Saturday, January 15, 2011

Not Going Anywhere, Might As Well Be Kind

Day 289

My son started a new art class this afternoon (Armor Design, really). It was at a local university in the city where there is currently lots of snow piles and not many places to put them. I felt fortunate when I went to pick him up that I scored a parking spot right in front of the building. Getting out of that spot was another story.

Because of the abundance of snow and the lack of parking spaces, when it was time to leave my son and I were boxed in on all sides by cars double parked, presumably other parents there to pick up their kids. The woman directly next to me was blocked in, front and back and appeared mortified as she looked over at me and realized that I couldn't move because she couldn't move.

I briefly felt annoyed and then, remembering my commitment to be kind, realized that had I been a few minutes later it would have been me double parked. I rolled down the window and motioned to the woman to roll down hers. I told her not to worry, take her time, we were in no hurry. She looked momentarily relieved, but then the person behind her beeped, either ignoring or ignorant of the fact that nothing could be done; we were all trapped for the time being.

While my small act of kindness did nothing to help alleviate the traffic jam, I hope that it, however briefly, alleviated some stress.

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