Hot Josh and the Reserved Parking Incident
I arrived at the shopping center around noon.
The parking lot was massive.
Hundreds of spaces.
Empty.
Abundant.
A parking paradise.
And yet my eyes immediately locked onto the one space directly in front of the entrance.
Reserved.
Of course it was.
Life always puts its greatest opportunities behind a sign.
I pulled up next to it and stared.
The sign stared back.
“Reserved for Executive Use.”
Executive use.
Interesting wording.
Very subjective.
I considered myself an executive.
I had executed several errands that morning.
Close enough.
I parked.
As I stepped out, an employee appeared from nowhere.
“Sir, that’s a reserved spot.”
I looked around the lot.
There were approximately four thousand other spaces available.
“Then I’m helping preserve all of them.”
He blinked.
“I’m not sure that’s how it works.”
“That’s exactly how it works.”
I pointed dramatically across the parking lot.
“If I park there, someone else parks closer.”
“If they park closer, someone else parks closer.”
“Eventually society collapses.”
The employee looked concerned.
Not about society.
About me.
I entered the building.
Twenty minutes later I emerged carrying absolutely nothing.
I hadn’t actually needed anything.
The trip had become philosophical.
Standing next to my car was a manager.
He was holding a clipboard.
Nobody holding a clipboard has ever delivered good news.
“Sir, this space is reserved for the company president.”
I nodded.
“Excellent.”
He waited.
I waited.
Finally he said, “You aren’t the company president.”
“Not of this company.”
Again, blinking.
Lots of blinking.
I could tell he was processing greatness.
“Please don’t park here again.”
I looked at the sign.
Looked at him.
Looked back at the sign.
Then I offered a compromise.
“What if I only park here on special occasions?”
“What special occasions?”
“Days ending in Y.”
The discussion ended shortly afterward.
As I drove away, I noticed the president’s vehicle pulling in.
He parked one space farther away than usual.
Which meant he got a little extra exercise.
You’re welcome.
The lesson?
Sometimes leadership means making difficult decisions.
And sometimes it means parking directly in front of a building because you believed in yourself.
Hot Josh believed in both.
Very, very strongly.
