Creating More Spaces

What the hell world?

I pulled up to my gym and the whole front row of parking spots had been repainted with diamonds.  There were signs that said the spots were now for Diamond Members only. 

"Look at all the open spots right in front," Wade said from the backseat excitedly.  "It's our lucky day."

"No, we can't park there, that's only for people with diamonds," I told him all of a sudden feeling like a Sneetch without a star on my belly from the Dr. Seuss book.

Here's the what, I am not complaining about not being able to park in the front of the building.  I am complaining about a gym, a society, that rewards money and privilege.  I would have respected the gym so much more if they would have blocked off the spaces and converted them to all handicapped (instead of having just the legal amount of handicapped spaces they need).  OR if they blocked off the spaces for senior citizens or expectant mothers.  In fact, I would have scraped my money together to pay extra for that. Because I want a gym, a society, that rewards kindness and community and helpfulness.

Everyday I feel more and more like I live in a Dr. Seuss book.  From the diamonds to everyone biggering and biggering (their homes, their strip malls, their cars, their egos). I feel like the annoying little Lorax screaming and no one listening.

Last night, I was having dinner with my children on my front porch.  We live in a pretty junky rental on a street full of pretty nice homes. While the house isn't something that would be featured on a "you would love to live here" web site from a design standpoint, I'm proud of the chaotic, messy, beautiful love-filled home we've made here. And I love our front porch. As we sat and ate dinner on the abnormally warm-ish evening, we heard a man yelling. He was yelling "bullshit," "swipe the screen and get rid of the icon," "fucking do it."  This man was walking his dog while yelling at some employee or family member on the other end of his Blue Tooth. He was angry and didn't care that there were kids everywhere.

What the hell world?

Here's the what, I am not complaining about people swearing and getting angry. I get it, I've done it. I'm complaining about this man not waiting until he got home. (I mean seriously, pick it up to a jog and get home THEN yell if you need to do that.)  I am complaining about a man that didn't care about the kids around him, his community, enough to have a little respect.  His problem, his ego, his world was more important. He must be a diamond member.

I don't have all the answers. But I have trouble. I have trouble reconciling people's hypocrisy and denial, and that we live in a society that strives for the diamond spots. I have trouble that sometimes people with a little money and privilege don't seem interested in looking out for others and truly being part of a community.  

People on Facebook like to post articles about entitlement and how people need to get real. I wish they'd post articles about being the change and having character and encouraging kindness, and THEN go do it and be it.

I want the world to be more about creating parking spaces for people who need help; a world full of more people who look around and see who is listening and who is watching, people (and companies) who want to be role models of character and kindness. A world where people create spaces to raise awareness to encourage compassion rather than simply to raise prices to encourage privilege and status.