I had a tough time maneuvering my little Honda Fit into the parking lot at a Starbucks along Route 1 in Scarborough the other day, and it had nothing to do with the size of the parking spaces. I was barely able to squeeze in because the driveway was blocked by a string of about a dozen idling cars and SUVs. Most contained one person, who scrolled through a phone while waiting to inch toward the drive-up window. Meanwhile, both the tricky parking lot and most of the tables inside were as empty as yesterday’s takeout cup.

You could argue that the design of this particular Starbucks lot is faulty, but so is the reasoning (if you want to call it that) of those drivers and so many others I’ve observed. They’re in a hurry, and drive-up windows are convenient, so they’ll spend 10 minutes in their car instead of parking and going inside, which would likely take half as much time. In my town, which has no Starbucks but is richly endowed with Dunkin’ Donuts and convenience stores, I’ve seen drivers jut out into Main Street traffic rather than leave their cars to get a much quicker caffeine fix.

I have no doubt that most of these drivers believe gas is overpriced now. Some probably worry about the effects of auto exhaust on our warming climate. But there they sit, day after day, burning gas in their pursuit of iced lattes or caramel macchiatos.

I just don’t get it.

Gail Burnett
Springvale

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Letter to the editor: A modest (if astronomical) proposal

Next »

Letter to the editor: EPA ruling sets stage for non-regulatory efforts