Not Again!

Where the heck is my car?

Every single time - and I mean EVERY single time - I leave a store at the Promenade at Sagemore (an outdoor shopping mecca in Marlton), I panic because I have no idea where my car is. 

I am at the Promenade often, as it is located directly across from my workplace and just five minutes from home, and it is one of the most comprehensive go-to places for anything and everything that I enjoy shopping for vs. the obligatory milk and eggs or mildew removal cleaning products. 

Yet, I can't seem to figure out how to enjoy stress-free parking there or anywhere else other than a select few stores or malls. 

The only foolproof method I have devised to keep track of the whereabouts of my car without too much effort into the thought process is to park in the same general vicinity every time I frequent a particular place.  For example, when I go to Shop Rite, I try to park along the line of the "Pharmacy" sign; when I go to Cherry Hill Mall, I look for a spot at the Nordstrom's entrance along Haddonfield Road; when I go to Moorestown Mall, I search for a space outside Lord & Taylor facing the road which isn't Rt. 38. 

Even if I am going to Macy's at Cherry Hill Mall, I find it's worth my time to park in my usual place at Nordstrom and walk through the mall than park at Macy's and try to wing it when it's time to go.

The reality is that when I have finished shopping, I don't want to then BEGIN looking for my car.  

Back to the Promenade.  Once I leave J. Jill, I want to get home.  I am usually cranky, annoyed that I bought something I most likely didn't need and most importantly, I have to go to the bathroom, quickly. That's probably why I left the store in the first place.  I don't want to spend 15 additional minutes (if I'm lucky) searching for my car while hungry-for-a-space drivers first laugh and then curse at me for leading them on, aisle after aisle.     

Part of the problem in not finding the car is that it's charcoal gray, just like half the others out there, and although it will sound when I hit my electronic remote, I have to be fairly close to it for my SUV to react.  That means I may wander aimlessly for a period of time before that click on the remote yields results.

At times like these, I miss the days when I drove around in my "Cohen-mobile;" that is, my parents' car with a big box on the roof that said "Cohen-for-Council."  This eyesore came out a month or two before the primary/election and even though everyone made fun of me, I was the first one to find my car after a midnight movie.    

I have tried over the years to remind myself to pay better attention to where I've parked BEFORE I enter the store, such as what street I'm facing, where my car is in relation to my destination, or to jot down a number or landmark on paper or in smart phone - you name it, I've THOUGHT about it.  

But here I am at almost 55 years-old lamenting about this issue as if it's new, when I am in reality frustrated by the same predicament today as the day I got my license, nearly 40 years ago.