There's a Hess gas station/convenience store five or six blocks from where I live. Often I walk there, but if I'm on my way home from something or in a hurry, I'll drive into the parking lot. Recently the owner put a gigantic trash bin (seriously, we're talking Tyrannosaurus-sized) on top of what used to be a parking spot.
This means there's only one parking spot on the western end of the property. There's also a curb where you could make a de facto second parking spot, but yesterday somebody whose battery died was occupying that space.
This left me with three choices:
1) Drive past the gas pumps to the east side of the property, which, means crashing into a car somewhere, as every gas pump was occupied at this time. Verdict: Not A Viable Option.
2) Drive onto Route 9 and back into the east side of the property, which, as Route 9 is a divided highway, meant I would have to take a right out of the parking lot, drive about 10 blocks, sit at the red light, make a U-turn, pass the Hess station and go another 10 blocks further to the next intersection, wait at the red light, make another U-turn and double back to the Hess station. Estimated time: 7 minutes. Verdict: Not A Viable Option.
3) Park in the empty handicapped spot.
I'm sad to report I chose Option 3. For the handful of groceries I needed, I figured it would take so little time it would not put anybody out. That said, for the 49 seconds I was in the store, I felt like the worst person in the history of the universe.
Oh, Phil.
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