Life lesson?

Something happened the other day which I think was a life lesson. (You’re expecting something dramatic now, I can tell… oh dear…)

I’ve already mentioned my organisation’s attitude to disability which I think it’s fair to say, isn’t great. Occupational health recommended I be given a parking space but sadly the policy is that it’s seniority that gets you a parking space, not need. But I do have a pass for a car park about 15 minutes away from the office. It means I can park for free and so it’s very useful. I keep this pass in the visor but have noticed that recently it kept falling out. Rather than do something about this, I just left it. Until last Thursday, when turning a corner with the window wide open, the pass shot out of the window and landed somewhere on a very busy road. At first I was too shocked to really do anything and carried on driving calling myself all sorts of unhelpful names.

Eventually I turned the car round and went back to where it flew out of the window, parked up and had a look (as well as I could without getting run over!) It wasn’t there so I drove home. Parking is about £9 a day in the car park I use (£36 a week), which I can ill-afford when I am trying to save for so many other things, and I knew work wouldn’t give me a space so as you can imagine I was feeling fed-up, annoyed and worried. (There was no chance of getting a replacement pass either as my organisation have stopped doing them and I literally had the last one.)

I got back and my partner was already home and with my bottom lip on the verge of a serious wobble I told her what had happened. She asked whether I wanted her to go back with me and look again. As impossible and faintly ludicrous as it sounded, I suddenly said yes. We jumped in the car and headed back. We parked in the same spot and started the search and I found it! Ducking between traffic I picked up the small and very flimsy – but very valuable – pass! I could not believe I found it (I still can’t actually). It had been driven over and blown about all over the place but there is was right in front of me.

Of course, this could be seen as a mildly interesting story, a stroke of luck perhaps. But actually I thought at a time when we have so much on in our lives, it was a little sign to not give up despite the odds. Because if you don’t give up, you will get there in the end…

(Oh and the pass is somewhere a lot safer now!)