Post-It's for Parking

“Aw, no! I was gonna write down what the aisle where I parked,” the lady announced to nobody in particular as I walked out the door of Wal-Mart yesterday.

With a look of confusion and concern, she began walking beside me.

I felt empathy for the poor lady but also a sense of inner pride.

“I always park near the shopping-cart racks,” I announced smugly, as she continued walking and talking next to me.

She mumbled something and then took off to the left as I happily spied my car----this rare time NOT near the shopping-cart rack.

I punched my key button, and the green Suburu with the North Idaho wind-shield map extending across its left side beeped back to me. 

That cracked wind shield has come in helpful.  Last week, while at Costco in Spokane, I doubted my memory and almost tried to get inside a green Suburu in a different spot from where I thought I had parked mine.

When I saw the blotch-free wind shield, though, I knew that I hadn't lost my mind after all.  Mine sat precisely where I had parked it, next to a Costco shopping-cart rack.  

Anyway, when I climbed into my car yesterday, I could still hear the lady off in the distance chattering away about that lost car.   Maybe she thought her car would answer back if she kept talking.

During our brief encounter yesterday, I did not share with the lady that on this particular visit to Wal-Mart, it hadn't worked out for me to park near the shopping carts because they were all taken. 

So, I had made my own  mental note to concentrate really hard on remembering where I had left the car.

Later, after purchasing some photo enlargements, I once again reminded myself that “THE CAR IS NOT NEAR THE SHOPPING CARTS THIS TIME.”

Yup, I did clearly recall parking it in the middle of an east row to the right of the doorway.

Lucky for me my brain was working yesterday.  On other occasions, I may have been just like that lady, standing at the doorway in panic mode, shouting out, “Oh no, where did I park the car?”

Of course, I'm still at the stage in life of being too embarrassed or too proud to start announcing to the world outside of Wal-Mart that I'd lost both my mind and my car. 

So, my strategy at such times is to remain calm, knowing that it's surely here in the parking lot somewhere. 

Continuing that demeanor, I walk throughout the lot where I thought I parked it, figuring (and praying) that surely some big pickup is just blocking it from my view.

Eventually, if I walk far enough, I do find it.  So far, that strategy has worked for me on more than one occasion. 

After yesterday's incident where the lost soul with the lost car was happily not me or my Suburu, I have come up with an simple concept that could make me millions:  Purse Post-It Notes for Baby Boomers in the Parking-Lot.

These notes would have multiple-choice options listed for our specific purpose. 

Each time we leave our vehicle, we could simply pull out a Post-It note and press it to the outside of our purse or wallet for use after we walk out of the store with our purchases. 

Before leaving the car, though, we do have to remember check off the correct answers and then head on inside to do our shopping---with an added sense of confidence that we will not have any more panic attacks in the parking lot. 

Generally, it's where we parked that drives us nutty, but we must also consider cases like yesterday---when I went to the Samuels Store to get lawnmower gas an hour or so after my trip to Wal-Mart. 

Well, I almost suffered a panic attack after stepping out of the store and chatting briefly with a friend.  Then, I looked for the green Suburu with the North Idaho road map.  

Couldn't find it anywhere.  

So, I assumed that calm-demeanor strategy and started walking south on the sidewalk, thinking I must have parked it around the corner from the store. 

About halfway there, the GONG went off:  you stupid idiot, you drove the white pickup to get gas and you brought the dogs!!  

Sure enough, when I turned around, three curious sets of canine eyes were looking back at me inside the white pickup where I had parked it just two minutes before. 

Glad that lady and her lost car back at Wal-Mart weren't there to see that!

And, so, it is very important to know WHAT we drive and WHERE THE HELL WE LEFT IT before going into any store, especially if we're at the Samuels Store which has no shopping-cart racks. 

Therefore, I'm thinking these Post-It Notes for Parking Lots could solve a lot of problems among those of us entering senility and especially those who may have plunged in long ago. 

Just one problem with this concept:  we have to remember where we've put the notes each time we head out for the adventure of shopping and then subsequent search for our car. 

Happy Tuesday---or iz it Wednesday?  Hmmm!  Maybe I need to come up with a Post-It Note to remind me what day it is!