Saturday, January 24, 2004

Rude Parking delivered by UPS

This incident occurred today: at approx. 12:15 PM, long UPS van (License plate: FL-AC 286) was parked at the corner of Basler Strasse and Curtiusstrasse, in Berlin-Lichterfelde. I was coming from the Basler Str. northwards with a baby carriage, the streets were slippery and wet (we had snow last evening). The UPS van was parked in such a way as to make crossing the street nearly impossible: the driver left no room in the front of the van to pass and the back of the van protruded into the street. This meant that all pedestrians attempting to cross the street were forced to go around the back of the van and walk blindly into the stream of traffic. The driver was in the van taking a break, munching away at his french fries, and oblivious to the pedestrians trying to cross the street. In fact when I confronted him behind his window, he just shrugged his shoulders and continued eating.

I truly hope that this is a singular incident. Not only was the behaviour highly inconsiderate and socially irresponsible, it was also against the law. Didn't UPS win an award for being a top-rated socially responsible company?