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Health & Fitness

Dude, Where's My Car? Chris Brennan

An unfortunate parking incident leads to an unexpected spiritual journey.

After a long weekend of indulgence, filled with football, pizza, beer, more football, and the inevitable cheesy potato skins, I was determined to get back on the track to fitness. Thus ,on Tuesday at 4:30am, I found myself lacing up my sneakers getting ready for the gym. Getting up this early is fairly common for me, but as I get older, I start to notice that my brain and body are subtly starting to protest a bit more. This particular morning, my brain was still somewhere in the "fuzzy" zone, where I can tie my shoes, but would have serious difficulty doing math.

I am lucky enough to live near 2nd street and usually find no difficulty in locating a parking space, unless of course there is an event that brings in the masses to savor our food, see Santa Claus, or witness dogs dressed up in Star Wars costumes. This past weekend, was one of those events...the car show,where thousands of people ogle beautiful cars, then go back to their Toyotas and drive home. Because I am fortunate enough to live here, but unfortunate to have to park here on an "event Sunday", I ignored the sign that said something about "Reserved Parking on Monday", and took the nearest available spot upon my return from Target. (I didn't really need anything...just had a desire to spend 50 dollars.)

So at 4:30am Tuesday morning, I find myself walking up and down my street, in total darkness, in mismatched workout clothes, muttering to myself "where the heck is my car?" My brain is still fuzzy, but is desperately trying to wake up and help me, but it, too, comes to the conclusion: yes, my car is gone.

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At first, I think, was it stolen? This seems unrealistic, because, although my car starts for me every day, it is hardly the kind of vehicle that others notice and say "oh..that's a sweet ride," Nevertheless, I start to entertain this thought, and surprisingly, I am getting rather excited. "Maybe my insurance can get me a car with automatic windows!" This also, will make a great story for all my friends who think that, by living in Long Beach, I must live in the hood, right next to Snoop Dogg.

Alas, it then occurs to me what has happened. I had parked in a temporary no parking zone, designed to assist people moving into the neighborhood, with space to get their moving truck on the busy street. This had been a wonderful benefit when I moved into Long Beach, but now, has come back to get me...and my car.

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Recognizing that, indeed, my car had been towed, I instinctively launched a few "f bombs", which woke up the slumbering Karen, and were interpreted by my dog Murphy as "time for walkies." I was mad.

The worst part about something like this, is you have no one to blame but yourself. Believe me, though, I tried. It was the city's fault, it was the new neighbor's fault, it was the car show's fault. But finally after spending a bit of time feeling sorry for myself, I had an epiphany. Maybe today, I can be the person that I have always wanted to be. I decided to own up to the fact that yes, I was an idiot, and yes it was no one else's fault but my own, and now I must pay the price. I instantly felt lighter. Telling yourself the truth, I found, was incredibly freeing.

At that moment, my outlook changed completely. Although costly, I was able to start seeing some humor in this, and I no longer felt anger, but compassion. I also realized that there was no great villain out there trying to screw me, but rather hard-working people simply doing their jobs. As a result, I found myself being nice to everyone involved, from the police, to the towing company, to the people who worked the impound lot. (I can only assume that these employees do not regularly have pleasant interactions with us, even though they are hardly to blame. Just like everyone else, they are working hard to get a paycheck to pay bills and feed families.)

As I finally picked up my dusty car from the impound lot, I realized that although I was now $271 poorer, I had succeeded in being the person I wanted to be. I know that tomorrow will once again bring more challenges, and most likely, I will give in to my temper and the temptation to blame others, but for today, I have won a battle in the long war to becoming a better person.

One day at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

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