hazard lights.

I couldn’t find a place to park this morning at my daughter’s preschool, so I pulled in front of a sign that clearly pictured a car getting towed as punishment for parking there.

Because my newly toilet-trained daughter had just announced that she needed the potty, I decided that I did not have time to circle the block, looking for another spot. I did what I had seen other bold parkers do — I turned on the hazards.

Hazard lights flashing on driverless vehicles seem to create a magic bubble around a car that prevent it from getting ticketed, or towed.

I encountered another mom in our brisk walk from the car to the potty who agreed that my plan was a sound one.

In fact, I even walked by another car that was completely blocking a driveway. The hazard lights blinked furiously on that station wagon, so we knew that even if the resident of the house with the blocked drive emerged, no tickets would be handed out. No tow company would be called, thanks to those hazards.

Sure enough, when I emerged from the school after the drop off (and successful potty trip), I was pleased to see the hazards blinking happily away, and my car resting right where I left it, defiantly in the illegal spot.