Column: A Happy Medium, by Erin Murtaugh

A few weeks ago when we first got a significant amount of snow, a majority of Albert Lea High School students seemed to forget how to park their cars.

As I arrived at school that morning, I noticed very crooked rows of cars. I didn’t think a whole lot of it, other than that the parking lines weren’t visible, so people were just trying to do their best. Then, as I started walking toward the school building, I noticed something rather strange.

What was usually two rows of cars parked with each other magically became three rows. Now, I’m not sure how this happened, because if you would look up while you’re parking, you would clearly see another set of cars in front of the ones which you were parking behind. I’m glad I wasn’t in the middle row, because I would have been rather upset getting out of school and having my car trapped in the parking lot.

I thought this bad-parking thing was just among high school students until I attended Southwest Middle School’s winter concert on Tuesday night.

I was trying to find a parking spot in the full lot, which was mostly occupied by cars of parents and grandparents of middle-schoolers.

All of the sudden, the driving space in the lot got really tight. The bad winter parking had hit these concert attendees, too. Cars were parked in all different directions and angles. The rows were very curvy, as well.

Now, I’m not the world’s greatest parker myself, but I at least try to use other cars as guides and attempt to find lines to park in.

Minnesota, let’s step up our winter parking skills.

 

Some happy news …

Wednesday morning, I arrived to school like usual. I got to class and checked my email. There was a message in my inbox from Columbia College Chicago with the subject line: “You’re In!”

Finally, the acceptance letter I’ve been waiting a long time for had arrived! Go me!

Now the wait for the actual acceptance papers to arrive in the mail begins. (Insert excited squeal here.)

 

Albert Lea resident Erin Murtaugh’s column appears every Thursday.