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Dear Emily Poast,
As I got out of my car after loading my kid into the car seat, I was accosted from behind by a boomer who accused me of scratching her car, parked next to mine. Now, I did indeed have my door touching her car, since the spot is pretty tight and even my small car's door couldn't open to the first door check before it touched the car next to it, and it was basically impossible to get into the back seat with an infant while preventing the door from opening too much.
As it turned out there was no scratch on her car but we discoursed for a few minutes on the acceptability of touching other cars with your car door in the parking lot. In my view this is perfectly acceptable, and especially in parking lots with narrow spots if you have an SUV you shouldn't expect your car to be untouchable, though of course slamming doors into cars is unacceptable. Her view was that contact is never acceptable and she informed me that she raised two kids without ever touching another car with her door.
Seeing that we had reached an impasse, I informed her that I disagreed and drove off. My wife doesn't believe I did anything wrong, but she herself would never touch another car with her door.
What do you think, Emily? Is it acceptable to touch another car with your car door?
— Well-formed
To have a pleasant society, we should not be scratching things that belong to other people. You can literally buy a pool noodle from the store, cut it down to a few inches, cut a slit in it, and keep it in the door pocket. Or even simpler, a microfiber towel. If you are in a situation where someone has parked very close to you, slip it on the door so it props nicely against their car while you attend to your child.
He specifically said that he touched the other car without scratching it.
Cars typically sit on a suspension that allows movement as the weight of the vehicle shifts. If you're loading a child into a car seat, the vehicle is shifting and micro-scratches are occurring because heavy object is in contact with another heavy object. Having clayed my car several times in the past, they will accumulate.
Now is it significant? You're probably getting more scratches driving 10 miles down the highway and having sand and rocks hitting your car. But one is caused by nothing in particular (unless the highway is dirty and unmaintained beyond reasonable standards) while the other is directly caused by someone else.
I understand the inevitable scratches and dings that take place when driving in the city. But I certainly think as individuals, we should strive not to be one the ones causing them.
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