Try A Little Aggressiveness

Came home after work today and was more than a bit annoyed to see that someone had taken the liberty of parking in my numbered space . . . again.

I’m one of the most laid back people I know. Still, I’m what my Grandmother described as “A real go-getter.”

My Mother says that I’m “a Matthews through and through.”

I’ve said it before: My Dad’s side is “loud and liberal” and my Mother’s side is “quiet and conservative.”

I believe I’m a good mixture of both. I’d further say that:

Live and Let Live + As Long As You Don’t Start Nothing Won’t Be Nothing = Me.

With that being said, after seeing that same car parked in my numbered spot again today – which made me have to park all the way on the end of the row instead of right in front of my nice new place . . . .

. . . .and the last time it happened (2 days ago) I had to walk to my unit with packages while it was raining . . . .

Let’s just say I’m not here for that.

Quick as a wink, I pulled a Post-It note from the dispenser on my desk and jotted this little note:

 

(the Unit number is edited, of course)

I was about to go affix it to the driver’s side window when I paused and asked myself:

• Was I being too aggressive?
• Was it going too far to put a Post-It on his window?
• Should I be concerned about coming across as a “pain-in-the-neck” neighbor (even though he was being a “pain-in-the-neck” for me?
• Should I forget this was now the 4th or 5th time this has happened (and I haven’t even been here three weeks yet)?
• Should I just overlook the fact that we live in a very small “neighborhood” so everyone knows my car by now?
• Should I disregard the fact that we all received the same parking rules (park in your numbered space + you have 1 extra space)
• Should I just ignore the fact that this person knows he is parking in my space?
• Should I be concerned about being viewed as a typical “Angry Black Woman” (even though 1-that’s what I was at the moment, and 2-I was pretty sure the guy in my parking space had no clue what that was)?

Side note: Seems to me that every week I’m encountering instances where Reading (or Counting) is Fundamental – and people are totally ignoring that fact.

That settled it – the answer to all of the questions above was a simple, “No.”

I went out the door and very politely placed the note on the window.

I’m not sure if he had an errand to run, or if he saw me (his blinds were open), but within 15 minutes, the vehicle was parked in the proper space.

When I left a couple of hours later to make a Starbucks run, this was affixed to my window:

Sometimes you just have to try a little aggressiveness.

Join in the Fray: When have you had to try a little aggressiveness?

I’m blogging every day in the month of July in Blogher’s NaBloPoMo Challenge. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!

Copyright © 2013 Michelle Matthews Calloway, ASwirlGirl™, The Swirl World™, All rights reserved.