Our house is severely lacking in power tools. Sure we have the basics for DIY and the odd bit of decorating, but when it comes to bigger jobs like cutting back the hedges or felling a tree or two, things become rather difficult.

Over the summer, Mum finally upgraded our faithful push along to a proper lawnmower meaning that a freshly cut lawn became the work of an hour rather than half the day. For most other things, my ever reliable Uncle Georgie is called upon and thankfully, he’ll offer to actually carry out the work as well. 
It’s not that we couldn’t do it ourselves. It’s more to do with the fact that he knows exactly what to do and how to do it without having to find instructional videos online. He’s also probably a lot safer when he’s doing these things as well – I managed to slice my finger on a knife when emptying the dishwasher the other day so I’d hate to see what kind of disaster I would be trying to wield a chainsaw or hedge trimmer. 
We’ll generally be able to persuade him to stay for a cuppa and a chat after he’s done and it was during this time last week when he brought up the topic of wider parking spaces for women and alluded to the female inability to park. Of course, he was just trying to provoke a reaction but this was one occasion where I wasn’t taking the bait. Instead, I agreed but said that all parking spaces should be made a little wider. 
The idea of parking spaces that are set aside specifically for women has been adopted in several countries. A mall in China set aside 10 spaces that were 30 centimetres wider near the main entrance, outlined them with pink paint and set up a signpost that explicitly said that they were for women only. In South Korea more than 5,000 spaces have been similarly designated as female only but they’ve made this distinction based on the logic that females in high heels won’t want to walk too far. 
Okay, so maybe those approaches are quite condescending but there are European countries that have followed suit, albeit with different justification. In Germany, many private car parks, such as those at airports, have female parking spaces but they are there in an attempt to make women feel safer. These spaces may be a little wider and closer to the facility, but they also have better lighting and are in the direct line of CCTV cameras. Even though the statistics show that a women is no more likely to be attacked in a car park, these measures will help to maintain a feeling of personal safety.
I love the idea of better lit car parks. With the supermarkets opening around the clock, I’m often walking alone to my car and it’s not just for my personal safety that I want more lights. It’s so that I can actually find my keys in the handbag that hasn’t been cleared out in a month rather than having to find them by feel. It’s also so that drivers who prefer to take a diagonal route across the car park can see me before they sideswipe the trolley. 
Parking is not one of my greatest talents. I can do it perfectly well, but I prefer to leave the car facing outwards so it’s easier to escape the car park when I’m ready to leave. It’s not really a problem because I’ve always felt that I’m better at reverse parking rather than just driving nose first into a space. 
This sometimes manifests itself in my driving around like an idiot to find a suitable space that has enough manoeuvrability around it. That doesn’t happen so often now because I’ve scoped out my favourite parking spaces around the town but I do get annoyed if I turn up and someone else has had the audacity to park in it before me. 
Once I’m in the space, there often comes another problem: I can’t get out of the door. Apparently not everyone prides themselves in making sure that they park their car perfectly between the white lines in the same way that I do. 
To have someone automatically assume that because of my gender that I cannot park is downright patronising. I’ve seen just as many men struggle to get their car inside the lines and from my observations, it seems that males are more likely to just give up and take over two parking spaces than women are. Maybe it’s because we’ve been so downtrodden that we now feel it our duty to go out there and challenge the stereotype.  
The thing is that everyone would benefit from some major improvements to parking facilities. At the supermarkets, the parent and child spaces are one of the best ideas that anyone has ever had but there simply aren’t enough of them. It makes perfect sense to have spaces that give extra space at the side for the pushchair or trolley that is the only thing stopping a child from darting out in front of a car. It’s all about safety. But if there aren’t any of these spaces free then it becomes a juggling act at best and the parent is left hoping that no-one is parked beside them because it’s going to be difficult enough getting both the shopping and the child into the car. 
It’s a similar story with the disabled spaces that are marked out and generally closer to the shop. There are so many examples online of people being berated for using disabled spaces when they don’t “look disabled”. You’d think that by 2015 we would all be aware that being disabled doesn’t mean you have to be in a wheelchair. Some people may be physically able to walk, but are in a world of pain while doing so. Some may need to have their car close by for whatever reason. If someone has a blue badge then there’s obviously a very good reason why they have it.
Sadly, I don’t think our parking facilities are ever going to change. Making larger spaces would reduce the overall number available which isn’t what anyone wants. Having more wiggle room would also reduce the number of dents and scrapes that occur from having to carefully prop the door on the door of another car before making an exit. An extra foot could mean not having to try and dislocate a knee or shoulder just to pick up a pint of milk. It’s been years since I took gymnastics and I never thought that the few skills I learnt would be so useful for getting out of tight parking situations but there you go. 
Better parking spaces shouldn’t be targeted towards women. They should be improved for everyone because who doesn’t want life to be a little bit easier?