Once upon a parking spot

I don't have a place to park, beggar sign

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help me, the place i usually park in has closed.

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i spent days, nights, weeks searching for a space to park

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too late to park here, already full!

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too expensive. parking ticket

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.

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beggar spot

The person who comes up with the best solution will win … (you guessed it) an iPad*! That’s the only idea for a gift that brands seem to have these days. So that was my parking nag for today. Now, Bob Dylan has something to sing for you. Enjoy and have a lovely day! 🙂

Mr. Tambourine Man

* The iPad part is a joke of course.

Comments

40 responses to “Once upon a parking spot”

  1. Tarek Avatar

    Just take the metro…

  2. Darine Avatar

    LOL MAya, actually “payiong for parking is against my religion” I always try my best to scout free parking spots, although I must admit it is a tad hard next to your job but I am sure you can figure something out 🙂 there’s that stretch before your work that soemtimes has spots, as far as i remember. Good luck !

  3. Dar El Akhdar Avatar

    Baalbek ruins… CLASSIC! 😀

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  5. Ned Hamson Avatar

    Don’t want to be accused of heresy, er… but have you considered parking 2.5 km away and walking – grin. Great way to share news of your new book as you pass by passers-by, people in cafes, etc. You could pretend to be taking a poll about who has heard about the book?

  6. Tarek Avatar
    Tarek

    I usually walk about 12 minutes everyday to work because that is where the free parking is. If it gets really bad you can always park a bit far off, take a cab to work and have a co-worker drop you off on the way back.

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  8. A bare truth Avatar

    I don’t know if that will make u feel better but i pay around $100 to park at work. The only parking available charges a hetfty fee. Forget about finding a free spot in that area, it is short of a miracle. It happens once every blue moon. Did i mention that my salary is worth less than crap

  9. haissam Avatar

    i just don’t really understand why people in lebanon HAVE to drive to their job if they get a hard time parking, how about, you invest in a bicycle, Eco friendly and worry free !

    1. Georges Avatar
      Georges

      Hmmmm yeah… I do that in Paris, but try biking under the scorching Beirut sun 😉
      Well, unless you can shower and change at work…

      1. Nessie Avatar
        Nessie

        Well, it’s not only about the “scorching Beirut sun”. Anyone who’s familiar with driving Lebanese-style would know that biking on the roads here is practically a NDE. Been there ,done that and now I’m back to car driving-polluting- can’t find parking spot mode.

    2. Rabih Avatar
      Rabih

      I wonder how safe is it to cycle in beyrout

  10. Simon Avatar
    Simon

    Maybe you can carpool with a friend.
    It doesn’t have to be someone who works in the same company, could be someone who works nearby.

  11. Ghassan Deeb Avatar

    Do like me. get a smart 🙂

  12. Zeina Gabriel Avatar

    Poor Maya,
    How sad it is not to be able to find a place to park your car. Thank you very much for the wonderful post. Hope you will manage to find a parking space very very soon 🙂
    Have a great day 🙂

  13. Ivy Says Avatar

    Wow Maya you do realize your posing the most quintessential question of our generation in Lebanon at this point in time- frankly the person who has the answer to this question should not only get the iPad but become Minister of Transport as well!

    My ideal solution would be to make use of our lovely coast- there has been talk about this for a while now. You drive to the closest Marina near you, even if you live in Dbayeh or Zahleh- park your car, take a taxi boat that will drop of you to the nearest port in the city- and from there shuttle buses will drop you off to a stop nearest to your office. Of course our efficient government would need ten years at least to implement such a decision.

    So your next best options would be:
    1) Date a guy that lives in close proximity to you and works in Beirut- this way he’ll drop you off everyday and pick you up. When that fails- date his neighbor.
    2) Befriend a person that lives in Beirut and has private parking- this way when he/she is off at work- you take their parking spot.
    3) We all go on strike until government does something about our horrendous urban planning . Correction: NO URBAN PLANNING

    Bisoux
    Ivy

    1. Hommus Betheeneh Avatar
      Hommus Betheeneh

      WOW

  14. Mira Avatar

    my favorite motto of all time “grab the first empty parking spot u find, and enjoy the walk”
    but still m one of the very few lucky pple to have a private parking lot @ work…. *yiiihhaaaa* that’s a blast 😀

  15. Assaf Avatar
    Assaf

    Bicycles of course!

