Supermarket car parks should have special bays for lazy people. Obviously they should be as close to the door as possible maybe even just inside. This would save them the trouble of having to walk all the way from the disabled spaces where they feel entitled to park due to chronic indolence. Of course, it would deny the rest of us the pleasure of queuing patiently behind them while they block the access lane waiting for an old lady to pack three weeks worth of shopping into the back seat before vacating a prime spot close to the store entrance.

It’s a strange fact of life that to save a short walk, some folks are happy spend five minutes trying to squeeze a sizable 4x4 into a space just big enough for a motor bike. Then as if to compound the error, they spend another five minutes trying to extract the kids and push chairs through the tiny gap available when the doors won’t open far enough.

I’ve never really been able to see the logic of driving round in circles looking for that one space as near to the entrance as possible; only to be beaten to it by someone who has just arrived but driven the wrong way against the arrows painted on the ground in order to beat the queue.

It makes more sense to me to drive straight into a space at the far side of the car park and walk for 20 seconds than drive round and round looking for a tiny space to squeeze into just because it's near the door. Which brings me to another car parking phenomenon which has been a puzzling me for some time.

I have noticed that, if I leave my car in a deserted area of a car park, when I come back there is nearly always someone parked next to me. Not two spaces away or, come to that, anywhere else in the otherwise deserted area, but right next to me.

Now, I'm no more territorial than anyone else but if I choose to park away from everyone else I’d prefer it to stay that way. I like the freedom to just drive away when I leave and not wait for the chance to reverse out into another long queue of cars jostling for a gap. So with all the space around, why park right next to me?

It happens so often that I was beginning to believe my car may have some magnetic properties; or maybe it has the power to attract other cars over when it gets lonely. Then, I found out the true reason and I can’t say that I was very surprised. While listening to a radio phone in, I learned that I am not the only person this happens to. As a result of another frustrated soul telling a similar tail, several people phoned in to give the explanation and they all seemed to think it was perfectly reasonable.

It seems that there are people out there (fully qualified with years of experience) who want – or maybe, need – lots of room around them but just can’t park straight unless there is something to line up with.

So there you have it. I bet if I parked in the Sahara Desert, when I came back there’d be a camel lined up next to me.