The Car Guard

(5-minute read) – The blonde lady hurried across the parking lot, pushing a full shopping trolley in front of her towards her car. Suddenly an old man with a reflective vest approached her to help push the trolley.

He was a car guard. Men like him stood guard over cars in parking lots across South Africa and made a meagre living off tips from car owners. They often helped shoppers by pushing their trollies to their cars and unpacking them into their boots.

Most shoppers were glad to have the help. Even if they didn’t really need the help, most were happy to accept it and were happy to pay the car guard a few Rand extra. But some found the car guards annoying.

The blonde lady seemed more than a little annoyed as the old man tried to take the handle of the trolley. She rudely shouldered him away from her and barked, “Leave me alone. Did I ask for help? No! No! So get away.” It was quite embarrassing how rude and uncouth she was.

She barged on past him on her single-minded quest to get to the car without being disturbed by the likes of a pesky car guard. She did not see any value in car guards, nor did she see any reason to give them any money at all, let alone a bit extra for their useless services.

There wasn’t much justification for her behaviour. She just had a nasty disposition and a spiteful spirit.

In contrast, the old man had a modest and enthusiastic soul. The beautiful light around him was dimmed for a second by her ugliness. But only for a second because light always shines through darkness.

He stood still and stared after her. He thought, how sad that she’d missed an opportunity to connect with a stranger.

Normally he would have directed her to reverse safely out of her parking spot while checking for oncoming cars. But she was so rude that he decided to leave her to her own devices. He shrugged his shoulders and resumed his position over his sector of cars. He kept a look-out again for any other shoppers that might appreciate his help.

As the blonde lady reached her car, another shopper came rolling into the sector. The old man, unperturbed, approached with his usual enthusiasm. This time the shopper greeted him with a smile and moved aside as the old man took control of the trolley. “A happy client”, thought the old man with a warm orange glow in his heart.

The old man unpacked the trolley into his client’s boot. As he finished and moved the trolley to the curb, he looked down the aisle and saw the blonde lady still unpacking hers. He thought even the way she grabbed her bags and shoved them in her boot was rude.

His smiling client started his engine. The old man took up his spot behind the car to check for other cars and guide him safely out. As the smiling client started reversing, a car rounded the corner into the aisle. The old man saw the car approaching way too fast for the parking lot conditions.

The smiling client was already half-way out of his parking, so the old man made a snap decision. He stepped into the middle of the aisle and stopped the approaching speeder.

An impatient boy speeder sat behind the wheel. He looked set to try and squeeze through – which would have been risky. But the old man stood his ground and calmly continued to wave his client out, who was blissfully unaware of any commotion behind him.

This infuriated the impatient youngster. He climbed on his hooter, waved his hands and shouted insults out the window at the old man. But it was to no avail. He had to wait while the old man saw to the safe passage of his client.

The client completed his reverse manoeuvre, stuck out his hand with a few Rand, said thanks and moved off safe and sound, past the blonde lady, who was just getting ready to start reversing.

Destined to meet

The timing of what happened next was so exact it could only be described as destiny.

The youngster cruised slowly past the old man, hurling all kinds of abuse at him with his arm and head hanging out the window.

While the youngster was pre-occupied with his lambasting of the car guard, the nasty blonde was reversing out, still every bit as rudely, as if she owned the place. She had just stopped at the end of her reverse movement and as she yanked the gear lever into drive, there was an almighty bang. It was so loud she thought her car’s engine had exploded… except the bang came from behind her.

She looked in the rear view mirror, and there was the youngster, sitting almost in her boot, wide-eyed in the smoky haze that rose up from his engine.

Seconds before, he had concluded his abuse of the old man and put his foot down hard on the accelerator to hammer home his indignation one last time. He drew his head and arm in the window and looked forward just in time to see his bonnet buckling like paper as it smashed the blonde’s boot.

As he sat dazed, trying to comprehend what had just happened, he could see her astounded eyes staring back at him in the rear view mirror.

The nasty blonde and the impatient youngster emerged from their badly damaged cars and laid into each other with all their pent up hatred.

While they argued, the old car guard slipped away home with a hint of a smile. He was done for the day. He went home happy, as usual, with his modest earnings and satisfied that he’d been helpful that day.

“If only the lady had let me help her,” he thought. “If only the young man hadn’t been so impatient. The accident wouldn’t have happened.” He walked on and quietly concluded to himself, “I suppose people like that are destined to meet in unhappy circumstances.”

The police took statements on the scene from the blonde and the youngster. They both told of an old car guard. But no one else had seen a car guard there that day. In fact, witnesses told that there had never been car guards in that particular car park. Only one other person had seen the old man: the smiling client. But he was home safe and sound by the time the police arrived.