I’ve previously observed that LaGuardia airport is like a little island of the third world right here in the middle of the first — but that’s not really fair, because third-world airports are nicer than LGA.

Now add the following question, which should be simple: If you park in a parking spot labeled “P4” before you leave, which button in the elevator do you press to get to your car when you return: P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, or P6?

You’d be forgiven if you guessed P4, but you’d also be wrong. In my case, I parked in P4 and had to press P2! Only in LGA.

You see, the “designers” of LGA decided to use “P” as the abbreviation for “parking area” and, astoundingly — unforgivably, really — also for “level.” (What, did they run out of letters?) So “P4” is the parking garage serving terminals C and D. But inside of P4 are six levels, which are called not “L1” to “L6” or “1” to “6” but, idiotically, “P1” to “P6.”

Really. I can’t even imagine the discussion. They had a parking garage called “P4” with six levels, so the designers had to decide what to call the levels. Was there a meeting at which someone suggested, “How about L1 to L6,” but got shouted down? Did someone say, “Let’s use P to abbreviate everything at this airport?” Was someone reading an essay on design principles called “Don’t Let This Happen to You”? Was it a practical joke?

I don’t get it.