This morning a friend and I were going to meet some other friends at a cafe for coffee, but there were no parking spots anywhere in the area. We drove around the lot, up the street, made a U-turn, circled back around . . . nothing. Not only were all the regular spots taken, but people had resorted to pulling up on the curb, double parking, any available space was fair game. Since nothing was moving, we decided to do as the Omanis were doing.
I pulled up perpendicular to a beautiful black Porsche, took my key out of the ignition and looked around. I was semi-conditioned to the “parking-in” phenomenon during our time in Egypt where double parking was a regular and expected thing. One of our Egyptian friends there told us about a time he came out to his car to find he had been parked in and he had to wait three hours for the guy to come back. When I asked him what he did about it, he said he just sat on the trunk of his car and waited. When the guy came back to his car and drove away, then my friend was able to go about his business. Instead of being upset or angry about it, he just said, “Inshallah.” Roughly translated it means, “if God wills it, it will happen.”
Well, I wasn’t going to let a tiny thing like a parking spot stand between me and my cappuccino, so when I didn’t see an angry man or woman running toward me as I exited the car, I decided to go for it. Ever the cautious rule-breaker, I strategically positioned my car where I could keep an eye on it while I enjoyed my drink, just in case mystery Porsche owner decided to make an early return.
So we’re chatting, laughing, and drinking and after a short while I forget about the fact that I am potentially creating a barrier between someone and their very important business. Until I lean over in my chair and see that the front door to the Porsche is now open. Oops! In a flash I grab my keys and run out to the car, ready to make some very sincere apologies to the person I’ve certainly inconvenienced. As I approach the car, the Omani man standing next to the open door says, “Oh, I’m sorry! Did I interrupt your breakfast?”
Go back and reread that, but this time don’t use a sarcastic voice like you might hear in America. He was seriously apologizing to me, when I was the one who had parked him in. After reassuring him that no, I didn’t need to go back and finish my breakfast before moving my car, he got into his beautiful Porsche and drove away with a wave and a smile and I pulled into his spot. Inshallah at work.