Hubby's Parking Lot Provocation

Hubby and I were in a parking lot of a video rental store when we saw a car pulling out of a parking space. Hubby put on his light signal and waited for the car to exit. Suddenly, as the other car pulled out, a large pickup truck veered into the lot and right into the space we were waiting for.

Hubby was furious. He began honking his horn and yelling at the other guy, “Hey, that was my spot! Didn’t you see my signal?! What’s the matter with you?!”

We soon found another spot and got out of the car, Hubby still shaking his head. As we headed into the video store, we met up with the parking spot thief in the pickup truck.

For once, I was quiet. But Hubby just couldn’t help himself. “Hey, buddy,” he began calmly. “Did you see me waiting for that spot?”

“My parking spot?” the man asked, feigning confusion. He seemed surprised that he was being confronted about a parking spot. Frankly, I was surprised too. Hubby usually watched me confront other people, and here we were with the roles reversed. I had never seen him get so upset, when I was cool as a cucumber.

“Uh, yeah,” Hubby responded sarcastically, gesturing to the man’s truck. “I had my signal on. I know you saw me.”

“Oh, dude,” the man scrambled. “Jeese, sorry, man. You want me to move my truck? I could move it and you could park there.”

This was surprisingly generous. But Hubby was still upset. “Whatever, man. Just… just go get your movie.”

“No, dude, really –“

“Just go get your movie,” Hubby said again, firmer this time, barely looking at the guy. He pulled my arm and we walked swiftly into the video store, leaving the other guy standing there, speechless.

I tried not to laugh, but I found the situation so funny. I had dated a lot of guys in the past (a long, long time ago) that would've been yelling, threatening, or even coming to blows. But that was as heated as Hubby got. He didn’t yell, he didn’t hit someone. He simply shook his head and said, “Just go get your movie.”

And for years to come, even to this day, I tell that story at family gatherings, demonstrating how calm and collected Hubby gets. As opposed to me firing off at the littlest thing.

Now, whenever anyone in our family gets upset, to this day, we say, “Just go get your movie.” And it makes us all laugh.