Tell Me Something Good – An Honest Mistake
yay! it’s friday! we are sitting in an apartment full of boxes and washing the same few dishes multiple times a day but we are gaining on it!
okay, on to the “tell me something good.” in our parking garage at our apartment complex, we have assigned parking spots. in the 2+ years we have lived here, never have we had someone park in our spot…until a few weeks ago.
it was a rainy, dreary day (much like many days in portland this time of year). it was about 6pm and i was tired, cranky and just wanted to put on more comfortable pants. is that really so much to ask? as my husband weaved through the concrete jungle, there was a beautiful white mercedes SUV occupying our assigned spot. we did a few double takes, questioned if we had our spot number wrong but NO. whoever this fancy person is just went ahead and parked in our dang spot.
some that know me may say i can get a little dramatic (WHATEVER! UGH! *storms off) so i immediately was like “well, let’s try to tow their car out of our spot!” my husband said no. we didn’t want to park in someone else’s spot because again they are assigned and we would be putting someone else out. we decided we would go park on the street and hope this car moves by morning. since we live downtown we have to pay to park on the street near us, so that made me extra mad.
i immediately pulled out a spare piece of paper and i said “ohhh i’m going to write a nasty note because what an inconvience!” i’m telling you, too tight of pants can make you extra cranky.
thankfully i’m married to a nice, young man and he said “babe. seek to understand. it could be a mistake. be nice.” ugh. fine.
i wrote a note that was nicer than i was planning but still not super friendly. it went something like this:
“hi. you parked in our spot. these are assigned spots and #33 is ours. we had to park on the street. please move your car immediately. thank you.”
i hoped this person could feel my intense use of the period punctuation. i left the note on their car and we parked on the street.
thank goodness that nice, young man i married is also smart because he put a reminder in his phone to move our car at 8am, when paid parking resumes. thankfully when he pulled back into the garage, our spot was free of the glistening white stallion and our black beauty was back in her stall (yeah, i went there with the horse thing).
when my husband left later that day for a meeting, he found this little number on our windshield:
oh joan! i am SO glad my husband encouraged me to be a bit more pleasant in my note on this misplaced car because she got mixed up. then she totally went above and beyond and gave us a $10 starbucks gift-card, which was unexpected and very nice.
i’m not going to lie, i have been incredibly nervous every time i go to the car that i may lock eyes with her because though i wasn’t horrible in my note, i could have added a smiley face or something. people make mistakes. i have even rehearsed what i will say should we meet in the fluorescent lit garage.
“thank you SO much for your note and unexpected gift card, joan! that was so nice. i wasn’t having a great day when i wrote that note and my pants were too tight so…sorry about all those period punctuations.” i’m sure it will go over great…
okay, your turn! tell me something good or at least sing the song as soulfully as chaka khan!
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Courtney {Alkeks Abroad}
February 19, 2016 at 12:18 am
Oh my gosh too tight pants will put you in the worst mood! What a sweet gesture of Joan though.
chelsea
February 19, 2016 at 12:25 pm
i am so glad you get it too, courtney! the worst mood!
Rachel G
February 19, 2016 at 1:25 am
Aww, how nice that she responded with kindness! We have assigned parking spots here, too, and if someone parked in mine I would probably have an existential crisis and not be able to remember for sure if it was actually my spot or not. And then I’d go park in the secret spot that I know isn’t assigned to anyone because it belongs to an apartment no one lives in….shhhhh…
Rachel G recently posted…Things to Do on Leap Day
chelsea
February 19, 2016 at 12:27 pm
yeah i had that moment of “wait, am i wrong?! is the world inverting?! what’s happening?!” so glad you know the secret spot that is free! we contemplated that but there is no rhyme or reason to assigning our spots and then would feel too bad if we took one from someone. you have a good back up plan though!
Elyse
February 19, 2016 at 5:06 am
What a nice gesture of Joan! Tight pants are the worst. I call my nice dress pants for work my 9 hour pants – glad I’m not the only one who hates tight pants.
Elyse recently posted…Galentine’s Day
chelsea
February 19, 2016 at 12:34 pm
yeah joan is apparently a very kind person! haha love your ‘9 hour pants’ and then they basically expire and you must remove them immediately (that’s what i’m imagining) ha!
Audrey
February 19, 2016 at 5:59 am
Oh girl… I would have totally towed their car, too 😉 And my husband would’ve throw all the chill pills my way. Hahaha! I’m glad your note was more sweet than sour! And yay for Starbucks gift cards!!
