This new mind stumper is none other than... *drum roll please*
… a parking lot.
Yes, on this very morning I witnessed not one but two individuals completely unable to maneuver their way through this treacherous and complicated landscape. One man was on foot (we she call him Exhibit A). The second man was in a car (We shall call him Exhibit X...why not B you may ask. To that I'll say that I enjoy keeping you on your toes).
To set the scene, I am at an automobile repair/gas station. I pull into said parking lot to wait for a coworker to drop off the vehicle that is getting serviced. Before said coworker arrives, Exhibit A is fiddling with his phone as he wanders aimlessly around the parking lot. When my coworker pulls in he does not bother to move out of what is the obviously the traffic area. No, instead of moving out of the way he stops. As in stops moving altogether and just stands there in the middle of the parking lot playing with his phone.
Finally, frustrated with the oblivious man my coworker honks at him and in the slowest reaction I've seen outside of a South American Tree Sloth he looks up at her and blinks a few times in confusion. (You could practically see "why are you honking at me" scrolling across his barely active gray matter) eventually it dawns on him and he slowly steps to the side and lets her by. As we shake our heads at Exhibit A we see him wander out into the road then on down the street. As we stare after him we realize that he didn't even have any business to conduct at the repair shop. He just meandered into the lot for reasons unknown.
As my coworker takes the keys of the vehicle that is getting serviced inside the shop Exhibit X shows up. And Exhibit X pulls close to me… very close to me. Thinking that I may be blocking his path in some way I move even further off to the side. What on earth was I thinking? He must have seen me as a possible kindred spirit and thought I had abandoned the cause. Because what he does next is astounding indeed. He backs up and positions himself so he is sitting sort of diagonally in the dead center of the parking lot. No one can back out of their parking space, no one can drive through the parking lot, and no one entering from the side street can reach the gas pumps.
BRILLIANCE!
When one of the service station workers motions for him to move Exhibit X merely stares at the man and continues his silent quest to ensure that the parking lot is as jammed up as possible.
When my coworker exits the building and gets into the vehicle I'm driving guess what I do.
I think about the size of my vehicle and I look at the narrow space between Exhibit X and the cars to his left and think, "I can make that."
Putting it in reverse I backed between the parked car and Exhibit X. You couldn't have put a hand between our cars but I digress… the risk was worth the look of stunned disbelief on his face. The guys at the service station were laughing and as I pull out into the street I glance back and see Exhibit X moving off to the side.
I guess I woke him up and with any luck he'll go grab Exhibit A and together than can figure it all out. Two heads are better than one right? Does that old idiom still apply when both are in the clouds?
Only time will tell.
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