Parallel Parking: Cairo Style

First published February 27, 2009

When I turned 16, my parents owned a Chrysler station wagon. In case you're not familiar with this type of vehicle...It was huge, pale yellow, wood-paneled and very, very long. My mother loved it. My father tolerated it. I borrowed it for the all-important first driver's license test. Once you passed the written exam, a State patrolman would escort you to your car and ask you to drive him around in it and then horror of all horrors parallel park it. 

My father had taken me driving multiple times, but the parking always struck terror in me. The day came. I took my written test and passed. I walked to the station wagon and began the driving exam. Everything was going well. Finally, it was time to parallel park. Two orange cones were placed a semi-truck's distance apart from one another on a deserted street. I had to somehow get my vehicle inside those two cones. After a 46-point turn, it was successfully within the cones albeit 2 feet from the curb. Still I had done it. I passed the test and for the next 25 years I have attempted to avoid all forms of this kind of parking.

In Cairo, parallel parking takes on a whole new form. The cars are tiny, but the parking spaces are even smaller. If you park your car on the street, you have to leave it in neutral. This allows the self-appointed "parking attendant" to push your car forward if the driver behind you is having trouble fitting into the alotted space. If you don't put it in neutral, you make the locals angry and a new dent will be found when you come back to your vehicle.

Parallel parking doesn't just stop there. The cars will fill up near the curb, but more need to park so they create a second layer of parallel parking. Now the cars are two-deep. Anyone can now see that this is truly a live Tetris game in the making. I have even witnessed a street 3 parked-cars wide. 

"But what happens when the car in the first layer of parking wants out?" you ask.

Several options:

1. He gets in his car and honks.
2. He gets in his car, honks and waves his arms.
3. He gets out of his car if 1 and 2 don't work and tracks down the "parking attendant" to see if he can find the other drivers.
4. He gets help pushing on the other cars to see if somehow he can eek enough space to get his car through.
5. He is joined by 5 or 6 other lamenting friends who can do nothing, but still sympathize.
6. He buys coffee at a local cafe and waits until everyone goes home.

While we are here, we do not own a car. At first, I thought I would miss driving terribly. I like to be able to go spontaneously somewhere. However, after seeing the traffic, parking and other drivers, I happily resign myself to taxis that simply pick you up and drop you off.

So when we're out somewhere and stop to get something to drink, we'll sit near a window and watch the cars park for entertainment. We just won't add any of the Arabic phrases that they're using to our notebook dictionary.