parking with boys

The way I knew it when I was growing up, "parking" with a boy meant that the two of you were sitting in his dad's car overlooking some lookout point, doing things you wouldn't dream telling your parents about.

But, today, I learned that "parking" with a boy has a whole other connotation in the Chassidish world.

My friend Shaindy and I were driving over to our favorite shopping destination when we saw two Chassids, a guy with a beard and a girl who looked like she was still in high school, walking around the parking lot.

"I wonder what they're up to....", I asked Shaindy. She knows a lot more about the khaki tights world than I do.

"Well, obviously - they're on a date Material Maidel!", she replied.

Now, I've heard of sit-ins. But park-ins are a whole new frontier.

In case you've been living in a ModOrth bubble, a sit-in is where a Chassidish bochur goes over to a girl's home and they spend 30 minutes deciding whether they're willing to spend the rest of their lives together. (a Chassidish girl I know explained the process to me, and apparently the parents wait in the kitchen for hand signals from the girl to know when to interrupt)

A park-in, from what I just learned, is where the two sets of parents drive their single children over to a mall parking lot, let the singles hop out of their respective minivans for a few minutes and go on their "date".

It sounds pretty romantic.