Someone Parking In My Unofficially Official Parking Space: A Nevin Barich Blog Experience

(Don't forget to also check out my podcast entitled Things That Matter With Mike And Nev. Only at http://www.mikeandnev.blogspot.com/)

Someone parked in my parking space at work the other day.

Now, when I say "parking space," let me be clear. It's not my designated space. It doesn't have my name on it and there's nothing to indicate that it belongs to me. Rather, it's the space in the parking garage at my work that I park in every day and, because it was always available when I arrived to work, I grew attached to it, began relying on it, and thus eventually felt like it was inherently mine.

In other words: MY PARKING SPACE!!!!!

It's a good space. Close to the exit and the elevator, well lit. Compared to other parking spaces in my life, it ranks up there with the best. Indeed, we've developed a rapport, this parking space and I.

And then, a couple days ago, I drove toward my space...

...and saw some oldsmobile parked there.

An oldsmobile!!

So, to review:

I drive a Toyota Corrolla.

An oldsmobile was parked in my space.

Remember: I drive a Corrolla.

But an oldsmobile was in the space.

Not a Corrolla.

An oldsmobile.

That means I wasn't in my space.

Which means that someone else was.

Someone else in my space.

MY SPACE!!

There are certain unwritten rules in life that you are expected to follow. When at a baseball game, don't ask how long it's going to take. When sharing a basket of fries, don't slather them with ketchup unless all parties of the fry sharing agree beforehand.

And the biggest unwritten rule of all:

Don't park in someone's unofficial parking space!! That's like hitting on your best friend's girl. It's not just insensitive, it's wrong.

And before you ask: The oldsmobile knew that was my space. People inherently know when a parking space is unofficially official to someone else. When this person parked there, he or she was aware that someone else had previously marked it for their own. Humans have a sixth sense about these things. It's in our DNA.

So that means that this person didn't care. He or she parked in the space FULLY KNOWING that someone else felt it belonged to them even though they had no official claim.

That's mean. That's just mean!!

And as a result, do you know what I had to do?

Park elsewhere.

In a different space.

It took me 30 extra seconds to get out of the garage when I left.

Plus, I felt dirty.

Like I was wearing somebody else's socks.

And now for this week's:

SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE

Admittedly, this isn't really your typical SOTS, but I just had to say something about this.

The other day, my girlfriend -- Daily News sports columnist Ramona Shelburne -- and I were working from home when she does an interview with none other than legendary former L.A. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. Ramona let me listen to the inteview tape afterward and Lasorda -- who was speaking about managing the U.S. Olympic baseball team to the gold medal in 2000 -- said the following:

I told these kids when I saw them: I don't know who you are. I don't know where you're from. I don't know if you're good or bad. I don't know what position you play. But I do know this: When this is all over, everyone's gonna know who you are. Because you're gonna bring home the gold. And by golly, they did.

That, sports fans, was just too freakin' cool. I was literally whistling God Bless America for the rest of the day. I kid you not.

(www.nevdogg.blogspot.com is the Olympic gold medal equivalent of blogs. By golly.

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That's right: The Nevdogg can now be found in podcast form!! I -- along with New York City voice actor and producer Michael Feldman -- have taken my blog...and essentially started talking about it. :-) It's Things That Matter With Mike And Nev. Check it out at http://www.mikeandnev.blogspot.com/

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The best sportswriters in the world are women (I have always said this). And the best in the world is none other than my girlfriend Ramona Shelburne, sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. Read more about her at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramona_Shelburne

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Stephanie Friedberg. She’s a writer, she writes a blog about the art of writing, and she’s one of the few women on Earth who understand Major League Baseball’s "infield shift" concept. Read what she has to say at http://www.thewaterglass.blogspot.com/