It's not just the financial industry, though, that makes me feel helpless. We also have recurring issues with the large and expanding church that is now our next-door neighbor.
So today's story is about my journey from nice person to someone who would charge people for parking on Easter Sunday.
First, the background.
We live next to a large church/school that has been in expansion mode. Before we moved here, the church had already torn down much of the neighborhood to put in a new building and parking lot. So yes, we went in with eyes open. But it seemed that there were adequate landscaping and traffic rules in place to protect us for however long we choose to stay here.
And they largely have. We never minded the noise from the school kids and the playground, when it was next door. Church chimes and bells don't bother us. The increased traffic flow at school beginning and end is a pain, sure, but we put up with it as long as no one blocks our driveway.
Lately, though, things have deteriorated. Despite the economy, the church embarked on another building plan--one that temporarily does away with a large amount of its parking space. It purchased and knocked down a couple more houses (again, we didn't mind. One was an uninhabited eyesore). It tore out several mature trees at 30-50 feet tall. Our understanding was that this would be open to parking. However, the lot remains muddy grass.
So parking has become a crisis. Every Sunday morning, cars line both sides of the streets around our corner house (this despite the church asking for and getting "no parking" on both sides of one of the streets). Cars pack the unoccupied gas station lot across from us (they got permission from the new owner who's trying to fix it up, didn't they?). Here are a few pictures from yesterday. Despite it being Easter, this is not in the least unusual.
Bottom line: If we have a heart attack or a fire at our house on a Sunday morning, we are SOL because there's no way an emergency vehicle can get through.
I'm sure there isn't any malice in this. It's just general thoughtlessness. Just like the large canvas portrait that went up in the window of the new building next door. It seems to be a picture of a Bible character glowering out over our back yard, dominating our view. We've gone inside to reposition it from time to time, but someone always moves it back. If you click on the pic below, you might be able to make him out. He's quite visible to us, I assure you.
For years, I've been largely tolerant of this, only complaining when things got really bad (garage full of garbage in yet-to-be-torn-down house; rowdy wedding reception guests littering our lawn with cups). And no, we've never complained about the angry Jesus picture.I guess the turning point came a couple of weeks ago, when I looked outside and saw someone had parked in our driveway. Not just halfway across, like people have done in the past (including one evening when we all had to be somewhere) but in the driveway. Like she lives here.
She was parked politely to one side. Not blocking us in. I was so amazed I waited around to make sure it wasn't someone I knew.
But no. She came running out at the end of the service, admitted she didn't know us and then offered the time-honored excuse of countless churchgoers before her. "Oh...Was this your driveway?"
Really? I guess she couldn't see it because the dog ate her glasses.
And then I heard a voice in my head. It said, "You chump! People are doing this kind of thing and all you're getting is angry? Obviously you have something they want. Why not put capitalism to work and make up some of your losses for the year at the same time? People pay for close-in parking at sporting events, don't they?"
The idea's occurred to me before. When you watch five, six, seven in a row use your drive for turn-arounds (once, while our kids were playing hackey-sack there) you begin to think it should be a toll driveway. But up until this month, it was just passing whimsy. When someone puts her car there and goes away for an hour...well, I just lost my sense of humor. Time for a new approach.
So out went the sign. "Parking $5. Honor system." We left a little box out, beginning with Maundy Thursday. The drive is big enough for several cars. I figured we could make enough money to pay for our recent trip to see my mom in Des Moines. And honestly, wouldn't it also be good to get some of those cars off the street?
I didn't do this without some serious thought. There's always that chance someone will be insulted and accuse me of carrying on some kind of war against religion. But in the end, I figured it had to be done.
We waited. Cars lined both sides of the street, risking tickets. They packed in the gas station lot. But not a one wanted to pay us to use the driveway.
That's okay. People passing by saw the signs. They'll think twice about violating our driveway in the future.
I made my point. And I didn't have to be the ogre who calls in parking violations on Christendom's holiest of days.
For once, I wasn't angry.
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