What follows is a mostly accurate account of an interaction I had with a Seattle Police officer yesterday evening. It has no significance.
Context: Liz and I were on our way to the Mariners game. We spotted a small but workable parking space on an unmetered street and Liz began to parallel park the Badunkadunk, which is always fine sport. I was on the sidewalk giving vague hand signals and occasionally slapping the windows (that means "Stop").
We got pretty close to the cars behind and in front of us, but I didn't see any touching. Upon looking up, though, I did see a police woman sitting in her police car across the 3 lanes of traffic, watching us.
The parking was nearly complete, and I looked at the cop and gave her a questioning shrug, as if to say, "Is this okay?" She questioningly shrugged back, as if to say, "I'm an idiot, unfamiliar with human communication practices."
As Liz shut off the engine, I jogged across the street to speak to the officer. As I approached the car, she began her interrogation.
Fuzz: How old are you?
Me (baffled): How old am I?
Fuzz: Yes.
Me: 30.
Fuzz: Do you think that's a good place to park your car, when you have to bump the car behind you to get in?
Me: Did we bump it? I didn't see any bumping.
Fuzz: Yeah you did. I saw it move.
Me: Oh. Sorry.
Fuzz: I know parking is tight around here, but we get a lot of calls about this.
Me: [can't think of a response]
Fuzz: How do you expect that car behind you to get out?
Me: The same way we got in?
Fuzz: [can't think of a response]
Me: Are you telling me to move the car? If you tell me to move it, I'll move it.
Fuzz: I'm not going to tell you to move it.
Me: Okay.
Fuzz: Okay. Have a good evening.
Me: Thanks.
We did have a good evening.
