Straight wheels when parallel parking?

[LawrenceN]

You really all think that the OP is totally retarded ?

I guess that since 1977 he knows all the shiiite replies that you gave a lot better than you ?

So I wonder what was his real question ?

Do we 'all think that the OP is totally retarded ?' ... well, I can't answer for 'all', but my personal response is 'no' ... but he also hasn't taken into consideration how the locals drive / manage their vehicle.

"I guess that since 1977 he knows all the shiiite replies that you gave a lot better than you ?" ... if you read his OP a bit closer ... the implication was that the OP visited Thailand in 1977 ... "I'm not a newbie here, first came in 1977," and that he has "been driving accident-free for over three years now, since retirement." So the implication is that he has not been living and driving here these past 37 years. But who knows ... he doesn't say for a fact.

What is his 'real question' ... who knows ... I took the OP at face value.

My question to thairastawoman ... why do you come across as so angry ...

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OP responding here. Thanks for all the replies. I'm not insulted. I think the consensus is that those folks in front of the rooms for rent were telling me to straighten the wheels so that they could push my truck in case someone needs to park. I buy that as the answer to the question, still dubious about it as a good practice. I did indeed miss part of what the gentleman said, not because I don't understand Thai, but because my ears are not what they used to be.

FWIW, what I meant by "not a newbie" is considerably more than a visit in 1977 and retirement three years ago, but I didn't think it was necessary to tell my life history before asking a question about parking, plus, there's always someone blasting you for "pulling rank" as a long-timer in here. I was a US Peace Corp volunteer for two years 1977-79. I taught Agriculture, not English, so did my job in Thai. The first year was difficult, language-wise, second year much better. We had ten weeks of language training before starting the job, and a private tutor for a year after that. I learned to read, write, and speak tonally. Yes, really tonally. I was back in 1984-85 for another year and a half as a development consultant, working upcountry in a Thai government office. No one else spoke English there, so my work was entirely in Thai, including business meetings and paperwork. I met my wife at the University of Missouri in 1986. I got her attention because I was the only guy there who courted her in Thai. We married and raised our daughter bilingual in Wisconsin. Annual visits to wife's family helped the kid nail the language as well. I was a volunteer in Phang-nga after the tsunami, and a wildlife volunteer in Khao Yai National Park a year later. In both of those instances, the other volunteers thanked me for serving as their translator. I know the ins-and-outs of the mid/high/low classes of Thai consonants, and pronounce Thai words correctly on first reading.

I'm told every day how clearly I speak Thai, and asked if I've been here a long time. I have been asked many times if I was born here. I get kinda tired of relating my whole life story, so sometimes I just say three years, because that's when we cashed out of the US and retired here. That was the fulfillment of a long-standing promise to my wife.

I got my answer, and will not be seeing any more replies, unchecking the "follow" box. But no hard feelings, just giving clarification that seemed to be asked for.

[David48]

^^ Mate, thanks for coming back to your OP ... it's always appreciated ... well appreciated by me anyway.

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[thairastawoman]

So you really didn't know why people asked you to keep the wheels straight ? Sorry but feel pity for you ! And sorry for all the other ones, I couldn't really imagine that the OP didnt' know that and I guess he also doesn't know a lot of things in this world !!!