Icing on the Cake

I watch "Extreme Make-Over Home Edition" and I celebrate the many challenged/handicapped individuals  who have the most amazing outlook on life and the most positive attitudes.  I did not come across such an individual today in the handicapped parking space outside the swim team pool.  Granted, I had no business being in the handicapped parking space, but really.

Abbey was double-booked, so I took her to Girl Scouts, ran to swim team to choose Abbey's swimsuit size, ran back to Girl Scouts to see the "Bridging to Brownies" ceremony, then after thinking about it for a minute, decided to take Abbey back to try on the swimsuit just to be sure we had the right size.  Dizzy, right?  I was too.  Maybe this is how I ended up in the handicapped space.  O.k., not really.  But, technically, I was parked on the stripes, not the handicapped space.  In between two handicapped spaces.  In a parking lot with only like 10 spaces total.  To the right of me was my friend J...not handicapped.  And to the left of me was the empty handicapped space.  That's where she pulled in.

I only pulled in to check out if the swimsuit fitting lady was still there.  I never intended to stay parked there.  But, I was turning my car off and unloading 3 kids, and walking away from my car when I heard the shouting.  With 85 of my close friends and neighbors taking their kids to and from swim team, I hope that I'm the only one that heard the shouting.  At first I wasn't sure what the problem was.  I had closed my door and walked to the other side of my car to unload my kids so that she could pull in.  I yelled at my 4 year old when he opened his door on her side and instructed him to exit on the other side.  I might have given a "are you really handicapped?" look as I moved out of her way, only because just the day before, I witnessed a friend using her mom's sticker to park in that same space.

I could have pretended she wasn't talking to me.  Unfortunately, I went to face the "handicapped-parking-space-police-woman" while holding on to my wiggly, 80 pound toddler (rough estimate, after the last hour of her on my hip) and 2 other kids in tow.  I'll spare you the details of her 5-minute lecture.  I stood and took it like a man and tried to be considerate and kind and reassuring that my car would be gone in 30 seconds.  She wasn't having it.  I kept waiting for that frenzied, mom-to-mom understanding look, sigh, whatever, but it didn't come.  She was nasty, rude, and kept dishing it out.  I can take it, up to a point, then the New Jersey Housewife in me starts bubbling to the surface.

It all lasted just a few minutes and ended with her threatening to call the police and me responding that she could go ahead and do that.  I ran Abbey in, stood her next to my friend E who was already in line, and who graciously offered to watch Landen also while I moved my car.  I moved it, then sat, steaming, trying to decide whether to go and grab Abbey and resign from the swim team so I would never have to encounter this lady again, or stay in my car until swim team was over so I would not have to encounter this lady twice in one day!  Having mercy on the sweet E, I bucked up and walked back to the pool to retrieve my kids.

After checking with Royal about my potential criminal charges, I felt safe from making the San Clemente Police Beat.  Fear pushed aside, I was now just mad.  She had been the icing on my already over-baked cake of a day!  I in no way defend myself, or my friend J, who was actually parked in the handicapped space, or my handicapped sticker-stealing friend either.  We are all deserving of criminal charges.  But we are moms.  We get it.  Our lives are one calamity away from criminal conduct on a daily basis anyhow!  We don't pass quick judgement.  We get it.  To my dear "handicapped-parking-space-police-woman," I'm sorry to be illegally parked.  But most of all, I'm sorry that you don't get it.  I am sure you have neared criminal activity at one point in your life.  I am sure you have lost your motherly marbles on a few occasions.  You may have even payed a fine or two for parking violations.  Four days a week for the next 3 months, I will cross paths with you, and I'll be watching.  I'll be smiling too, just in case you find a friendly ear at the police station.