Saturday, October 15, 2011

PARKING LESSON

There isn’t a break. There isn’t a spot. It’s just lines of cars with nowhere to put mine. Not only does this hospital parking garage have too-snug spaces, but there simply isn’t one of them for me.

Oh, wait—right there. Finally. (This was getting ridiculous.)

Aw, dammit. That beater Pontiac’s overlapping into my space.

. . . but I think I can juuust fit.

I swing into the space and have to park off to the right. My tires are right on the line. There’s not much room to open the doors on the fatty Escalade next to me. But it was the best I could do. There ain’t another spot in this whole garage.

I turn off the car and open my computer to prepare for the next doctor’s office.

Moments later: Thwack!

I jump.

On my right, people had returned to their SUV, and there was some extra force behind that driver’s door opening. I think the she was mad that I’m nearly in her space. I’m certain she doesn’t know I’m in here. And I’m bettin’ she wants to teach the loser driver of this car a lesson. That’ll show you. Stay in your own space. Don’t want retribution? Don’t crowd me.

I must be in some reflective mood, because she does teach me a lesson. (Though I don’t think it’s the one she intended.) Even money says that the lady that slammed her car door into mine considered me careless ass, taking up more space than I should have, not paying attention when I parked. But I’ll also bet she didn’t take the time to notice that I was forced to part off-center thanks to the Pontiac on my left. And perhaps they had to park off-center because of the car next to them and so on. Car dominoes. My lesson: Don’t get your panties in a twist over someone’s seemingly inconsiderate actions—you really don’t know why they’re behaving that way do you?

Now of course I have more than just a few exceptions to that. I don’t care what kind of bad day you’ve been having—you do not get to yell at the receptionist at your doctor’s office, you do not get to hurt animals, you do not get to hurt your kids. But for me, right now, with this thing in the parking garage, I learned a little something. All thanks to a new dent in my fleet car’s passenger-side door.

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