I have trained my children to get out of the car so I can park. Please allow me to explain, my children are all over the age of 10, I live in U.S. I drive a small car, and I have 5 years of experience driving large vehicles into small spaces (think a 30 foot long Hummer limo into a shipping container with 2 inches down each side)

Many parking lots in the US use parking lots where all of the cars are parked perpendicular to the lane of travel, and for some reason we citizens have an affinity for LARGE trucks and SUVs. We are also very self centered and obsessed with our cars. My children have not dinged a car since they were 5 years old because I understand the love affair that people have with their cars, and many people don't pay attention to when they get out of their cars and will chip the paint on the car next to them or even leave a small dent. I understand taking up two parking places because you have a nice car, and you don't want to take a chance that someone will damage it through their carelessness. I have several members of my family who will routinely take up two spaces at the far end of a parking lot and walk. If you do this I will respect your decision and leave you alone.

But if you park within about the first five rows, I will stop my car near the half space that you left and three doors will open without my saying a word, three children will get out and walk behind your vehicle, and I will leave about two inches between my passenger's side mirror and the side of your car. I will not touch your car, I will not hang over the line with my own vehicle, but I can promise… you WILL be climbing in from the passenger's side to be able to drive away.

And to defend myself in advance, if your vehicle is too big for you to fit it into a parking place, either park farther away, get a smaller vehicle, or learn to park. If I can pull a full size truck into a parking place, so can you…