“Hey a**hole! DONT PARK IN A SPOT THAT’S NOT YOURS!”

Waving in the wind, this was the note that greeted me from my wiper blades as I approached my car after the end of the school day. While I was admittedly parked in his or her spot, it wasn’t my fault. My own space had been stolen from me as well, likely by another heartless monster similar to myself.

Arriving around 8:15 that morning, I was angry, but unsurprised to find someone parked in my spot. Cursing the fact that I had chosen a too-desirable space, I parked next to the car and then took a photo of their license plate.

A few minutes later, at the Assistant Principal’s office, I was told the problem would be “taken care of.” While that sounded great, I was not given a timeframe and, acutely aware of my car sitting in another person’s spot, I asked a follow up question.

“Where should I park then? I’m just in the next space right now.”

I was then told to park in a visitor’s space, but it had to be in one of the lots, not in the front entrance parking. I returned to my car and began my search for a visitor’s space — a search that would last 15 minutes and ultimately end fruitlessly. Every visitor’s space I found, which were only a few in the PAC lot, already had a car in it. Finally, after driving around all three lots, I was late, frustrated and out of patience. I parked in a random spot in the TLC lot, hoping that the owner of the space would understand what had happened and not react too harshly.

Obviously, that was too much to hope for. Reading the note though, I realized that perhaps the person who had parked in my spot was not to blame either. God only knows how far back the chain of stolen spots went, all the way to the original sinner who stole the first parking spot. The problem is that there are only 25 visitor spaces. Plus, those spaces are not solely for the use of those who cannot park in their own spaces. Actual visitors park there as well, further limiting the number of places to park when your own spot is taken already. If the APs want us to park there when our spots are stolen, after too many people have been robbed of their spot and taken those visitor’s spaces, anyone who gets robbed after that has to park in someone else’s spot, continuing the cycle. Pretty soon, the whole system descends into chaos and anarchy.

A few days later, I pulled into the stadium lot and again found somebody parked in my space. I parked next to them and pulled out a piece of notebook paper and a pencil. As I approached their car, I knew what I had to do. In a hasty scrawl across the page, I left them a nasty note: “Hey a**hole! Don’t park in a spot that’s not yours!” May the circle remain unbroken.