# Parking, Unlimited explained — Short Science Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Science Fiction by Noel Loomis.

## What happens

Slim Coleman convinces the narrator to invest $300 in a parking garage scheme. Using a device that shrinks cars to six inches, they pack thousands of cars into a small basement. The business booms, but suspicion grows, and they plan to flee to the coast before they are caught.

## Themes in this chapter

### Technology and Control

The reducing gadget represents a technological solution to a social problem, but it also enables a secretive and potentially dangerous operation.

### Work and Alienation

The narrator's labor in the garage is exhausting and alienating, as he works long hours moving heavy, shrunken cars, highlighting the dehumanizing nature of the work.

## Character check-ins

### Slim Coleman

The schemer who pitches the parking garage idea, uses blackmail to secure the lease, and operates the reducing gadget.

### Richard LaBombard

The parking lot owner who is blackmailed into giving Slim an option on the garage.

### The Bryd

Not directly present, but the brain-finder (an invention associated with the Bryd) is used by Slim to discover LaBombard's secret.

## Key lines

> I could have taken that three hundred dollars and gone to school for a year, by washing dishes two hours a night.

The narrator reflects that the $300 could have funded a year of education if he worked part-time washing dishes.

_Highlights the opportunity cost and the narrator's initial reluctance._

> Slim tried the squeezer-upper when he got it finished. He set a couple of old sawhorses inside and, turned on the juice. It was uncanny to see those things shrink.

Slim tests the reducing device on sawhorses, and they shrink to an inch high, demonstrating the gadget's eerie power.

_Introduces the central technology and its uncanny effect._

> We'll make a million,” he said, rubbing his hands.

Slim predicts they will become millionaires from the scheme.

_Captures Slim's ambitious and optimistic outlook._

> The parking problem must be solved if the city is to survive,” Slim said dramatically.

Slim argues that solving the parking issue is essential for the city's continued existence.

_Frames the scheme as a civic necessity._

> I could just imagine what two thousand owners would say if they should find out their cars had been reduced to six inches. People are not too broad-minded about such things.

The narrator fears the public's reaction if they discovered their cars were shrunk, noting people are not open-minded about such matters.

_Highlights the secrecy and potential backlash._

> We've got to get out of here,” he said. “He knows too much.

Slim insists they must leave because the building inspector has become too suspicious.

_Signals the beginning of the escape plan._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_science_fiction_2_se/chapters/parking-unlimited
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_science_fiction_2_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_science_fiction_2_se/chapters