R and J in the USA

There is no official state fair competition for best parking operation, and we’ve only seen three (Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota). But sorry, Minnesota. If there is, we have to give first prize to Iowa, whose system for directing cars to well-marked spots and system for carting people between the parking lot and fair gate in golf carts driven by volunteers from the Shriners was just top notch. When we arrived in Minnesota’s parking lot, it was basically a “may the force be with you” approach as you passed the main parking director into the lot to figure out where to go. Once we finally found a spot that could accommodate the van, we did about a 20-point turn to pull ourselves into it. No problem. This is a fortunate issue to have. Well, Minnesota’s parking operation was about to show us a different kind of impressiveness. Not one that made parking any easier, but one that made navigating life and humanity a little easier.

As we mentioned in a few other posts (the Minnesota Overview post and a post in our Ruminations section), we had our first negative People Along the Way experience heading into the fair. However, it cued up one of our more positive encounters. 

As we exited the parking lot to head towards the fairground we started walking across the street towards the entrance, as others next to us and before us were doing. The parking attendant who was there to help manage traffic and pedestrian flow and safety called out to us and another gentleman who were in the middle of the street, “Hey, down this sidewalk!” He gestured to us to return to the side of the street and walk along the sidewalk to a crosswalk where pedestrians were given the go to cross when it wouldn’t block traffic. He was not mean or angry, just clear and firm. He was an older gentleman sitting down to take the pressure off of his feet as he did his job throughout the busy day.  

Once we realized he was talking to us, we apologized for our mistake and redirected back towards the sidewalk. 

The other gentleman didn’t go so quietly. The other gentleman didn’t go so quietly. Pick your battles, they say. We hadn’t even registered this as one on the list to potentially select. This guy, though, had made his selection.

He started yelling at the parking attendant with a tone and words that, the last time I heard them, would have been the last time I babysat a child under the age of ten. Other than this gentleman’s size and depth of his voice, all other elements read the same as a child sorely in need of a nap and some parental guidance of how to behave, especially in public. 

“Why did they got to cross?” He complained loudly and angrily while pointing to others who already had made it to the other side of the street, with a tone exactly like you would expect a little sibling to use if another sibling got a slightly bigger Christmas present. He was upset to a level that indicated he felt his most fundamental rights as a human being were being robbed. We watched from inside the sidewalk we had already very easily moved over to, with our sense of personal freedom and good fortune fully unhindered nor robbed by the attendant’s insistent request. We were entirely unslighted by our relocation and grateful for the parking attendant looking out for people’s safety while we headed in to have fun day at the fair that he was helping to make happen. We couldn’t quite understand what made this such a big deal to this man. We can certainly understand that it was an inconvenience and sometimes folks just have a bad day, but neither of those things seemed enough to lead to this behavior as far as we could see.

The man continued and said some other things that, no matter what kind of day we’ve ever had, we’ve never felt the need to say and we don’t feel the need to repeat. But they were a bummer to hear, and it boggled our mind as to what this person must have experienced in life that would lead him to take such a minor thing to such an extreme place. We tried throughout our day at the fair to imagine what would make someone feel so strongly, so angry, and so betrayed in such a moment that, from the outside looking in, seemed so minor, especially amidst a setting of people enjoying so much good stuff, whether food, freedom, or good fortune.

We went into the fair scratching our heads, wanting to understand, but coming up short in our efforts.

Our palates were immediately cleared by one after another jovial and generous encounter, not to mention a fair filled with delights of all kinds.

The more notable encounter is the one that happened at the end of the day with that same parking attendant.

As we left the fair with our bellies full and our senses thoroughly stimulated, we saw that same parking attendant sitting in that same chair with that same attentiveness to people walking across the street, making sure everyone was getting where they needed to get without event. 

Julie said to Ryan, “We should apologize to him.”

“For what?” Ryan said.

“I don’t know. On behalf of humanity. Just – he shouldn’t have to deal with crap like that when he’s just doing his job.”

“Sure. Let’s do it.”

We went up to him and said, “I’m sorry that guy treated you that way this morning.”

Having had a whole day between here and there, he replied, “What guy?”

“We were one of the people you asked to go to the sidewalk and then that guy started going off on you about it. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Oh. Yea.” He said, as calm and unbothered as a person could possibly be.

“Yea, well, just goes with the job. People are people. You just gotta let people be people.”

He was pretty aloof about the whole thing. There were no warm fuzzies for us having come over. In all honesty, he seemed pretty hardened to the whole thing, and seemed like he couldn’t actually care less about the guy or what he said. Not in a harsh way. Just in a totally calm, cool, and going-about-his-business kind of way. He just went on doing his job and wished us to have a good day.

We walked away and thought, “Now THAT guy’s the real deal.” No fuss. No whining. No complaining. Even when he had the right and HAD been treated unfairly. This guy hadn’t wasted a second of his mind or life on it. We walked away and felt that not only did we meet a real solid guy, we also learned a thing or two about how to handle people just being people.