The Best Laid Plans

 Let me start by saying that the underground parking at Plaza Renon has been rather carefully designed, by Indonesian standards anyway, to discourage the all too familiar chaos generally associated with Indonesian parking lots. Large white arrows have been painted on the road and on the pillars of the structure pointing out the route one should take in navigating the lot, such that all, ostensibly, might navigate to their spots safely and smoothly. There are even graphic maps painted on the walls explaining the intended traffic flow pattern. 

And yet this is all for naught--because Indonesians insist on entering at the exit and exiting at the entry. Why is this? Is it a lack of familiarity with common symbols, such as the arrow? Is it an inability to read? Or is it simple obstinance? Who can say? What I do know is that, despite all efforts to effect order, the place is an absolute mess if the mall is at all crowded. Those trying to get out via the marked exit are crowded and blocked by those entering inappropriately. And the funny thing is that they seem surprised to find a motorbike trying to exit from the exit. They are dumbfounded to come upon the obstacle of someone exiting from the exit they have just entered! 

I had parked one day by a pillar on my left side and another bike on my right. When I returned to my space after coffee, I found that someone had moved my bike behind the pillar, between the pillar and the wall, so that he could edge his bike into my original spot. Now, how did he figure I was going to get out? Jeeze.

Well, it all looked good on paper, I guess. But the best laid plans of mice and men ... Well, you know the story.