Thursday, March 15, 2012

Open letter to my parents' "friendly neighbor":

I found this note on my windshield this morning.



Let me back up. My 2 year-old daughter and I stayed with my parents last night. Their house, my work, and my daughter's daycare are all very close together. They are all also much closer to where I went out with my friends last night than to where my husband, our daughter & I live. (To back farther up, I go out with friends infrequently - every other month or so.)

When I first saw this note, I was fairly enraged. I got to work, showed my work-pals & had a good rant. Not satisfied, I posted it to Twitter, Facebook & texted it to my mom (with the subject: friendly neighbors).

Then you know what I did? No, I didn't forget about it. I couldn't. I was getting too many funny, loving comments from friends.

I had planned to tell you how excusable my bad park job was. Because it was bad; I don't deny that.
Okay, I'll tell you. There was this big pile of leaves. It was dark. I thought I was parking in one spot, not two. So, yes - I was right on that line. And in the light? I smacked my own forehead before I saw the note.



I had planned to write a rant. The central themes: 1 - this is where you live! Do NOT under any circumstances call your neighbors assholes (to their faces). 2 - doing an asshole-y thing does not make you an asshole.


But here's what I'm writing instead: I have so much to be grateful for. So much that makes me happy.


Like - this happy ---




  • I have parents who love me & my daughter. If they didn't also love my husband & my happy marriage, they'd be happy to have us over all the time!
  • I have a funny, sweet husband who loves me & cracks me up. His response to my Facebook post? "stop whining, asshole." Which immediately made me think, "I love him," even before I saw his next comment: "too soon?"
  • I have those friends I mentioned. Some I see daily. Others I've not seen in 10+ years. Some I already knew were kindred spirits. Others were happy surprises.
  • I have a group of amazing co-workers, who not only support my professional goals but who say all the right things when I need them to!
    • Not to mention, I share with these women a career that energizes & challenges me!
  • I have an amazing daughter, who sits in the car seat in my asshole-looking SUV, who makes me laugh, and whom I strive to teach the practice of kindness.
Munchkin & Buddha - what assholes.

Based on my crack forensic handwriting analysis (& a look around my parents' condo complex) - the perp is a decently-employed female in her mid-twenties. In my mid-twenties, I wasn't the most sensitive person alive. Nor was I the most grateful person alive.

So, here's what else I'm going to do. I'm going to wish that this young woman finds herself exponentially happier in 10 years than she is now. 

Asshole.

3 comments:

  1. I like how you turned a nasty note into a positive experience. I hit a parked car the other day outside of a Chipotle while trying to park. The owner of the car then had to make my burrito. So I am a fellow asshole parker :) (The burrito guy got his car fixed so at least I'm an asshole with insurance.)

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  2. LOL, love it!! Especially your wish for her. I can't imagine leaving a note like that. Great list of things to be grateful for. I am in the process of re-thinking my own career, which is draining the very soul away from me right now!

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  3. Great job! Yeah, that's not so awesome on her part...even as an insensitive 20 something. But good for you handling it so well!

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