I've fallen victim to my own wild side in a case of parking rage yesterday. As I age, those episodes affect me more - even a day later I still can't stop thinking about it. Here's what happened:
M and I share the ride to work. Since my workplace is farther away, I drop her off and pick her up. Being a bit early, I pulled into the parking lot behind her building and squeezed to a spot near the exit doors. The parking wasn't full, there were quite a few spots available. A white Mercedes SUV crawled along the path and stopped in front of my car, right on the path. At first I didn't pay it much attention. It was a fine car - a big, expensive SUV, with tinted windows and vanity plates. Everything on it screamed money, even the fact that it was spotlessly clean on a day of freezing rain and snow slush. A young woman driver immediately pulled out her phone and started typing on it. I found it odd that she didn't pull into some of the empty spots, but thought that she must have been texting whomever she was picking up, and they'll be gone soon.
Minutes passed. Finally, the white Mercedes moved, slowly, reluctantly, and crawled right in front of the building door, where it stopped. It completely blocked the path for the people leaving work. I watched a guy with a briefcase slipping on ice while scrambling around the car. A couple of women loaded with bags gingerly navigated by it. All along, the woman in the Mercedes typed on her phone, oblivious of the mini-chaos she caused.
The longer I watched people emerging and tripping, sliding and struggling around her, the more my blood boiled. How on earth can someone be so inconsiderate? Does it come with the money? With the status? Or is being an absolute, egocentric jerk simply natural for certain people? Whatever the case, the Mercedes woman mastered the art of it!
The last straw was pulled when M came out of the building. By now I was watching the scene for good 15 minutes. M pulled her wheeled computer suitcase, had her purse on the shoulder and two bulky bags in the other hand. She glared at the car, but the driver didn't notice. As we were leaving, I honked to ask her to move just a bit forward and leave some space for people to pass by. Nothing happened. I honked longer, with the same effect. Finally, I pulled next to Mercedes and laid on the horn. Nothing! I simply couldn't believe. Being so thoroughly ignored was maddening! Powered by righteous rage, I stepped out of the car, knocked - or, rather, banged - on her window, making her jump. Since she wouldn't open the window, I yelled "Could you move and give people some room?" She shot me a look of contempt, but moved the car. Finally defusing myself, I drove away. Leaving the parking lot I saw in the mirror her reverse lights coming on as she pulled right back to where she'd been.
Don't you ever wish you could do something really naughty? Like cut her tires, ram her car and push it away, or simply blow it up? All of it went through my head as we drove away. When the adrenaline finally dissipated, I felt exhausted and - sad. What kind of place is this world becoming? Driving around Toronto, I come across similar examples of selfishness every day. What happened to considerate people in friendly towns of my youth? Do they still exist? Is imagining yourself in someone else's shoes becoming a forgotten skill? For example, if the Mercedes woman only thought how would it feel to walk in her high heels on ice around someone's car blocking the path, I'm certain she would move the car. Then again, maybe I am thinking too highly of her. People like that, in expensive clean cars, wearing stylish clean cloths, are usually full of dirt inside. And it shows, no matter how much they try to mask it with the glitz.
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