Letters

It is high season in Southampton, and there are more of us here this year than anyone can remember. There is also less patience and fewer expressions of manners.

Here are a few reminders for all of us to heed and pass on.

When a long line of cars occupies a street, let a side street vehicle onto the road when you can. That small pause on your part makes way for another’s commute or a more timely commercial delivery.

On Hampton Road in Southampton Village, do not stop and wait behind a parked car that is loading groceries and preparing to leave. Your stop clogs up all traffic behind you and interferes with the intersection of Main Street and Hampton Road.

Do you realize how selfish this action is? Keep driving until a parking spot is fully open. Then drive in. Any other action encroaches on 10 cars or more — 10 other people’s lives and schedules. No one person’s time is more valuable than another’s. If you have to drive around the block before finding an empty spot, that is what you have to do to be a polite citizen.

This “move along until a parking spot is open” applies to Main Street and Jobs Lane as well.

Plan ahead, shop early or late. Life and parking will flow more smoothly if we all remember our manners. Be polite, kind and tolerant.

Judy Hadlock

Southampton