Want to know what Scarborough was like in 1975?

The big two-story red brick building across the street from the Scarborough Police Station, called the Oak Hill Professional Building, was the Scarborough Post Office.

Well, not exactly.

In l982 through l984, a bunch of dentists there, and a law firm (yes, yours truly…) expanded the first floor from what it was, and added a second floor.

But the parking lot stayed, in many ways, the same.

Who cares?

You do. That’s who. Here’s why.

There are many buildings and businesses in the land of 04074 that were built in the l970s or l980s. The town at that time was a population of 6,200 (l975) or 11,700 (mid l980s) – not the 22,000 that I say it is now.

Despite that fact, the parking lots surrounding various buildings in town remain roughly the same.

Ever try to negotiate your way around the parking lot of the Scarborough Post Office, and the Oak Hill Plaza (Hardware Store, Chowder Head’s Restaurant, Dollar Store, Mimosa’s Hair Salon) on a weeknight at 5 p.m., or on a Saturday morning around 10 a.m., or during a Christmas rush? Like a demolition derby.

You basically have 35-40 cars in some of the lots competing for parking acreage, and driving elbow room that was designed for probably half those amounts.

Here’s my favorite fact of the whole discussion – my car, while parked at the Oak Hill Professional Building, in the same spot for about the last 30 years has been hit by moving vehicles six or seven times in the past decade.

The latest sneak attack was New Years Eve day.

How ABOUT that?!

There are two aspects of this story, I suppose, that reflect Modern Scarborough.

One is the fact that parking lots have more cars in them nowadays than they were designed to have moving in and around them.

The second fact is that Scarborough yuppies are Very Busy People.

They have Many Places To Go. And they Simply Cannot Be Held Up!

The absolute most delicious part of the story is that about half the people deny liability for smashing into my parked car!

As they say on ESPN when coaches are talking with each other: “That is special…just really special.”

I love it!

Scarborough has changed.

It is not the same Scarborough.

Many of the changes are good.

A dry cleaner or two, a math tutor, some fancy restaurants, a lighted baseball field,

Several fire department locations, and a place to buy fine cigars for special occasions.

But there is an impolite aspect to the new 04074 Land, and a new claustrophobia that you might not feel unless you have been around a while.

As Jackie Gleason used to say now and then on “The Honeymooners,” “EXCUSE ME FOR LIVING!”

And I am guessing it will not be changing any time in the future for the better.

Dan Warren is a Scarborough trial lawyer. He can be reached either by private Facebook message at Jones & Warren Attorneys at Law page, or by email at [email protected].