I thought I owed myself a decaf coffee after my eventful drive thru experience. So I booked it for Starbucks which was right next door. I had exactly $5 left to my name and I was willing to splurge. Warm heaven in a cup would surely make me forget about the drive thru and all that had gone on in a day. I parked my vehicle next to a car who had already parked. The driver of the other car and myself both exited our cars basically at the same time, although I made it into Starbucks a handful of seconds maybe before he did, simply because I walk fast to get things done quickly. When he met me inside he was upset and demanded to know if I expected him to "re-park" because my van has a sticker on Noah's side door that says you cannot park within eight feet of my vehicle. Something that automatically came with the vehicle - as most do when you have a ramp from the dealership.
I tried to explain to him that he didn't need to re-park, and that I am not legally permitted to park in a handicapped parking spot if my son is not in the car with me. That I must park in a regular parking spot and when I do so people are allowed to park within regular distance. He didn't understand. His jaw was gaping open. He still was rather disgusted that he thought he needed to park 8 feet away from me. He proceeded to say it was an "unfair expectation" for other drivers who could park next to me. I again tried to explain to no avail. I even tried to compliment him - "hey, it's wonderful you even noticed that sticker most people don't." Nope. That didn't work either.
Can't knock a girl for trying. Sigh. Guess it just wasn't my night. Sometimes that happens. I collected my extra hot decaf white mocha latte with whip and tried to scurry quickly away from him, I could feel the heat of his unpleasant stares hitting my back. I hung my head in disbelief that no matter how I tried to communicate with him that I was unsuccessful in getting him to understand the point of that sign. I probably would have been better off to tell him that the sign indeed did mean that he needed to get a minimum of eight feet away from my car and to do it as fast as possible because my car could blow his up otherwise. Then maybe that all would have made better sense.
"Most people don't listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply." Stephen Covey
Love,
Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.