There Are Olympics For Valets

January 3, 2018 in Daily Bulletin

Geoff Manaugh wrote about car parking athletes:

  • At the National Valet Olympics athletes sort through jumbles of keys to find the one for their vehicle, sprint across parking lots, pack luggage, and, of course, park cars.
  • The equipment is intentionally imperfect. Luggage carts have broken wheels. Garages slope.
  • It’s not always about speed. In one event valets “race” each other but aren’t allowed to exceed 10 miles (16 km) per hour.
  • Companies send teams. Some will hold internal mini-Olympics to determine who to send.
  • Men and women compete against each other. In 2015 Katie Richards of AmeriPark was the first woman to win the top title.
  • For valets that often drive cars that cost more than their entire apartment the games provide a sense of recognition and achievement.
  • There are several ideas to improve the games. Some suggest a social element with impatient rich customers yelling at the valets to perform faster.
  • Others suggest an event where valets are challenged to fit as many cars as possible in a single space without scratching any vehicle.
  • Plans for a winter Olympics have been mooted so that valets skilled in walking across icy asphalt can demonstrate their talents.

Read much more on The Atlantic.