THOSE TEN MINUTES!

By: Shaista Khurshid, Calgary, Alberta

How many times in your life have you lost your car in a parking lot? Especially in a busy mall during a special day or during a countrywide celebration? It is possible that this has happened to you many times.

But how many times have you not only lost your car but also the parking lot itself?

This story talks about a day when I lost, not only the car, but the parking lot altogether. Seems odd. I thought so too. Let us continue.

Like any story, this story also starts with a sunny day. Except this sunny day was in a Canadian winter, so do not get your hopes up. That day I had an appointment at a busy hospital. Due to continuous construction at the site, I assumed there must be some changes at the site. I checked the hospital’s website to get the updated details of the parking spots. The website suggested parking on the newly renovated parking lot. Since I am a conflict avoider, always trying to find places with no mess parking, I was frazzled. I always avoid parking wars with fellow shoppers, or patients, as in this case.

Finding parking in this newly built parking lot was easy, much easier than the exit. As I learned later, the hard way. After finding a designated spot, I parked harmoniously. Realizing my forgetfulness, I decided to take a picture of the car with the lot number, where it was parked. At that time, I was only concerned with forgetting the plate number, which was necessary to remember, to pay for the parking. I tied my proverbial camel.

Smart!

Pat my back?

Hmm, not so fast.

During an hour and a half long visit, I met a nurse, a receptionist, and a very cheerful and friendly doctor. On the side note, I am not sure if she was friendly to all her patients or was happy to see me. I will choose the latter.

Later, I marched back to the parking lot. I checked the time thinking that I have plenty of time left for the parking pass. Pleased and happy, I entered through the nearest entrance door, not knowing that this parking lot is built on a hill. This meant it had multiple levels on different sides and not the same number of levels on each side. This was done not because of a need but rather because of the hill. Huh!

The naïve little me entered thinking the second floor was the one I parked my car in. But the second floor did not seem to be the floor I left the car in. So, I thought, let us pop into the parking office and find out. They might be helpful.

I asked the lone lady sitting there about the lot. She asked me which floor I parked on. I told her it was the second floor. She said these floors are coded with color and not by number. Odd. Yes. Huh!

I assumed that all floors are coded with floor numbers like 1st, 2nd and 3rd and the alphanumeric codes were used to further define the parking space. To my naivety, the lady said that every floor has the same alphanumeric code for parking space and only differentiation is color. I was stumped. What? If only the website had said that all floors are coded in colors and not in numbers, I would not be in jeopardy right now. Yeah, that is what happens when you think you are smart. She did not offer any more help and let the lost patient, or in this case lost parking lot, be found itself. I was left to wander in the vastness of the multi floored parking lot.

I asked myself, what can I do now? Since I remember only going down two floors in the elevator, meaning I haven’t climbed much higher. I decided to search a few floors. I assumed my memory is not that bad after all.

Luckily the first floor was designated for employees, so I had one less floor to search for the car. Climbing up to the next floor revealed the color lavender. It looks like an aesthetically pleasing color, I thought. I can give thumbs up to the designer for their color choice. At this point I did not remember the color of that parking floor, where I parked my car, since I was dead focused on parking numbers and not colors.

A life lesson: art is an important part of the learning process; please learn and understand it before leaving school and do not forget to learn color theory. Just in case.

I wandered around the lot finding my alpha-numeric code ‘J-10’ in the lot, as the lot was numbered like a dewey decimal, I think. I never understood the dewey decimal system though I love libraries.

I felt like a lost child in the carnival. I asked a few people; they were as confused as me. So not finding ‘J’, I decided to go to the next floor. The next floor was coded green. I checked the picture I took earlier in case maybe it reveals the same color. To my dismay, it looked more gray than I assumed. My phone camera has its own soul and – no offence to it - it takes pictures as it intends, mixing up the colors. In this case, I was confused between the colors.

I figured out that green is a far off color for my camera capacity to turn it into grayish. But I did try my luck in the green zone, ultimately deciding to move back and try harder in the lavender zone. To my luck the next floor was red and that was the last one. Phew!

The search in the lavender zone continued for several more minutes. Though my step counter was congratulating me on my useless search, time was ticking, and it was making me more nervous. I decided to tackle it scientifically and alphabetically. This is working, I thought.

L, M, N.

No, J does not belong to the LMN group? Let's see it on the other side of the lot.

D, E,.... K, P, what is happening?

I was confused. Is it a nightmare I cannot get out of?

Then I saw E and F. That must be it.

Go see, you will find it on the other side.

Okay, there is J!

Yay! Found it!

There was J1, J2, j3…. J8, J9... where is the rest?

How does G start after J9?

It was like a thriller where somehow the floor vanished because some evil spirit caused it to happen.

I decided to see what was on the other side of the J area.

No! On the other side is K.

Oh God! Is this a nightmare? What is happening?

I walked to the other side, checked there, and even asked someone. Time was ticking.

Oh God! I need help.

I asked one person and he politely said he did not know. I thanked him and felt gratitude for having good people around me, even if they do not know the answer.

I walked a bit further. There was J-13 written on the pillar, besides a K. I started walking fast and tried to find numbered lots.

There was J 20 and I started counting: J 19, J 18 and so on.

Oh God! I prayed silently, please let this be the one.

Yes!

I think this looks like my poor car, abandoned in the vastness of the lot by a naïve and self-confident driver. Yes, that was my little car safe and sound in the same place where I left it a few hours ago, Alhamdulillah. I could have done a sajda there but decided not to because the snow had made the floor muddy and dirty.

The next time you park in the places where you may or may not forget the placement of your vehicle, use your phone to take non-dramatic but clear and effective photographs. In case you do get lost like me, you would wander less, and would not look like a complete fool. Other advice: get a phone with a better camera. No offence to mine though.

I love you, my camera!

Title Photo by Shaista Khurshid