EDITORIAL - Parking spots are for cars

There is no limit to the entitlement some people feel nowadays. Just recently a woman became infamous on the internet after she decided she could reserve a parking spot outside a cemetery just by standing there and shooing off others who came with their vehicles.

She isn’t actually the first to do so, as others have been recorded doing the same thing in mall parking areas. Somehow some people think that they can reserve tables at a restaurant the same way they can with their own bodies at a parking lot.

Make no mistake, the same rule applies; first come, first served. But you have to be in a car to claim a parking spot. The parking spot is for cars after all and not humans.

Incidents have become so prevalent a lawmaker felt he had to legislate that standing in a parking spot to reserve it for a coming vehicle is illegal, with Rep. Percival Cendaña filing House Bill 11076 or the proposed "Mindful Parking" Act.

The penalties include a ?2,000 fine for the first offense, a ?5,000 fine and six-month suspension of the offender’s driver's license for the second offense, and a ?10,000 fine with license revocation for the third offense.

Using your own body to reserve a parking spot doesn’t just reek of entitlement; it also shows a lack of common sense considering how dangerous it is.

We aren’t just talking about physical altercations that can break out with others, some drivers may not be able to see these human “placeholders” and drive right into them. Or some hot-headed driver --and we all know there are too many of them on the road right now-- might just test their resolve when it comes to standing their ground.

And in a contest between a car and a human, we know what will prevail.

So the next time you want to reserve a parking spot by standing on it, think again. You aren’t just being entitled and stupid, you’re also putting yourself in danger.