Phobia # 2

In my last post I wrote about my fear of down. We all have fears. Some people are afraid of public speaking. Others of dentist visits. Spiders. Small spaces. There are lots of phobias out there. Some are minor and some are worthy of multiple therapist visits.

I have an unusual fear. The fear of not being able to find a parking space. OK…get back up on your chair and stop laughing. It’s true. When I have to be somewhere at a certain time and I am at a loss for finding a space that isn’t two states away I start to panic a little. OK. A lot. The stress mounts. I start to sweat a little. Then I start swearing like you don’t know. And I pound on the steering wheel a lot. It gets ugly.

The first thing I ask someone when I have to go somewhere new: is there parking? I’ll look on google to see if there are public parking lots when I go to a new restaurant, store, etc. I’ll take the T (Boston’s subway system) when I go into town to avoid dealing with the parking situation.

Not only do I fear myself not finding a space, but when someone else is driving I also worry that they won’t be able to find a space. The worst is when we have gigs and have to park miles away after we unload the gear. Ok, maybe not miles, but still. It’s jangles my nerves. I can sing to an audience of thousands. Love it. No fear. But finding a parking space near the venue? It’s torture.

I love places where you don’t need a car to function. New York City is a perfect example. Don’t feel like walking? Cabs, subways and buses. Venice, Italy is another more than perfect example. No cars period. The only form of transportation is by foot or boat (unless you live on the Lido and then there’s limited public parking anyway). Water buses or vaporetti as they’re called in Italian. Don’t feel like walking from one end of Venice to the other? Hop on a vaporetto and cruise the grand canal. No parking involved. 

As long as there are cars and city streets I will never overcome this fear. Valet parking is out of the question. I drive a stick. End of story. I guess the next best thing is to hire a driver.

Anyone up for the challenge??