Gut Check: $35 Dollar “Injustice”

On our way to IHOP today I pulled into this parking garage and realized I had taken a photo of it in 2008 on my first visit to Oahu.  Here’s that photo.

One of our SBS (School of Biblical Studies) students is kicking around the idea of coming back to staff.  So, I wanted to meet up with him and talk to him about support raising.  All of YWAM is volunteer and relies on relationship based support.  Staffing a SBS is a 10 month commitment and I absolutely think it’s a worthwhile investment.  No where else can students come and read the whole Bible in 9 months and study it inductively, in such depth, learning the history and context in which it was written.  And for that to happen there has to be staff.

So I took this student out to lunch, I told him he could go anywhere he wanted and he picked IHOP.  So I drove us there, and parked in a parking garage in Waikiki.  The parking attendant gave me two tickets, one for the car and one for me to get validated.

We went in and had a great lunch, I got to share with him some things about support raising and we had a good conversation.  On the way back to the parking garage, it started raining and about half way back, I realized that I had left my parking ticket at the table.  I thought since I had a receipt that we’d be okay.

We pulled up to the ticket window, and the parking attendant asked me where the ticket was.  I said I didn’t have it but I had a receipt showing that we just ate at the restaurant.  The attendant called her supervisor over.  The supervisor told me I’d have to go back and get the ticket or it’d be $35, and pointed out the sign  that said lost ticket are $35.  She had me back up and park my car.  My student said he’d run back to the restaurant.  He did and returned without the ticket.  IHOP said they had thrown it away and it was gone.

So I told the parking attendant and her supervisor that news, and then they had to call the owner.  I was already 15 minutes past my lunch break at this time.  I think I was getting a little impatient, because one of the ladies said “hey we’re just trying to do our job.”  To which I calmed down.

After hanging up with the owner one of the ladies said, he’s crazy, referring to their boss.  I laughed and said that I was praying for them to get better paying jobs and a better boss.  Trying to bless people in my frustration and not take it out on them.  Like they said, they were just trying to do their jobs.  We have to remember that people are valuable, even when we’re getting frustrated at the situation.

I called IHOP… they said there was nothing they could do for me.

I had $28 in my car, which was gas money.  I’ve been trying to pay cash for gas because you get 10c off at the pump if you pay with cash.  Gas is $3.91 here in Hawaii.  At this time, I was thinking how ridiculous this situation was.  Paying $35 because I left my ticket in the restaurant and they threw it away.

I told them I had $28 to which they had to call the owner of the parking garage again.  They wanted to see my ID for insufficient funds.  Meaning they were going to send me a bill.  I told them I did not want to show them my ID.  The parking attendant agreed that she wouldn’t have shown it either.  To which the supervisor said that the owner said to call the cops.

Part of me wanted them to call the cops just to see what would happen, but I decided that wouldn’t be good.  I asked my student if he had any cash on him, he didn’t, the parking garage only took cash, no cards.

I asked for the companies information, so I could make a complaint.  They gave me the number.

I asked the attendants if there was anything they could do for me, if there was another way out.  I told them I wasn’t a tourist.  They said there wasn’t anything they could do.  I remembered I had an emergency twenty in my wallet, and pulled it out and paid in full.  The attendant sheepishly asked me if I wanted a receipt.  I told her I did, and said goodbye.

I was pretty infuriated at the injustice of the situation.

But I realized something.  That whole situation, as frustrating as it was, it was an inconvenience, not an injustice.

God had already provided for it.  Literally.  We let a friend borrow our car because,  in the same week they got rear ended in one car, and had alternator problems in another.  When they brought our car back they had bought us a tank of gas.  So as we near the end of the month, I’ve got a full tank of gas.

As we were driving away, in my frustration of the “injustice” of this $35 parking fiasco, God’s still small voice reminded me, that, daily there are little boys and girls being raped all around the world.  And daily, there are children and adults all over the world that are without clean drinking water.  And daily there are people in North Korea that are subjected to a hellish life of human rights violations.

Maybe I should get more impassioned about the things listed above than a $35 parking ramp inconvenience.

Call To Action.

Listed below are organizations that work against some of those injustices.  I challenge you to go check out what their doing, and to donate to them $35, because lets take a not so great situation, and turn it in a way to glorify God.

The Nehemiah House – The Youth With A Mission Nehemiah House are three 24-hour residential facilities catering to female victims of sexual abuse, maltreatment, abandonment and child trafficking. (We’re actually leading a small team there in April)

I Thirst Water Program – Impact Nations provides Sawyer water filters for people to have  clean water.  Pastor RK’s church which is made up of mostly homeless people raises money for this organization.

Liberty In North Korea – I don’t remember where I heard about this organization, but check out what their doing, it’s pretty cool.

What justice area are you passionate about?  Did you donate to any of the organizations above?  Let us know in the comments.