Maturity and the Parking Lot

I had a moment today in the Costco parking lot. And not a pretty one.

I was driving along, minding my own business, looking for a parking spot, when I found one. And oh, it was prime. Three spots in from the end of the row, right next to the cheap food court. Naturally, I stopped my car and waited for the little red sports vehicle to pass me bye....but they didn't. They just sat there. For like, five minutes. Mind you, I can't see into this car because they had tinted their front window, which, by the way, is ILLEGAL IN CALIFORNIA. I suddenly dawned on me that these people in that little red sports car wanted MY parking spot.

Now, I had a choice: A) Pull in anyway and start a fight. B) Wait for them to pass and be deadlocked for another five minutes. or C) Look for different parking spot.

I decided to be the mature one, and drive on looking for a parking spot. This wasn't so bad...I found one a little further down the row, and I happen to be wearing flats today, so no big deal.

But what got me seething? As I passed that little piece of shiny red machinery, the person who owns said vehicle had the nerve to honk his horn at me. As I am directly in front of the car. That's like the adult equivelant of sticking your tongue out at the kid who's just been forced to share his toy with you.

As you can probably imagine, my initial reaction went something like this:

"Swear to God, Imma key that car, see how much he likes it when there's a huge scratch down the side of his car, honking at me, that'll teach him, the entitled piece of...." And sprinkle in a few explatives, and that about covers it.

I had my keys in my hand. I could have done it.

But did I? No.

Sometimes, being mature has nothing to do with how we are feeling. Its about our actions. Its about what we do when no one is watching. I could have keyed that stupid little sports car. I wanted to....my fingers still itch a little at the thought of it.

But I decided not to because it would cause nothing but problems for both me, and the guy who's car was honking at me.

Maturity has nothing to do with anybody else. Its all about you and how you handle situations. Getting upset about something someone said and then facebook ranting about it? That's not maturity. Calling someone out on their stuff in a hurtful way when you know they are already dealing with more stuff then they can handle? That is definately not maturity. Pointing out flaws in someone else, the same flaws you have inside, just so you'll feel better? That is not handling things like an adult at all.

Maturity is about letting things go, even when you don't want to. I know that I am not there yet. But I'm working on it. And so is everyone else in this world. People hurt us in this world, and the truth is, the closer they get, the more damage they can do. The difference is, how you handle it. When someone hurts you, you can either let it go, deal with it and then move on, or get upset and hurt and hold a grudge rather then confront the issues.

Besides that, why would you want to let things sit inside you and fester like that?

But that's way off track.

So, after I finished my sample round, got my blood sugar back to normal, and came about outside, I just passed that little shiny red car, smiled, shook my head, and kept walking. Did it feel good? Nah. But was it the mature thing to do? Yup.

Lesson learned? I hope so.