Friday, October 10, 2008

A little aggression goes a long way

Today I came home quite late. The rain was doing its Irish thing of misting in all directions so umbrellas are useless and it was hard to see. As usual lately, as I pulled into the apartment parking lot, I felt a burst of anxiety as I craned my neck to see if anyone was parked in my assigned spot.

Ever since the next door neighbors moved in with their 4-6 cars (not counting guests), it's been a crap shoot as to whether someone will decide that my empty spot is fair game. I've come home at all hours of the day and night to find some inconsiderate jerk sitting in the spot I pay for. Apparently the bright red sign perched 2 feet in front of my spot saying that illegally parked cars will be clamped was viewed as a suggestion rather than a warning. Such was also true of the numerous notes (progressing from polite to sharp) I placed on windshield after windshield.

The only thing that seemed to make anything of a difference was the handwritten sign I finally gave in and tacked to the official sign: "The next car that parks here illegally WILL BE CLAMPED!!" That got me some relief. Until the day a week later when I came home at 7:30 pm to find somebody's truck again in my space. I'd had enough! I took pictures, then called the management company, again, this time demanding that they come and clamp the car.

Apparently all it took was me finally giving in and acting like a hardass for people to decide that they needed to obey the rules and respect my space. Not a problem since. Tonight when I came home there were cars parked literally in every free space that could be seen, or created. The only empty space left was mine, blessedly free of interlopers. Hah!

But why did you have to make me act like a b---h?!

4 comments:

N'Drea ~ the Storyteller said...

'Cause that's what it takes sometimes, sad to say.

Anonymous said...

You were not a b---h, you were assertive - men do it all the time, except that they do it the first time someone takes their parking space and they don't question themselves - it's their parking spot and someone took it. Guess who? It's your high school friend who wishes to remain anonymous and has no facebook account. :o)

Sirmelja said...

N'drea: I know, I know :-(

M.R. (I'm assuming this is you anonymous): You're so right, but then why do I feel so guilty? Well, gleeful and guilty :-)

Anonymous said...

Yes - it's M.R. Stop feeling guilty - you did nothing wrong.