This past weekend, my brothers, friends and I wanted to go play some mini-golf at Como Zoo in the cities. It was a Sunday, and the place was packed. We pulled into a parking lot, I was driving, and every space was full. There were two cars in front of us, driving the horseshoe hoping a few cars would pull out so we'd have a place to park. One car pulled out, and the lead car pulled in. The car in front of us rounded the bend, and two families were getting into their cars, so that was spaces for them and us.
The first car pulled out, and the new lead car pulled into that space. The second car pulled out, and I went to park in that space, when a lady ran to the middle of the parking space and stood there. I inched forward and she held her hand up to me. I honked my horn, and she pretended to ignore me. I rolled down my window and I asked her what she thought she was doing. She said, "I'm saving this spot for my friends who are on their way."
It was too hot outside and I was too tired from the weekend to get out and cause a scene, but in retrospect I should have, because as I drove on, I saw another open spot. This open spot also already had a female inhabitant. This female inhabitant was twice as rude as the first one, telling me, "I'm not moving child." In an effort not to unleash my unholy rage at a children's zoo, I politely swore at her and drove on. We had to park about a mile away, and walk back. I settled for reporting them to security, even though they were probably long gone by the time security got to the parking lot.
This whole ordeal got me thinking about entitlement. Am I entitled to those parking spaces? Only if I can physically park my car in that spot before anyone else does. When somebody cuts you off and steals your space you're mad, but at least they have a car and are using the parking space for its intended purpose. So that lead me to ask, do those women have any right to those parking spaces?
If those two women were walking down the middle of a highway, they would be deemed a safety risk and the cops would be called. Now, I'm all for everyone having the right to stand where they want, but seriously, is this middle school? There's a line of cars waiting and you're going to stand in a parking lot and tell 20 people, who were able to bring their cars with them, that they can't park there? Obviously these women feel a strong sense of entitlement, strong enough that they believe they don't need a car to 'reserve' a parking space. On the grand scheme of things though, how high up are parking spaces?
My issue isn't so much the parking spaces. OK, at the most I got some more exercise and maybe my blood pressure was elevated for five minutes due to anger. My issue is their attitude, because you know they apply it to more than parking spaces. What kind of society do you have to grow up in to believe that you are entitled to anything and everything? The answer is ours.
It starts out, at the latest, in public schools. These are the institutions teaching our children. These institutions hand out trophies to the kids in last place, as well as the kids in first, because otherwise the kid in last place might feel bad. These institutions change their entire curriculum to ensure that no child is left behind, no matter how slow a learner. They actively and legally hold back the smart children. And on top of that, there's all the propaganda that is taught in their regular classes. Furthermore, there are parents out there who refuse to punish their children for bad behavior, saying they don't want to cause the child any discomfort. In reality, they are just being lazy by not teaching their children that actions have consequences. The consequence can be positive or negative, but every action has a consequence.
For example, had I kept driving towards the woman in the parking space, eventually she would have moved or I would have hit her. In either instance I could be charged with assault with a deadly weapon, or some similar charge. Every action has a consequence.
College is no better at doing away with a person's sense of entitlement. Scholarships are given to those who need, not those who earned. Scholarships are given to the teacher's pet, or the son of the mayor, not those who earned them. If you can play football, or another popular sport, you may be given a free ride, even if you can't write your own name.
After graduation you enter the workforce. This really doesn't do anything to curtail the sense of entitlement either. If you know the CEO or president you don't have to be the most qualified candidate. If the company is trying to fill it's affirmative action quota, you don't need to be the most qualified candidate. Pretty soon you don't feel that you need to earn a raise or promotion, rather, they should give it to you because it's yours. And as if that was not enough depravity, soon you are standing in parking spaces for no other reason than you deserve it, and those of us waiting with our cars don't.
© Nate Phillipps 2010
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