Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Doofus Of The Day #1,069

 

Today's award goes to a clueless motorist in Chicago.


Around 8 a.m., a 42-year-old woman drove onto the lot at 901 South Wabash to park her car. As she entered the lot, a man in a neon reflective vest approached, told her where to park, and instructed her to leave the keys inside her 2008 silver Nissan Armada, CPD spokesperson Kellie Bartoli said.

The woman complied with his instructions and left the lot to conduct some business nearby. You already know what happened when she returned to the lot about an hour later. Her car and the man were long gone.


There's more at the link.

Did it never occur to the driver to check the "attendant's" credentials?  To look for a hut or other official building out of which he worked?  In particular, in every attended parking area I've used before, there's been a sign at the entrance with instructions on how to park, how to interact with attendants, etc.  In this case, clearly, there were none - so why would she accept the orders of a random stranger whom she didn't know from Adam?

Yea, verily, the mind doth boggle . . .




Peter


12 comments:

Steve said...

This story needs to be spread far and wide. Maybe the ridicule and the laughter will get through her thick head.

tweell said...

Ah, the power of an official-looking reflective vest! In Phoenix, copper thieves hit a series of freeway traffic signs during the day, but since they were wearing safety vests, face masks and hard hats, no one paid attention to them (including the highway patrol).

BadFrog said...

Who would want to steal a 2008 Nissan Armada anyway? They handle like a galleon under full sail.

Bob Gibson said...

Oh, sad state where we (well, so (too) many) have been conditioned to submit to anyone exuding even the most minuscule iota of 'authoritah'. :-(

Sam L. said...

BadFrog, I presume you forgot to say "in a Force 5 gale".

Peteforester said...

'Same can be said for mail (voter) fraud. Stand in front of a random house when the postman drives up. Put your hand out. He'll put the mail right in to your hand! Mail-in ballots... What could POSSIBLY go wrong?...

Andrew said...

In my youth, many years ago now, I had a curiosity about infrastructure and other not normally seen places and things. I was interested in how things worked behind the scenes. How did water get distributed? How did the telephone system work? Where did the cable TV signals come from? What's under that manhole cover? What goes on in that industrial building? Will that fallout shelter under the hospital really hold 400 people? Where does that wire go? In my explorations I learned that most people never question you if you look like you belong there. A tool belt or box, a metal covered clipboard and a hard hat allowed one access to pretty much anywhere if you carried yourself properly. Likewise no one asks questions to someone yanking the lid off a manhole or climbing a telephone pole if you're wearing a safety vest and have orange traffic cones. Some of that probably changed after 911 but back in the day those items worked like a skeleton key or magic amulet. I could totally see how people would hand their car over to an official looking person in a parking lot.

GregMan said...

Clearly a Biden voter.

Peter said...

In the mid 80s, the president of Georgia Tech drove from campus to a local hotel for a conference. He dropped his car off with the valet out front...
And discovered later that the hotel did not have a valet service.

Marty said...

Brings to mind my couple of trips to Africa. Whenever we’d park in an urban area, we’d be approached by “security” who would watch our car for a nominal fee.

It was smart to pay the fee (usually a couple of dollars), because if you didn’t, “security” would summons his cohorts, who would steal or vandalize your rental car.

BadFrog said...

Sam, my apologies. I stand corrected :)

Jimmy the Saint said...

Reminds me of one of the all-time most brilliant criminals/entrepeneurs. There was a museum in London (if memory serves) that had an adjacent parking lot. Every day for decades, there was a guy there, collecting money and directing patrons where to park. Then one day, he quit showing up, so the museum eventually called the government to have another parking attendant sent out. only to be told "There is no attendant there. That is a free parking lot."