Dad's harbourside parking fail
Dad was a sales rep for Wales and the West in various industries (among them needlecraft, kids clothes, fleet cars). Sometimes during school holidays I'd go with him. It was company for both of us on the road, and while he was meeting customers I'd sit in the car and read a book, listen to the radio, and generally watch the world go by.

Once on a visit to North Devon - Barnstaple or Bideford, I can't remember which - Dad pulled up next to the harbourside. It was a public car park with marked spaces, so he wasn't doing anything silly. He was in there a long time, though. Long enough for the tide to come in.

Usually, that would just be picturesque, but neither of us noticed the big thick rope tying off one of the fishing boats in the harbour, which went across the parking space as we'd driven in. I was sat in the car the whole time, and I didn't notice anything move. We did notice when Dad tried to drive away and we found that the drive wheels were lifted a couple of inches above the ground by the now taut rope.

So we had to wait for another five or six hours or so until the tide went out again and we could drive home. Still, I finished my book.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Fri 28 Feb 2014, 13:50, Reply)