Many people are frustrated and nervous by the time they make it to the parking lot. They’ve been driving for hours, much of the way with very little signage. Their GPS quit working quite some time back. They have no map or only the very small map on their phone or a map no one in the vehicle knows how to read. They don’t know where they are. They don’t know if they are close to their destination. They haven’t seen a gas station or a fast food restaurant in a really long time.
Some people are absolutely confused when they pull into the parking lot. More than once, I’ve asked drivers Are you here for the trail? and have received I don’t know! in response.
I’ve had people yell at me for the lack of signs. I try to remember these people (usually front seat passengers) are scared and tired (and probably hungry) and feeling out of control. Surely they don’t really think I stole road signs in order to make their trip more stressful?
One morning an obviously rented motor home pulled into the parking lot. My co-worker approached the driver’s side window. The driver, a bald man with an accent from somewhere outside the U.S. A. exclaimed loudly enough for me to hear ten feet away, Thank God you are here!
My co-worker, cucumber cool, asked, And why is that?
It was the typical story. They’d been driving a long time. They saw no signs. The GPS wasn’t working. They weren’t sure they were where they wanted to be. Thank God there was someone in the parking lot to tell them they had arrived and to assure them they were where they wanted to be.
I think it’s wonderful to be appreciated.
I made sure to tell my boss how happy that man was to see my co-worker standing in the parking lot.
Now whenever my co-worker is particularly helpful, to me or a visitor, I exclaim to him, Thank God you are here!
That’s funny! So many people depend on GPS that when they lose it, they act like the tether broke on the space ship broke and they’re floating away in space. And no matter how long they’ve had the GPS, they expect it to always be there for them. People are funny. And downright weird.