Karma

I work a 30 hour week and yesterday was my day off with the children. Sometimes I struggle to fill the time, and it's always good to get out of the house, if only for a short while. We usually go to the soft play centre or the park depending on the weather. However yesterday I had to do the dreaded top-up shop at the local supermarket.

It was extremely windy so we went in the car. I struggled to get the boys into their car seats as they were both wearing several jumpers and thick coats and there was an awful lot of adjusting of straps and seat belts in order to transport them safely and securely. We drove the short distance to Asda and into the area that is allocated to parent and child parking only. As usual most of the spaces were taken but as we approached I noticed an empty one. This filled me with joy as it meant I could open the car doors as wide as I needed to get the kids out, and more to the point back in again. Which anyone with small kids will know is a right old faff. It also meant that we would only have a short walk along a pedestrianised area to the store entrance and therefore the risk of getting run over was minimised.

Just as I was about to turn into the space another car drove into it. I was furious....this would be rude under any circumstances, but when the driver got out she didn't actually have any children with her but was sporting a large baby bump. She could tell from my gesticulations that I was far from pleased but simply pointed to her bump and went on her way. There was an unnatural rage surging through me. I wanted to wind down the window and shout "Oi! you fucking stupid bitch, does it say parent and foetus parking?". I wanted to wish her an excruciating labour, followed by a long bout of post-natal depression, all because of a parking space. Luckily, like most people I hate confrontation and simply drove away and into a free space half a mile away.

In retrospect I realise that I may have over-reacted. I do however hope that when her baby is born and she needs to stock up on groceries some bastard nicks her space, now that's karma.