Entitlement

So the staff at my new school is reading a book called "The entitlement Cure." And it points out that we all have some areas where we feel entitled. Some of us have more areas than others, but we all have at least one little area that we feel entitled.

This weekend we had a lot of severe weather alerts on our phones and tablets. Having been stressed from recently moving I'm still a little tense and learning to become more relaxed. The severe weather alerts did not help at all. The weather in Iowa is much more different than whether I've ever experienced anywhere, even in the places I've lived in the Midwest. And when we got a severe weather warning for a tornado that had touched down and was passing through part of our County, I definitely freaked out.

And my first thought was to put my car in the parking garage instead of parking in the parking lot where it has been. So I ventured into the parking garage for the first time and discovered my spot is too small for my compact car. Yes, you read that right: my parking spot is too small for my compact car. (The only car that I think could fit in there is a Fiat, a smart car, or a Mini Cooper.)

So I went to anotger spot in the parking garage. I picked it at random simply because it was open. And I left a note scribbled on a napkin on my dashboard, apologizing for being in someone else's spot and promising to move as soon as the tornado had passed. When I came back to my car a couple hours later, after the tornado had passed, I found a very nasty response from the person assigned to that spot.

I apologized to the universe and tried to get on with things, though somewhat upset at this person for being mean and frustrated with the small parking space that I'm assigned which my car doesn't fit into, and just scared by the right of a tornado nearby.

But then I woke up today to an email from my apartment complex asking if I had parked in someone else's spot. I guess the person reported me and said it was Utah plates on the car so the complex was able to figure out whose vehicle was. I admitted to breaking the rules and parking in someone else's spot. I apologized to them and then requested a new parking spot.

The apartment managers response was very scolding, as if I were an unrepentant child who continually misbehaved. I felt hurt, I had been treated as just a faceless contact in their email address book, rather than a person with feelings.

But this parking debacle has caused me to wonder a bit. Is this an area where I feel entitled? Was I acting entitled by parking in someone else's spot because I couldn't fit my car into my own?

I'm not sure. I don't think so. I do feel sincerely apologetic for the inconvenience that I caused to this other driver who wasn't able to park their car in their spot. I certainly didn't do it with the intent that my car was more important than theirs, though they did accuse me of that. I was simply scared and operating out of fear.

If it had been turned around, I would've been upset, too. But I would've just parked in the next spot over until the car was moved. And if I'd have left a note, I wouldn't have been so aggressively hostile (at least to a first time offender). It's often repeated, but there's a reason why it's related: Treat others the way you want to be treated.

I don't think I've found yet the area where I feel entitled, but it was thought provoking.  And I think I still have some more work to do on the parking situation, in love.