incidentally...

back bay can be a land of sharks. great white sharks that prey on the seals and sea lions just trying to get by. they flash their big fins, fancy big teeth and think they rule the sea. well, this sea lion wasn't going to play that game this time.


ok, so that was a far cry from any sense of an accurate analogy representing the probably non-existent struggle between the wealthy back bay folk and the common back bay squatters (where i classify myself in this story). all i really want to do is tell you a story of what happened to me yesterday. a random back bay encounter with a 'great white':


like many an evening, i made my way to the streets of back bay to find a parking spot. i find one not too far from where i need to be, and pull up in front of it, preparing to perform my parallel-parking magic act that i have so perfected. i put my blinker on and pop the car into reverse. since the road isn't all that wide, i let the line of cars behind me pass before starting into the spot. the last car however, an SUV, pulls up behind the parking spot. no blinker or anything letting me know what their intention is. they didn't block the spot though, so i get the feeling that they are just pulling over to run into one of the houses or something, so i commence my parallel-parking attempt. the parking spot was literally a block of ice, so the car did a tiny little slip (maybe an inch or two... nothing major). i decided that i should pull out a bit and change the angle that i was hitting the ice block. just then though, as i turned to make sure no one was coming so that i could pull out of the spot a little, i notice that the man from the SUV was standing next to my car watching me. our eyes meet. he signals for me to roll my window down. i do. he points to the car that is parked at the back of the parking spot (aside his SUV). "that's my other car", he says. not knowing why that is supposed to matter to me, i say "OK", with a look that says that he should explain himself. he counters my 'you are clearly crazy' look with "just don't hit it, ok?". what? what?!? who says that? annoyed that this man is taking time out of my day to tell me not to hit his car ( 1.) i never hit cars 2.) this man doesn't know me 3.) i'm driving a freakin' TT - it's not like i'm in a rust bucket on wheels!), i respond with "that's not in the plan, i promise." and flash a smile in hopes that this crazy person will go away. i roll up my window and proceed with my parking job. it was a perfect parking job and i didn't come close to hitting his precious super-high-end mercedes (which if he is that worried about he shouldn't be parking it on the street in the first place). he drove away and must have found a parking spot nearby for his "other" car. i know this because as i started walking from my car, he was walking towards me and said "thanks for not hitting it". i laughed and said "no problem". he then asked me if i lived right here. i said no and kept walking. like i'm going to tell a crazy person where i live! what a nut job!


so, it did occur to me when he told me that the mercedes was his other car that he wanted the parking spot that i was pulling into. i'm sorry. in this first-come first-served world, you take a parking spot when you find one. there's no dibsies. sorry, mr. great white. this sea lion's not for dinner.