No, really. You just go right ahead and take all the time you need to back into that parking stall. No problem. It is actually an honor and a privilege to idle and wait and watch your amazing 1-inch-forward, 1-inch- backward technique for reversing your Ram 1500 with the quad cab, or whatever that big shiny shipping-container-on- wheels is called, into a stall barely big enough for a Biki.

Completing that kind of butt-first docking maneuver in a mere 28 moves is super impressive. No, nobody is laughing. Everyone is just smiling at the sight of your undaunted determination. No, no eyes are rolling, either. If there is anything other than sheer awe on the faces of every witness to your pursuit of parking perfection, it is simply because those folks lack a certain road wisdom and are struggling to figure out why.

Why is it a mark of Hawaii street cred to park backward in a parking stall?

OK, it makes sense if you’re reversing into a stall at Aloha Stadium so you can be the first to roar out of the parking lot after a game or a concert while all the other forward-facing suckers are stuck in their cars waiting for the line of vehicles to clear so they can back out of the stall like wimps.

And it makes sense if you’re wanted by the authorities and need to be able to make a quick getaway at any time.

Some people say it’s safer to reverse into a parking space where there are no people to hit than to reverse out of a parking space into a driving lane where a little child or a tiny grandma could be walking in the blind spot.

But if you’re shopping at Walmart or Home Depot or Costco, what’s the benefit? For shopping trips that require lugging bulky purchases, it would seem having access to the trunk makes it easier to store those purchases for the trip home.

And what does it say to one’s employer if most of the staff is parking nose-out in the employee parking lot? I worked in a place like that once, and pau hana was funny and sad when everyone burned rubber to get the heck out of there.

Sure, there are some aces who can do it in two steps: Swoop forward at an angle, reverse into position by relying on mirrors and back-up camera. Cool. Smooth. It still requires the next car to wait while the maneuver is being completed, but maybe that’s the point: so that there’s an audience to appreciate the awesomeness.

Because, sure, when it’s done well, the reverse parking maneuver really is like an acrobatic maneuver or an engineering feat. But not every reverse parker is so well rehearsed. Often it’s multistep, back and forth, inch by inch. But nobody is laughing. Nobody is rolling their eyes. They’re just back there waiting, waiting, waiting for you get it right.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.