My good neighbors down the street (we live on a dead end street) are having a big party, and somebody parked in my parking space. We don’t have a garage, just a pull through space on the other side of the street from the house. Weird, I know, not to have a garage or a parking area by the house. That’s just what there was here. To quote an old saying, used regularly by soccer moms everywhere when they are handing out different colors of ice pops at the end of a sweltering August practice: “You get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.”

So I am used to parking across the street from my house.

Unless someone else is parked there.

Humph.

I confess that I feel a little bit better because I watched them have a rough time getting out of my regular parking space, since I got home a few minutes ago and had to park on the other side of the street directly in front of them.  It’s a narrow street. They had a big truck. I have a smaller car.

They managed it, with a little maneuvering.

My favorite priest Richard Rohr says that he prays everyday for one good humiliation. He then watches his reaction to it. “I have no other way of spotting both my denied shadow self and my idealized persona,” he said.

My shadow came out tonight. Because really, it was not that big of a deal, to move my car to the other side of the street. It was the idea of the thing, though. It was my spot. People should not take things that are mine! Especially when I am tired, hungry, and a little grumpy after a long day of work.

(Yes. Even massage therapists, who prioritize positivity, can get grumpy after a long work day.)

My good neighbor just stopped by and apologized. He said his friend didn’t know that it was my spot.

“No problem!” I chirped. “Hope you are having fun at your party!”

I am such a liar.

I do hope they have fun, though. They are fine neighbors and I am grateful for them. Also, it was kind of him to stop by and apologize.

(There’s still one car parked in my area, though. Nobody said anything about that!)

This Daily Humiliation thing is apparently something I still  need to work on.