Parking Wars: showdown at the hospital

After traveling in morning rush-hour traffic, I'm already worn out by the time I get to work. To make matters worse, I almost always have to search for parking because at the job, good spots are scarce. And of course the interim supervisor watches the clock so it’s important to get a spot that is close to the door, so it doesn't take me forever to walk up to my building. What puts the icing on the cake is the fact that my hypocrite boss never follows his own rules and is always the first one to cheat the system. (FYI: he's a “dictator” with short-man syndrome)

Now that you have the background on how my mornings usually begin before I even step foot in my dreadful office, let me tell you about one particular morning:

Returning to work after having knee surgery, I decided to get an early start because my commute can take anywhere from 40 minutes to two hours. I followed my normal routine that I had before surgery, but on this particular foggy morning, my daughter was moving extremely slow. We finally get out the door 10 minutes later than I wanted to. (You know how crucial 10 minutes can be for commuting) As I suspected, I missed my window of opportunity. When I hit the interstate, it was a parking lot. Washington D.C.’s rush-hour traffic is now No. 2 behind Los Angeles for the worst traffic cities.

An hour and 15 minutes later, I finally turned my last turn into the job's parking garage. I was excited because I had 10 minutes to spare before my shift began. Usually I’m lucky, and with a little prayer I always find a lone space just perfect for my small vehicle. But today, there were none is sight. I drove up and down the garage three times before going to the closest “overflow” parking lot. There was nothing there. Eventually, I saw a couple of people walking into the parking lot. I asked one lady where she was parked and she told me. I proceeded to the area where she said she was parked. As I turned the corner, I could see her approaching her car. “Good! I got a spot,” I thought to myself. As she started to pull out, someone pulled in from the opposite side.

I was mad for a split second but then three or four spots down, a couple started to get into their car. I slowly moved into position and waited patiently as they started their car. Then out of nowhere this red car comes up from behind and gets in front of me blocking their exit.

We were at a stand-still. Nobody was moving. The rude lady now sitting in front of me asked if I could move back so she could let the car out and take their spot.

“Could this really be happening?” I asked myself.

Then she gets louder when I did not respond to her stupid question. She proceeded to tell me that the couple had promised the spot to her, and that I HAD to let her have it. In that very moment I became infuriated and would not move my car. I also started shouting, telling her that nobody can promise parking spots!!

“I’m not moving!” I shouted. “I’m already late for work. Who cares if I sit here for another 20-30 minutes?”

The couple was getting angry too. The male driver got out of his car said something to the lady in the red car. She drove forward. For a moment I felt some sense of accomplishment. But in this wicked twist of fate, he backed out of the spot and blocked me – almost hitting my car. Then the lady in the red car backed into the spot. As I sat there in disbelief, she got out of her car and made some rude comments to me.

Do you know how hard it was for me not to bump her with my car while she was walking through the parking lot?

But luckily I did not. To make matters worse, looking out my office window eight flights up, I could see her little red car backed into what should have been my parking space.

The Gurus at ...OrHardlyWorking have mulled over this common dilemma and come up with this post just for you! If you have experienced being “parking spot jacked,” here are some tips to help you not become a victim in the parking lot:

1) Drive in the middle of the lane. Do not give the parking lot jacker the opportunity to squeeze by you and jack your spot.
2) Leave just enough room for the vacating car to get out of the spot. If he needs more room, you give him some a little at a time. It’s like partner dancing. Stay as close as possible without violating each other's space or comfort level.
3) Always be on the look out for those drivers speeding down the lanes. You don’t want them to “accidently" hit your car or to zip into your spot.
4) If all else fails just let them have the spot and find another because your safety is the first priority. You never know what could tick them off. If they stole your spot in the first place, they are already mentally disturbed.

5) For you parking lot jackers, BEWARE! You don’t know the state of mind of the person who you just jacked. You just might catch someone who is having a really bad day and... well we don't even want to think of what could happen.

Hope this helped! Be careful out there, and watch your back. You never know when someone is poised to snatch your parking spot.


-The Gurus