Audrey recently posted…The Bachelorette
chelsea
February 19, 2016 at 1:07 pm
hahah glad i’m not the only one who had that initial thought, audrey! i like how you said ‘more sweet than sour’ and that is what i’ll focus on for that note because you are right – it was!
Jennifer Haston
February 19, 2016 at 6:12 am
Hey Chelsea! First, don’t be so hard on yourself, you are allowed to be human, your husband reminds me of mine.. nothing bothers him.. like really..nothing.. until that is.. I am bothered.. and I am bothered by things..(actress, anyone? though I hate fitting the stereotype) “seek to understand” sounds like something Jeremy would say.. I would say when you meet her, smile, thank her and say you totally made my day with that card. That was so nice and unexpected! Hey you are moving soon so it might not even happen! 🙂 Here’s my something good! Jeremy has been out of town (sadface) all week but he comes back tonight and work has been cuckoo bananas so I am working overtime (For double pay) and thinking about that going into our fund for our big road trip in May is helping me ! JEREMY will be home when I get off! YAY!!! (picture kermit the frog with arms flailing in happiness) or just click on this 🙂 http://s3.thejournal.ie/media/2013/06/flailing.gif Good luck with the moving!
chelsea
February 19, 2016 at 1:09 pm
thanks jennifer 🙂 and you’re right…we are moving soon so i doubt i’ll run into her (though as ravery and i were pulling into the garage this morning he was like LOOK THERE’S JOAN!!! just kidding, i read your blog” haha
yay! so glad jeremy comes home tonight – yay! ryan got home last night and it feels so good to have them home, doesn’t it? yay for road trip money toooooo!
Jo Burns
February 19, 2016 at 6:56 am
Last Saturday we went out to dinner. It was incredibly windy here in Denver that night. When we came out of the restaurant there was a note on my car. The owner of the car parked next to us had left it. Their car door had been blown into my driver’s door leaving a small scrape and a little paint. Rubbed off nicely the next day. The note writer apologized, left his name number and insurance info. Here’s the best part. My son recently got his drivers permit. This was an incredible example of responsibility, honesty and thoughtfulness taught to my son and I didn’t say a word. I called the guy on Monday and told him thanks for the note and the lesson for the teenager.
chelsea
February 19, 2016 at 1:11 pm
thanks for sharing this story, jo! i love that this was such a solid example to your now driving son (um, what?! i remember him toddling around the office!) way cool that you called the guy and told him of the lesson your son witnessed from this encounter too. PERFECT tell me something good!
Nina @ Hugs and Lattes
February 19, 2016 at 8:11 am
Having men in our lives who are so nice is really helpful when we want to be feisty. Yay for the Starbucks! Boo for parking spots. Congrats on being *somewhat* kind in your note .. . I probably would have written the exact same thing. No smiley faces. Heavy periods. Or hasty dots that show I’ve written them with FORCE!!!
Nina @ Hugs and Lattes recently posted…What It’s Like to Date a Blogger
chelsea
February 19, 2016 at 1:12 pm
oh feisty is my middle naaaame, nina! you’re right, we are lucky to have them. you also apparently know me quite well because they were indeed heavy periods…with FORCE 🙂
Marilyn Jess
February 22, 2016 at 4:47 am
Nice response to your note. Joan obviously is one classy woman. Reminded me of the Sheraton in Niagara Falls, NY, May 2011. We checked in and found a $10 Starbucks gift card in the room–it wasn’t put there by staff. We called the front desk, and they said, just keep the card. It must have been left for the previous guest. Can only wonder who that was, and why the card. In the hotel lobby, was a full Starbucks Cafe–so cool. Still reload that card and think of the kind person who sent it, unknowingly, to us.
chelsea
February 25, 2016 at 8:02 pm
woohoo! what a treat to find (and then get to keep) a bonus gift card after getting to you hotel! double bonus! love that you still have this card and reload it, marilyn 🙂
Charlene
February 22, 2016 at 1:34 pm
Oh my goodness! What a great person this Joan must be! I’m glad you were nice and she was nice back. It’s so hard not to be cranky sometimes and I always find myself jumping to conclusions and even judging others when, like your husband said, it could have simply been a mistake.
Today, the man in front of me in line at Subway paid for my lunch for no reason. 🙂 That’s my “tell me something good” though I guess I should have put it on this coming Friday’s post.
Charlene recently posted…The Power of Physical Touch
chelsea
February 25, 2016 at 8:04 pm
i know! it is hard not to be cranky and push past those feelings but i’m glad i did (mostly). that is so awesome that you had the guy in front of you buy your sandwich – what a treat!