Yesterday morning I watched these three human snapshots unfold in rapid succession in a strip mall parking lot:

1. A woman returning to her car from Panera, coffee in one hand, bagged pastries in the other. She was about 60, well-dressed, thin, summery. She unlocked the passenger door, set the goods inside. She walked behind the car, opened the hatch, and retrieved her blue leather purse. She click-clicked the doors again, got in and drove away. Her car had been parked in the first handicapped spot the entire time. My soul caught fire.

2. Another woman, markedly overweight, maybe 45, walking to her car. It was a struggle for her. I could tell that her knees and maybe her hips hurt. She was also well-dressed, but for work. She was parked all the way at the end of the lot. My sense was that she had parked that far away on purpose, that by adding steps to her day she might burn a few extra calories, strengthen her legs. She could walk, so she did. My soul smiled.

3. A Dodge Charger roared into that same first handicapped spot that the first driver had abused. Orange. Shiny. A big-ass muscle car. I was ready to pick a fight. The passenger door opened. A woman of about 50 got out and walked around to the driver’s side. I was secretly daring the bastard behind the wheel to finally show himself. Maybe I wouldn’t kick him in the shins, but at least I could Snapchat him for preservation by the internet. The driver’s door opened slowly, and not well. A soft, wrinkled hand reached up to grab the Charger’s window. A curly silver head crested the roof. Barely. The first woman reached into the backseat, unfolded a walker, and handed it to the driver. It took the driver probably two full minutes to uncurl out from the behind the wheel, and even then, not fully. Her body was curved into a permanent “C.” The driver was 140 years old. With her spine and her hands bent over her walker, she was maybe three feet tall. But she had driven her own damn Charger to the Panera to get her own damn coffee. My soul pumped a fist into the air.

6 June  2014, ErinWaughWorld