There have been two times in the last week where I have pulled up to my local mall parking lot, parked, and as I walked to the mall entrance through the rows of parked cars there was a car parked over the space where there is supposed to be a walkway. I honestly don’t believe that someone could park there by accident because the walkway is clearly marked with two rows of those concrete parking markers that are painted bright yellow and the cars have to drive over at least one of them to park there.

What is the attraction of this parking spot, you ask? It is prime parking real estate, located directly in front of the doors to the mall, right beside the handicapped parking spots.

It is really inconvenient when people park like this. It isn’t really a huge deal to walk around a car. Unless it is winter in the prairies, and it’s icy, and you’re seven months pregnant with balance that is more than a little compromised, and trying to keep a two year old from sliding around on the ice. If that were the case you might feel very precarious climbing over the banked snow and trying to manoeuver around a car that is parked where there is no room to pass.

And really, what makes a person feel they are entitled to block all of the pedestrian traffic into the mall just so that they won’t have to walk a few steps farther? Market Mall is not the busiest mall and the parking lot is not enormous. There is always ample parking and none of it requires you to walk more than a few seconds to get to the entrance.

Another thing that pisses me off about this situation is that it blocks shopping carts from getting through and so people (who may or may not be seven months pregnant) have to push their carts around rows of cars (through deep snow in the winter) unless they are lucky enough to find a spot where the cars are parked far enough apart for them to squeeze their cart through. Again, I have to ask, what makes a person decide that their needs are more important than the hundreds of other people at the mall?

I realize that it’s possible that it could be a person with a disability parked there, however I have yet to see a car parked in this spot who had a handicapped license plate or permit in their windshield. It boggles my mind how our “culture of entitlement” teaches us to put our own needs and wants before those of others. Maybe “culture of entitlement” is a bit of a buzzword (or buzzphrase?) but it describes the phenomenon so well. So many people behave as though they are the center of the universe and the fact that other people interact with them is mostly just an inconvenience.

And I have to say that this attitude is not restricted to people of my generation or teenagers and children. I have run into far too many seniors who have this attitude.

When my daughter was just a few months old I was in this same mall and stopped to use the washroom. I was carrying my daughter in her car seat so I used the “handicapped” stall so I could take her in with me. Obviously and adult, a diaper bag, and a baby carrier are not going to fit in a normal sized stall.

When I came out of the stall an elderly woman was standing there waiting for me and she informed me in a less than friendly manner that “these stalls are normally reserved for senior citizens!” At the time I think I mumbled an apology and moved on. But the more I have thought about that encounter, the more frustrated I have become. First, if you want to get technical handicapped stalls are reserved for those with disabilities (ie. using a wheelchair or walker). But I don’t think that’s their main purpose. They are for anyone who is hindered in their ability to use the bathroom, whether by physical handicap, age, or baby carrier. What gave this woman the right to scold me? She could clearly see that I was loaded down with a baby, diaper bag and purse. The bathroom had plenty of empty stalls. And even if she felt she needed that particular stall, was waiting a few minutes going to kill her? Maybe. But that’s beside the point. She seemed to have come to the conclusion that she deserved priority over a young mother.

Just the other day I was standing in line at a store where there were only a couple of tills open. The line I was in was as long as most of the other ones but seemed to be moving slowly. I switched to a different lane. An elderly-ish couple (not really old, but definitely in their 60′s) switched lanes but then moved back to their lane because the other lane had put up a sign saying it was closed. Then the cashier moved the sign and before the couple could move back into the lane another man got to the till before them. They moved into line before him. The cashier noticed this and when the gentleman (who hadn’t noticed the drama) asked if she could help him she said “Yes sir, but were you here before the people behind you?”. The man hadn’t seen the couple and as far as he knew he was first. The couple behind him huffed and puffed and vehemently shook their heads but the cashier couldn’t really do much and she served the man quickly and moved onto the other couple. It was a minor inconvenience and, although they didn’t complain to the cashier, I could see the disgust on their faces.

It is just so amusing and disturbing at the same time that all of us, from the oldest to the youngest, feel we deserve to go first, to have the best seat, to get the most and the best as fast as possible. I notice this in myself all the time. Particularly when I am pregnant, and/or carrying a young child around. I expect people to notice how burdened I am and to feel sorry for me. I want to be babied and given preference. If it were acceptable I would probably wear a sign saying “Feel sorry for me! Let me go first.” Why is it so easy to slip into this mode of thinking? I have to conclude that it is part of human nature. My goal is to try and use these different experiences where I witness this attitude in other people to encourage myself to put others first. It is not my first intstinct to give preference to others. In fact, it is a bit of a revolutionary idea. But I think it is an attitude that could change the world.

Someone else said it better than I ever could. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Eeach of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippian 2:3-4)