>In Sacramento, there is one way to know if summer has made an appearance. It has nothing to do with the calendar. You can tell by visiting a parking lot dotted with trees.
Whenever the mercury rises above 80 degrees, something happens in the minds of folks around here. Suddenly, they become obsessed with shade in parking lots and on the street. Little do they realize, that parking under a tree won’t help to alleviate the heat very much. They would be better off keeping one of those giant pieces of cardboard in their windshields when they park. At least then you wouldn’t need an “Ove Glove” just to touch the steering wheel. It would also be less stressful than hunting for a scare shady spot in a roasting asphalt jungle.
I’ve tried to explain this to a few people, but they look at me like I’m nuts. Maybe that’s because I think they are nuts.
I’ve had the Bay Area parking/driving mentality so ingrained in my psyche that I cannot relate to people around here.
In the Bay Area, shade is not scarce. Parking itself is scarce, so you take the first spot you find. It’s very simple. Also, traffic is usually awful on surface streets, so you pay attention at stop lights. You don’t fidget with the radio, or check your email on your phone. I assume that is what’s going on in Sacramento because it’s statistically impossible that I’ve encountered that many mentally challenged people on the road.
On the streets of San Francisco, you have to be ready to go when the light turns green otherwise you will be treated to a symphony of honks.