Parking Spaces and Such

The guy who chaired the meeting today read from the 7th Step, the humility Step.  For a minute, I thought he was going to read the exact same passage that I read two days previously.  Clearly, there's a message about humility that my higher power is trying to send me; I thought that it was going to be an alarmingly specific message.  I enjoyed the meeting, then went swimming and had a cup of coffee outside with my wife.  It was a nice morning.


On the way home we stopped for some groceries.  I pulled into a legal parking spot outside my 10 story building - a spot I have used many times for its convenience and proximity - and we began to unload bags of fruit and our swimming gear.  A woman who lives upstairs had just finished parking her car in the underground parking garage that the more affluent residents of our building have access to.  She considerately took a minute to join us street side and inform us that, if we left our car in the clearly marked and legal spot that it was currently occupying, she has trouble exiting the garage.  The car obstructs her line of sight, apparently.


I pondered a few responses.  "How about I park my car up your ass?" came to mind, as did "Maybe when you finish your self-absorbed lecture about something that's none of your fucking business you could give me a hand with these fucking groceries?"  SuperK is the buffer in our family between Seaweed and The Public.  I was grateful she was there, because "restraint of tongue and pen" and "when agitated, we pause" were concepts that were definitely not coming to mind.  They were in there somewhere but I didn't have access to them.


Humility schmuh-mility.


I did move my car.  It was the right thing to do, even though I had to park two blocks away from my building.  I will use this particular egregious parking space again, however.  Someone parked there almost immediately as I live in a very congested, highly concentrated neighborhood.  Parking is at a premium and it's quite competitive.  Setting down my bags of groceries and moving my car would only alleviate this annoying person's discomfort temporarily.


She DID NOT bring a smile to my face.