Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Working on a way out

The carpool arrived at work, and we backed into our assigned parking spot.  Across the lot, there are "double spaces" - parking spaces in which two cars park, one pulled up to the fence, and the other one parked behind. I'm glad I don't have one of these spots; I would hate to be dependent upon someone else leaving before I could drive away.

As we watched, someone was in just that situation.  He wanted to leave, but someone was parked behind him. The long space next to him was empty, but in the next space, two cars were parked. As we watched, he was attempting to move into the space between, turn around and leave. He had maneuvered his car to be parallel to the fence instead of perpendicular to it, and was continuing the small, inch by inch progress to freedom.

As I watched, I wondered (out loud) why he didn't just back up. I could not see that a pickup truck was parked on the other side. There is a lesson in that for us - we can't always see the obstacles that other people face, so it might be best to stop judging them.

He worked and worked, stepping out of his car to judge how close he was to the other cars, continuing to move. Although he tried to avoid it, he hit the truck parked behind him. I doubt it did any damage to the truck - it was a slow tap - but I imagine it did some damage to the car the man was driving.  Sometimes we can't get out without damage.

He eventually freed himself, only through perseverance.  Sometimes hard work and a no-give-up attitude are necessary to accomplish the goal. Once free, he got out of his car, inspected the truck he hit, and his own side door. He wasn't happy to see whatever damage had been caused, but he was free, and he drove away.

Sometimes life is like being parked in a double parking space and having to work our way out.

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