"Why do they always park their car in reverse...!"

 "Why do they always park their car in reverse...!"

...my sub 10 year old self always pondered. An uncle and his family stay near my house and as a kid (in the late 1980s and early 90s) I was always fascinated by their cars. Sitting in their car was always an exciting event for me. But after every drive, when it came to parking their cars I noticed my uncle/cousins always parked their car by driving the car in reverse into their building which took some time and effort (reverse aiding camera/sensors weren't common then). "Why don't they just drive it straight in and take it out in reverse the next time they want to use the car! Why take so much effort after a tiring day!..." I never asked them about it though...

Many years later I bought my first car in 2008 and that's when I learned why. The first few weeks I parked the car straight in and took it out in reverse the next day. Then a few times in the morning I noticed when I was running late, the time and effort to reverse the car out was starting to annoy me. From thereon, I started parking my car in reverse coz while it took some extra effort and time at the end of the day, I knew I could spend some more time and wasn't in a hurry, whereas, I knew the next morning when I leave for work, I will have a fairly simple task to drive out of the building straight on.

Now I know most people (who drive) already know about this simple protocol but this can be extrapolated to many other things in life. Taking the effort in the "present" to make the "future" more comfortable or to try and eliminate the possible anxious moments of the future. Be it a simple night routine to ensure your day starts off well the next day or be it a set of discretionary/voluntary actions that you carry out ahead of time that you feel will aid you in the foreseeable future. It's the culmination of these small thoughtful actions that perhaps make our lives easier than what it would be otherwise...

By the way, the cousins that I mention here are Bhupendra Gokani and Rajesh Gokani !

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