  16. naji Avatar

    maya dear
    just get a real estate and make him buy all old buildings near your work ,
    then u will have a parking for 2 years before they start the project .
    thats what theyre doing for decades in beirut .

  17. naji Avatar

    and btw thank you for being in the SBH march last satruday . but why u didnt talked to me im a big fan

  18. Georges Avatar
    Georges

    Solution is pretty simple.

    1- Destroy everything.
    2- Kill Everyone.
    3- Start again with your life. And this time, make sure you build everything in the right way from the beginning.

    (There’ll be lot of parking spaces for you Maya. You can enjoy parking your car anyway you like depending on your *Sniff* Driving Skills *Sniff*…)

    1. Hommus Betheeneh Avatar
      Hommus Betheeneh

      Now that’s a post

  19. SAM Avatar
    SAM

    Because you have no parking in your workplace building (which you have to pass an objection for)
    you have 2 choices:
    1-Get earlier to work, 1 hour before (enjoying your coffee before starting your work), so you can get a place in the parking.
    2-You can pay more money for the parking, I mean 2000LL and an extra cost for the parking valet to save a place for you every day, other saying make a monthly salary for the valet hehe to save a place for your car.( 2ershee bl lebnani :P:P)

    1. A bare truth Avatar

      wow u only pay 2000 for the whole day?

  20. Wissam M Avatar
    Wissam M

    buy a mobylette :))))
    I win?

  21. mi Avatar

    looooooooool maya 🙂 greate post as usual 🙂 worth the wait

  22. Najib Avatar

    An Ipad wow!
    I can work as a valet parking for you if you want to lool

  23. rana Avatar
    rana

    hehehe Maya!

    I advise you NO bicycles whatsoever in Lebanon! We want you alive!
    I think it’s time for companies to decentralize from Achrafiyeh and Hamra.
    luckily I don’t have such a problem I live outside the center and whenever i need to go there i always ask ahead: Do you know a parking nearby?? 🙂
    Carpool seems the best solution for now, and the boyfriend one! the last one always works;)

  24. Celine K Avatar

    just today there was so much traffic so i parked 15 min walk away from work, the 1st spot i found… it was nice actually

  25. Danielle Avatar

    This is exactly why I will never drive in this country..I mean why? I would much rather pay for someone to deal with the stress of driving, as well as the stress of having to find a parking spot than do it for myself! I just don’t see the sense in it. But I also live 7 minutes away from my job..so it is a bit easier for me..hope something opens up for you!

  26. Najib Avatar

    Danielle,
    If the means of transportation were decent in this country, i wouldn’t mind not going by car to work, but if you are wearing a suit and need to get from Achrafieh to Hamra, you will get there all smelly and nasty and frustrated.

    I don’t have a parking issue as well as i pay a monthly membership.

  27. annie Avatar
    annie

    Hehe it depends on where you work Maya,but I suggest you park your car 10-15 minutes away from your work ,exercise will do good hehe and walk or just take the bus,but the 1st option is more practical

  28. annie Avatar
    annie

    Or you can get a scooter to work loool but heyy that’s an idea

  29. Ruslan Trad Avatar

    Sadly but real… 🙂

  30. Eliedh Avatar

    You should thank god nobody killed you yet for a parking spot! http://www.lebanonfiles.com/news_desc.php?id=192105

  31. Alberto Zeraik Avatar
    Alberto Zeraik

    Try the Segway,
    I think it is the best for you.
    You can keep in your car and if you need to park too far away from work you can use it.

    http://www.segway.com/individual/models/i2.php

  32. Moobz Avatar

    I don’t think Lebanon needs more parking spaces…
    We don’t need more cars in our cities…
    We need less cars, less traffic… we need damn good sidewalks and better public transportation.

    People should walk rather than nag for walking 10-20 minutes a day to get to work.
    It’s sad…

  33. Aisha Avatar

    The problem isn’t the lack of parking spaces, its the excess of cars.

    I fully understand that our public transportation system leaves a lot of room for improvement, but I don’t understand why there are so many commuters that REFUSE to carpool / walk / bike.

    This country is only so big and there is NO ROOM for 3 million cars (that’s the latest number I heard). While we can’t re-invent the wheel and be Ministers of Transportation, we CAN take matters in our own hands and understand the limitations of this country and (I dare say) change our habits and lifestyle accordingly.

    In another post, you ridicule the Lebanese mentality on foreign workers but the answer to this post is also to ridicule the Lebanese mentality for not seeing a very simple logistics problem for what it is.

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