The waiting game

As I was entering the apartment complex, my mobile informed me the arrival of a message.  I saw the security personnel directing me to the right to park my vehicle.  I chose the farthest spot and steered my vehicle into it.  I snapped off the seat belt, switched off the car and got out.  I saw the security personnel coming towards me, waving his hands and calling out something.  As he came closer the words became clearer.

“Sir, you should not park here.  This is for the fire department only.”
  

Irritation and anger started working its way into my head.  “But you are the one who asked me to park here” I protested. 

“Sir, I said the first spot and not the last spot”. 

I was angrier now “You did not say that.  You waved your stick to the right and I have the parked my vehicle on the right”. 

“Sir, but this is fire parking”. 

My frustration had reached its peak.  I was supposed to meet my friend a good 20 minutes back.  This security guy was delaying it further.  The head of security had walked into the discussion by then and reiterated the point that I had parked my car in the parking for fire engines.  I informed him that it was his subordinate who directed me to park there.  Besides, I cannot find any difference between this and the other parking places. 

“Sir, this one has the red lines and others have yellow lines.  So this is fire parking” came the informed response.

“Oh is that so!  And I am supposed to have known that!  Red means fire; yellow means normal is it?  Tell me, what do you park into this fire parking?”

“Fire engine sir” was the incredulous response.

“Fire engine is it?  That parking place would only fit a car.  How do you expect a fire engine to get into that place?  I have definitely not seen a car sized fire engine.  Besides, this parking place is a good 300 metres from the building.  So why should the fire engine stand here; shouldn’t it be closer to the building?”

“Actually this is for the ambulance during fire Sir” interjected the junior security personnel.  The senior one turned towards the cause of interjection, stared at him and barked him to go away.  He turned back at me and said “I don’t know Sir.  That is the rule; you cannot park here.  Please move your car to the first spot”.  By this time, I was 30 minutes behind schedule. I decided to stop the argument and do as asked.  I reversed the car with a tremendous squeak, and caused plenty of commotion as I parked the vehicle into the first spot.  I got out and slammed the doors hard.  I stared at the security guys mouthing silent curses as I walked away.

A little later I reached the lobby and walked to towards the elevators.  The two elevators had already started their journey skywards.  So I pressed the button and waited.  One of the elevators was going up from floor two and the other from floor three.  For sometime, the numbers incremented steadily.  The first elevator stopped at floor seven and a little later the second one stopped at floor nine.  They held these positions for some time.  Elevator one was the first to move, it shot up from floor seven but did not cross floor ten, where it got stuck for a long time.  By this time second elevator went up to floor thirteen and stayed there for what seemed like an hour.  The two elevators continued to hold their respective position long enough for me to look away in frustration. When I turned back I was gladdened to see that the elevators had changed their directions.  But my gladness did not last long as the traversal down turned out to be slower.  I tried to intimate the elevators my frustration by pressing the button a million times.  They took no heed of it and took their own time to get to the lobby.  One of the elevators was empty and the other one had one person at whom at glared viciously.

I got into the elevator and started my journey skywards.  It took less than a minute for me to reach my destination.  I rang the bell and waited.  There was no response and so I tried again.  The result was the same.  I rang the bell a few more times in quick succession with no change in result.  I cursed and took out my phone.  There was a message waiting for me.   It was from my friend and said “Sorry man, running late.  Hang around, will be there soon”.  I think I cried out something much worse than “Bloody hell”.  All this haste had turned into a waste.  I could have extended my siesta another 30 minutes.  I called my friend; he picked the call and mumbled – “In traffic man.  Terrible jam; I will be there in 20 minutes”.  He did not let me utter a word.  Now, I had to find a way to spend 20 bloody minutes.  I went back to the lift and saw that they were many floors away and hence decided to use the stairs.

I walked around the apartment complex and soon came across the children’s play area - the only open space the complex provided.  As I walked toward the area, I chose to ignore the fiery glares from the security guards.  I sat down on a bench by the play area, which was a sandy patch with a few swings, slides and see-saw.  None of these were occupied though the area itself was full of girls.  They were standing in a circle with a girl in the center talking animatedly.  This girl was explaining the rules of some game.  It seemed a complex game with two sides of 5 people each.  A member of one team throws a ball to a member of the other team after calling out the catcher's name.  If the catcher does not catch the ball then the thrower’s team gains a point and so on.  These rules seemed simple enough but they were made complex by the presence of a few stones on the ground.  The girl in the center said something about the throwing and the stones on the ground.  As the girl explained the rules others shook their heads in agreement.

The teams took their assigned places and the lead girl threw the ball to one of the teams. She then stood at the centre . The girl with the ball called out a name and threw the ball. At the same time the girl at the center ran towards the throwing team. One girl from each team picked a stone and ran towards the centre. Both reached the spot at the same time and claimed victory. In the meanwhile, a girl from the catching team caught the ball. Both teams were gleefully claimed the point. Soon both teams were protesting the other team's claim.

A scene of commotion ensued with leader being mobbed. The girl tried to explain the result of the situation but no one listened. The chaotic scene continued for a few minutes. Finally the leader got the situation under control and went over the rules again. Every one shook their heads in agreement again till she gave the point to the throwing team. The catching team screamed "Cheating". Pandemonium and chaos were back. The catching team started walking off field when the leader suggested "Zero zero ok?" 

The two teams were back in their respective positions. But before the game could start, one of the girls in the catching team wanted to change sides. A couple of girls in the throwing team cheered but all others objected. Everyone were now back in the centre and screaming session continued. A gloomy silence settled when the three girls walked off. The remaining girls decided to continue the game. As they took up their positions, my phone rang. My friend was back. I got up and walked towards the lobby. As I reached the lobby, I heard another round of screaming from behind.