New ideas are sometimes difficult to embrace with an attitude of acceptance and an expectation of successful results. We are most comfortable with the familiar. Most at ease with the routine. Breaking old habits can sometimes be a hard thing to deal with. Such is human nature.

The Head-Out Angled Parking program, currently underway as a pilot test on Bow St., represents a good example of something that may look good on paper or ring well in our ears when touted by proponents, but in the end may take some serious getting used to by local residents and by visitors to our fair city.

Let’s face it, we are accustomed to approaching a parking space head-on, giving little extra thought whether or not we should face in, out, up, down, or sideways. This new variation adds a little wrinkle into the process and, therefore, taxes our cognitive abilities at just the most inopportune moment: when we’ve reached our destination and just want to stop, get out, feed the meter, and be on our way. Oh, the humanity.

It does seem like a somewhat odd maneuver, backing into the parking space. But we do this in other circumstances, don’t we? Backing into a driveway, for example. It can’t be that difficult, after all.

Proponents of this scheme claim that the program will create more parking spaces, improve safety for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, and is easier to perform than traditional parallel parking.

All we can do is give it a fair test and see how it goes. Here’s hoping that our brave test pilots will come through their trials A-OK.