One of the down sides of seeing doctors in the biggest & best medical center in the country is that when one sees said doctors one must park in the medical center parking garages, which cost upwards of $12 a day and are quite limited in their spaces. I park remotely when I work and take the train in, but when I’m only going to an appointment for an hour or so it’s about the same price to use the garage, so I do.
It was last December, after I saw my OB/GYN regarding infertility for the first time. A lot of courage was required for me to make that appointment, and I was a nervous wreck. After it was over, I had a lot to think about and I wanted to tell David about it right away. My plans for immediately after my appointment were to visit a friend who’s house I had never been to before, so I intended to sit in my car, talk to my husband about the appointment, and then look up directions on my phone before pulling out of the garage.
I was in the middle of my conversation with David when someone approached my window and knocked, then proceeded to make some angry gestures that I was mildly offended by. I got the gist that someone wanted my parking spot, and they wanted it RIGHT THAT SECOND. Caught unawares and never wishing to upset anyone, I said a flustered goodbye to my husband and began the process of pulling out of the parking space. (This was back when I had my truck with no power steering, and trust me it was a very painful process). What topped it off was that when I finally pulled away, there were tons of open spots right around the corner.
I chalked that incident up to a crazy person; surely people don’t routinely FORCE others out of their parking spots. Oh ho, my friends, they DO!
The same thing happened again yesterday: I went to my acupuncture appointment, parked in one of the medical center garages, and when I was finished began looking up directions to the nearest post office on my phone. When I heard a honk I ignored it. When I heard another, longer this time, I looked in my rearview mirror to see a few cars piled up waiting on me. Well, I was determined to stand my ground this time. I would leave when I was good and ready!
Several minutes went by while I waited for my phone to load the directions. Service isn’t the greatest in the garage, you know. I considered leaving to avoid any possible conflict, but there is no place to pull over in the medical center and since I refuse to use my phone while I drive I would be forced to wander around aimlessly until I found a place to park, most certainly completely out of my way. No, I would make them wait. It was still MY spot anyway, right?
Soon enough, a man from one of the cars couldn’t stand it any longer and marched up to my window and banged. I calmly rolled it down.
“We need your spot! There’re six cars piled up all waiting for you. Are you leaving or are you not?” he all but yelled at me.
Nonplussed, I looked him in the eye and said, “I have to figure out where I’m going first.” He walked away.
Just then, my directions were ready, but I waited a few extra moments before leaving anyway on principle. Victory is sweet.
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