Great Power/Great Responsibility

-Parking karma can be a heavy burden

     Before I enter a parking lot I need to ask myself, “Do I really want to shop/dine/tour here?” since inevitably, the instant my tires hit the tarmac someone will come from the building and drive away, leaving me their spot. A spot that's no more than four spaces from the front door. This happens so often I’m convinced there’s some cosmic force that selects a driver and tells them it’s time to leave, regardless of whether they’re ready or not.

This is the time of year when my particular super-power becomes most evident. It’s when I arrive in the parking lot of the huge shopping mall that I am set apart from other, less fortunate, mortals.

Last shopping season my husband and went to the department store that sat at one end of the mall. We were there on a highly focused mission – we only needed one thing and so agreed that there was no need to take up a parking place. One of us could wait in the car while the other ran in. I volunteered to hold down the fort – or car.

I pulled up to the entrance and delivered my husband into the maw of the mall and then pulled aside onto the fringes of the parking lot. Meanwhile, as if on some new ring of hell, cars circled desperately looking for somewhere, anywhere they could shed their personal pile of metal.

As I sat there, two spaces away from my car someone pulled out and left. One of the desperate circlers pulled up behind me, and then drove away, thinking that I had laid claim to the spot.

I moved to a farther position from the store. Again a space opened up next to me and this time its owner blocked an oncoming car and waved me to his empty spot, thinking I was waiting for it.

Finally, I just had to drive away, returning periodically until my husband emerged from the store.