A Fake Parking Bay Story
As if this were read by more than five people, I find myself filtering things to blog even more these days. Such a five-year-old.
On a second thought, five-year-olds don't filter much actually.
So, for 10 minutes this morning, I was mean to someone.
Below is not the actual story.
Let's say I'm a top, very important surgeon... and I've been given an allocated parking space right in front of the hospital or basement elevator (I'm not sure which, this is not a real story), with a picture of myself, wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope around my neck, clearly displayed on the board. However, for 20 days in a row now, I arrive in the morning and find that the parking space has been taken by this particular red car. As a result, I've had to walk for 200 metres from the nearest bay for those 20 days.
This morning I decided that I'd had enough. So I arrived earlier than usual to catch the red car. It arrived five minutes later and the driver got out -- a young man probably in his late teens or early 20s. Typical!
So I took one long stride towards him and stated my demand for him to never park his car at my spot again, ever, not even going so far as letting it cross his mind. He didn't have the time to react.
And at that particular moment, the other door was pushed open. The boy ran to a middle aged woman in the passenger seat, then took out a wheelchair!
I felt like hiding in my bag.
He apologized and told me that he's been sending his mother every morning for some treatment before his class. The bays for the disabled are always full, and he's often late to get a nearer spot because he also has to get his younger siblings ready in the morning. He admitted that shouldn't be an excuse, though, and apologized again.
It rarely ended well whenever I chose to throw tantrums. I often tried to remind myself this. Butoften sometimes I forgot about it. Or sometimes I thought there was no way this wouldn't benefit me and the other party. This is called communication!
But I was wrong again this morning.
So, this is a reminder to self. When angry, wait until you are not before reacting.
(Fake stories have loopholes. The guy can actually drop his mother at the main door before parking his car.)
On a second thought, five-year-olds don't filter much actually.
So, for 10 minutes this morning, I was mean to someone.
Below is not the actual story.
Let's say I'm a top, very important surgeon... and I've been given an allocated parking space right in front of the hospital or basement elevator (I'm not sure which, this is not a real story), with a picture of myself, wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope around my neck, clearly displayed on the board. However, for 20 days in a row now, I arrive in the morning and find that the parking space has been taken by this particular red car. As a result, I've had to walk for 200 metres from the nearest bay for those 20 days.
This morning I decided that I'd had enough. So I arrived earlier than usual to catch the red car. It arrived five minutes later and the driver got out -- a young man probably in his late teens or early 20s. Typical!
So I took one long stride towards him and stated my demand for him to never park his car at my spot again, ever, not even going so far as letting it cross his mind. He didn't have the time to react.
And at that particular moment, the other door was pushed open. The boy ran to a middle aged woman in the passenger seat, then took out a wheelchair!
I felt like hiding in my bag.
He apologized and told me that he's been sending his mother every morning for some treatment before his class. The bays for the disabled are always full, and he's often late to get a nearer spot because he also has to get his younger siblings ready in the morning. He admitted that shouldn't be an excuse, though, and apologized again.
It rarely ended well whenever I chose to throw tantrums. I often tried to remind myself this. But
But I was wrong again this morning.
So, this is a reminder to self. When angry, wait until you are not before reacting.
(Fake stories have loopholes. The guy can actually drop his mother at the main door before parking his car.)
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