This evening was, majorly, a delight. Although a little tired from a shortened nap for my son and no nap for my already tired daughter, the two of them, the two of us, my parents and sister's family all went to see "Elmo's Green Thumb" tonight. The show was OK, I watched enough to wonder at the level of anamatronics and their implementation in the performers' costumes, but the real treat for me was watching my kids. Both of them enjoy Sesame Street at levels appropriate to their ages and the two of them together seem to have some other shared consciousness which causes them to laugh, sing, bounce, etc with synchronized precision and honest joy. This interaction didn't diminish with my interposition or with repositioning to various laps and seats. Probably the most enjoyable time was the spontaneous bouts of dancing both engaged in with fascinated looks pastered on their faces. With the other stresses in the family, this was a welcome respite that did my soul much good.
Prior to this evening's festivity, we all attended church together. The priest offered a homily reflecting on the transformation of Saul's convictions about Jesus's resurrection. (Bear with me, this is related even if religious.) To overly-simplify the point, Saul was overly-zealous and overly-guilty. He persecuted early Christians with fervor because of their blasphemous (in his eyes) belief in the resurrection. His guilt was well-intentioned but proven to be misplaced and it took Saul many, many years to reconcile for himself -- in the face of the factual resurrection -- his beliefs; a period of introspection that ultimately resulted in the complete conversion of Saul's life into the reborn Peter. The priest then challenged us to be neither over-zealous nor over-guilty. We're not perfect and we must observe the world around us with tolerance so that we may gain wisdom.
Got that? Wondering where this is going?
So, after the show, we planned to go for a meal with the gathered family at a location not far away. We had parked on the 3rd level of a parking garage above the rest of the family that had parked on the 1st level having arrived much earlier. The other car was quickly out and re-parked at the restaurant while we packed up and proceeded to get into a line of cars backed up the exit ramp. A quick glance at the cars around us would confirm that this family show was attended by families. By far, SUV's and Minivans populated the parking slots -- both demarked by paint and defined by the momentary gridlock. Families of all sorts braved the wind and cold to take tired children to their cars, weaving through the same mass of viechles that saught direction.
With the kindness of a minivan driver a couple of spaces down, we both joined the stream flowing toward the exit ramp. We proceeded to the end of the row, just around the corner, then join the gridlock. I would estimate that there were about 20 slots on either side of the lane where the majority of the cars were still parked. Pedestrian traffic moved faster, but terminated in the viechles in-view and going nowhere. While engines started and drivers attempted to communicate, the most prevalent light in the row was the glare brake lights .
I can't speak for all viechles, but in my car the kids were antsy and I wouldn't think it too much of a stretch to imagine the behavior was shared in most of the cars surrounding us. One, which was to my side, had two women, dragging 3 children into the viechle; one under audible, even if unintelligable protest.
This is where things seemd to go all wrong. We had all just come from a show that embodied the good qualities for our children to learn. In sharp contrast, it's nearly amusing to see 6 minivans try to all back into the same space at the same time, none willing to yeild, while two additional cars try to navigate out of the way. While that went on, I reminded my daughter that there was no where for my car to go and that -- here's the initial tie in -- we were not the only ones with opinions on how this should go. It was not right for us to believe we knew best and had the only opinion that mattered.
I will admit, I wanted to get out and direct traffic, but eventualy the congestion started to clear. Nearly exactly at that moment, the car with the two women and 3 children, reversed quite rapidly, nearly into the side of my car. Apparently their impatience was boiling over. Their horn started honking and I could nearly taste the resentment they were projecting from not moving. To be honest, I was likely eminating much the same set of emotions, but I remained on my break while the automotive knot was unwinding. Apparently my view on the situation was not shared.
From the kindess of the mothers, a door was opened and yelling comprable to the gentleness of a seasoned drill seargent commensed. Right in the middle of a gridlocked garage and in a stellar role-model for their children and mine, the mother in the passenger seat instructed me that I should be driving like I intended to go somewhere yet that night -- along with other phrases I will decline to share. Now, I have no idea where I could have gone except to plant my viechle further into the congestion, but that was of no concern. The driver of the other viechle decided that the point was not taken seriously enough and laid on the horn continuously for 2 minutes.
After having been parked for roughly twenty minutes, the knot was undone to the point where I could move forward. As I cleared a critical amout of space, the driver quickly reversed her car out of its parking spot -- while still on the horn somehow, nearly hitting the back side of my car and I would imagine the nose of the car that has been patiently waiting behind me, pulled completely across the isle, and charged forward down the parking spaces next to me, culminating in cutting me off ("rode raging" me as my wife put it likely most accurately) while still hollaring out a window before nearly hitting a car parked in the makeshift lane. Incredible!
It's not worth it, I reminded my daughter as I let the other car in front of me. I could have gunned it -- my car would easily have raced into the back of the car in front of me -- but what good would that do? I would have been just as guilty in my miopic perspective and wrongly zealous by that action as the other driver already was. I would have risked the safety of my family and several others for what?
No, I'm not confessing to a peronal faith conversion from this eventm but I was quite frankly shocked and dissapointed in the behavior of many adults this evening with the safety of many families in their hands. All I can hope is to hold onto what I grew up learning as common courtesy, teach it to my children by example and pray that more people open their eyes to the world around them.
