Monday, January 25, 2010

Move On...

"Move on..." That's a phrase that people associate with two different ideas. The first one is the politically leftist website, moveon.org. If you want to see specifics about what their movement is all about, go ahead to their website and see for yourself, because that's not what I meant by "move on."

The second idea is the phrasing people tend to use when they are dealing with difficult moments. People, things, faith, or other sources help you "move on." This scenario, however is not what I'm referring to, either.

The phrasing of this blog post is meant to be describe an action I had to take earlier today and my reaction to the event. It all started when...

I arrived at FIU about two hours before my shift. My laptop is currently sitting at home out of commission since I need to buy a new battery charger; thus, I wanted to sit in a computer lab at FIU and work on some job applications and to get some long-awaited blogging done since I've had a lot on my mind recently. Anyways, for those of you who have experienced life at FIU (main campus), you will know that parking there makes you look forward to going to the DMV (credit Jim Gaffigan for that kind of comparison).

So, I spent literally 60 minutes driving around, searching for a parking spot. Keep in mind, I invested a bit of money to buy a Faculty/Staff decal, so it was more stressful having to look for parking there first and then finding it difficult to find student parking. Anyways, 45 minutes into my adventure, I finally find a parking spot in the fifth floor of the Blue Parking Garage. Even luckier than that, the spot is right next to the stairwell, so after my climb later on tonight, I can take only a couple of steps to sit in my car. After all, exercise and I aren't too compatible yet (getting in shape is still my resolution this year, though).

So, I race towards that spot, and as soon as I get to it, an SUV pulls up next to me. The driver gave me a hard look, but seeing no blinker and no other form of communication, I parked in the spot. He found a spot literally right after me. However, as I was removing some things from my car to take with me, I hear a voice - you know those voices suburban high schoolers in Miami use when they think they are ghetto? - saying "Bro, you're such a . You're lucky I'm at school."

Using the voice I just described, he obviously mumbled the last part of what he told me. So I asked him to repeat what he said and he did. I shrugged my shoulders since I didn't care and then he walked away. Right after that, my vivid imagination kicked in:

What if as soon as he comes back, he finds a way to damage my car? Well, I had an answer for that. I knew exactly what car he drove, so I walked to his car and wrote down the license plate number so that if something happened, I would know which car to report. However, a "WWJD" moment dawned on me. Was this necessary? Can all this be avoided?

Since it was still 75 minutes until my shift started, I decided to move my car. Yes, it took me a long time to find that spot. Yes, I feel that I rightfully earned it since I got there first. However, I think confrontation should be avoided whenever possible. So, about fifteen minutes later, I drove my way to the ZEB parking lot by 8th street and found a Faculty/Staff spot there.

Some of you may think I was being too nice. Others may think I let the guy push me around. Still more of you may think that the word the guy chose to describe me at the moment was accurate. What do I think? I think I'm neither a saint, nor a pushover, nor...that word. I just think that there are times in life when one needs to move on before things get out of hand.

Whether the guy forgot all about it already, or if it actually soured up his day, all I know is that I feel better knowing that I avoided the exacerbation of the issue.

Just in case this particular student goes out of his way to seek confrontation, I do remember the car and at least the first half of the license plate number. I truly doubt I will see him again anytime soon. And just in case he stumbles upon this blog one day, I apologize if you misinterpreted my side of things.

That is all. I promise my next blog will be more cheerful.

2 comments:

alexita said...

Pansy! You should have said, "BRO! You're such a meathead!!!" at least thats what i would have said :)

WhiteRabbit7500 said...

I can understand where your mind was, but in my experiences with these types of idiots, I've realized a few things...

1) 90% of the time, their all talk. He just wanted to make himself feel important by saying something.
2) People like that also have to have a retarded (lol) amount of ADD. He probably couldn't even tell you what he had for breakfast this morning.
3) Ignoring them usually works best.

If I were really concerned, I'd take down the plate as you did as a precaution, but moving my car to avoid damage seems a bit excessive to avoid a confrontation, considering that if you had just given him a laugh he'd had backed off.