Sometimes The Customers Ignore The Signs, And Sometimes It’s The Sign’s Fault

I am visiting a large downtown shopping mall with indoor parking over eight levels and for more than 1,500 cars. It is midday, and I decide to park on the top level — not something I usually do — and go and do some shopping. The parking garage is full and the mall is a zoo. It turns out that there is a regional cheerleader and dance competition in the adjacent convention center with over 1,500 participants today.

I get ready to leave and start driving down from level eight. At level seven, the line of cars comes to a complete stop. I sit in line for about fifteen minutes with no movement — not even one inch. Between me and the exit, there are probably more than 150 cars lined up.

Finally, I park and make my way down to the exit area on foot. I check the exit area, and there is not a single car going down the last ramp to the actual garage exit.

I go to the top of the last exit ramp and find that cars are completely ignoring the exit. I start trying to direct traffic to use the exit ramp — really, just turn right and you are out of there. But drivers look at me like I am an idiot and instead go straight, which leads to an up-ramp back into the garage.

Overhead at this point, there is a small sign that says, “Exit to the right,” but then I notice a different sign at eye level. It says, “LEVEL CLOSED,” in four-foot-high, bright red letters on a white background, and in small type below are the words, “CLOSED FOR PARKING” in black type on a blue background — really unreadable unless you look closely. While the bottom level IS closed for parking, that is still the way you need to go to get out of the garage — and regular users of this garage would know that.

That’s when I connect that the average driver here today is here for the competition, has never been in this garage, and is reading the wrong sign about where to go for the exit. I go over and knock down the “LEVEL CLOSED” sign, and then I am able to get cars to turn right.

One driver curses at me, thinking I work here.

Driver: “What the f***?! I’ve been driving in circles for the last hour and a half trying to get out!”

With that, I walked back up to my car, and the line to get out of the parking garage cleared up in about fifteen minutes.