Parking Lots

The car chugged heavily under me. I can feel it - it chugged, vibrated, and groaned but I remained steadfast that I was going to find a space. My eyes scanned the dim parking lot for an empty slot for which I could park my car in. The only source of light was the overhead fluorescent bulbs, which threw a disgusting bluish-white hue over all that I could see.

Even as I steered the car into the next row of parking lots, I had a feeling that it was going to be futile. It was the kind of futility which is usually accompanied by the monotony of consistent failure. I had been in this blooming parking lot for almost an hour now - it's just been row after row of fruitlessness.


I eventually reached a point where giving up was not an option (despite my lack of hope). I had invested too much effort and time in this and I found myself zooming up and down obsessively looking for this space which I desired. No luck. Every turn yielded more disappointed and my lack of progress was killing me. But of course, that's when I spot it - an empty space and god did I relish this seemingly triumphant moment.

I positioned the car quickly in front of this space to make sure that other desperate drivers knew that it was taken. And as I snorted in pride at the other forlorn drivers, I adjusted the car to ensure smooth parking. I reversed and found my bumper up against a pillar.

Damn my (non-existent) driving skills!

I tried one more time.

No. Another miss.

I had driven into the pillar again.


Come on. I want this space. I really want it.

Pillar.

No! I want to get in! Damn it!

Pillar.

Come on!

And I was in. I turned the engine off and found myself exhausted. The whole thing seemed so climatic in my head. Never in my life had something as trivial as finding a space to park seem so significant as it had then. I laid back and let out a sigh. It was over. I got out of the car and left smiling, knowing that this space was hard-earned and deserved.




It's now been three days since that little event. And god, how my triumph then seems so pathetic now.