A week and a half later, I received another note on my car that said
"Please do not park in my spot! I have been parking here for the past 10 years and I have little kids that need to get in and out of the car safely!" though there are aspects of this request that seem reasonable, the note still infuriated me. First, it is a public street and no one is designated a parking spot. You may prefer to park in front of your house, but the city does promise you a spot. I have a parking permit for Zone 6, but that only ensures that I am a resident and protects me from being fined; it does not ensure me nor designate me a parking spot. Though it seemed ridiculous, I honored the request nonetheless and ensured that I did not park anywhere near that house again.
A few days later, I received another note stating "please make sure your bike rack is not sticking in my driveway!" or something to that nature. At this point, I was so annoyed by all of the notes and request, that I took it with a grain of salt, for I know for a fact that my bike rack left plenty of room for the residents to safely back-out of their driveway. Nonetheless, I honored the request and ensured that I stayed off the grass, away from their spot, and out of their driveway.
This whole interaction has made me paranoid, that everywhere I go, notes will be placed on my car due to my shammy parking (even though I am a highly respectable parker). I thought I was doing fine, no notes in two weeks, staying away from spots, grass, and driveways.
Then the doorbell rang.
I answered the door and there stood a man in his late 60s, mustached and wearing a drivers cap. His glasses tinted from the sun and the thin frames took up half his face.
"YOU COME HERE." He demanded, "I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU PARKING YOUR CAR". He then lectured me for more than 2 minutes, talking about how I parked wrong in this area and how this person needs that spot. I received a breakdown of all the neighbors and their conditions.
"She has cancer so she can't park in her driveway. She has young kids so she likes to park in front of her house."
He then told me how the lady almost took off my bike rack because it was blocking her driveway. He brought me outside in the cold and showed me my flaws in parking, instructing me on what to do in the future. He told me that I have pissed a lot of people off and then mentioned how I used to park down the street which was fine because I am young. I apologized and said that it is not my intent to make people angry and he said thats fine and that he understand that the residents are good Christian people that mean no harm. I then moved my car down the street and let him take his rightful place.
This whole situation frustrates me to no end. I have the right to park wherever the hell I want! Yes it is rude to park on the grass and take up driveways, I understand, but also these people need to get the bleep over themselves. They have lived in privilege all their life, they are old and wealthy and don't understand normal practices. The man mentioned that the neighbors don't hate me, I've just pissed them off. These people are crazy and I have no doubt in my mind that they would tow my car if I continued my parking practices.
But honestly, who cares. Yes it is annoying when you can't find parking or someone takes your spot; but there is much more to life than cars, items, and whatever privileges you think you have. These people must have meetings, talking about my parking, making notes and taking pictures. If they spent half as much time as they have writing notes and tracking me down to lecture me and instead spent it helping a neighbor or feeding the homeless; then how much better would Seattle be? This whole thing is stupid and life should not be spent working over petty things.
Like water off of a ducks back, I'm letting it roll off of me.
Queen Anne, get over yourself
0 comments:
Post a Comment