Driving is one of the great joys of growing older and gaining freedom. At the young age of sixteen, the entire world is at your fingertips, as long as you have a car and some gas money. Logically, new drivers begin to take back their mornings—previously stolen by the early arriving hours of buses—and drive to and from school at any time they want. As they approach the school, the daunting task of parking in the parking deck awaits. It is a scene filled with new drivers and stubborn minds as students claim their ‘righteous’ spots.
The only official rule of the parking deck is that students cannot park on the first floor, as it is reserved for teachers and staff—though this does not always stop some students from doing it anyway. The second and third floors are hooded underneath the other and the fourth shines bright as the roof of the parking deck. These three floors give students more than enough parking spots. Despite this, drivers come in and declare one spot as theirs for the rest of the year, actively holding other drivers accountable if they ever dare park in what they have made theirs.
The reality is that no one has an ‘official’ spot. If a person is truly concerned over who holds the position of a parking spot, then the best way to guarantee a spot is to simply be there before anyone else can take it. In other words, first come, first served. Unfortunately, this perspective does not reflect the entirety of the driving Dub population. Some people are extremely passionate about ‘their’ parking spots. They will have parked there since the first day and enjoy being near their friends. While a majority of these people are fairly tame about this ‘offense,’ the extreme cases always stand out.
The extremes consist of people who take it upon themselves to write out a note expressing their frustration and leave it on the windshield of the car who dared to steal ‘their’ spot. This has happened to me on multiple occasions, and stories of similar experiences are far from uncommon. While these notes may have hindered others from parking elsewhere, it has only fueled my spite. One would hope that leaving a note on someone’s car is a level of pettiness that was left behind years ago.
The parking deck is large and vast. With four different floors to house the population of student drivers, teachers, and staff, there is always more than enough room to hold each and every person. If your spot is ever taken, there will always be another space to fit your car. When you really must be in ‘your’ spot, remember the unofficial rule: first come, first served.
