IBS Made Me Park Illegally

Let’s pretend you are in this scenario: Have you ever been driving and then all of a sudden get smacked in the face with intense urgency? Now what? Your only choice is to immediately swerve lanes and turn into the first place you know that has a public restroom. But at this point, time is of the essence. And the kicker is the only option for parking that happens to be a disabled spot or a loading zone with a big sign that warns of towing.

IBS and illegal parking

Yup, you better believe this just recently happened to me. And me and my little compact SUV ended up horribly parked in a loading zone. I didn’t care. In about point 5 seconds, it was either park illegally or figure out how to clean your car seat of an indescribable mess.

Ugh, that day was quite horrible for me. I was stressed and had a lot on my mind. I was cooped up at home and decided it would be good to get in the car, put the windows down and drive a bit in the fresh air. As I was driving, I thought it would be a good idea to head to a smoothie spot as I hadn’t eaten much and for the most part, smoothies sit well with me.

So off I went, got down, purchased my smoothie, and got back in my car to drive around as I sipped on tropical, icy goodness. Literally 3 sips in, it hit me. The gurgle and the sudden bloat and I knew I was in horrific trouble. Up ahead was a grocery store that I knew had clean bathrooms. I sped like there was no tomorrow. This sudden urgency was intense!

I get into the parking lot, and even though it was in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, the lot was packed! I panicked. I quickly spotted a disabled parking spot and as I was going to pull in, I saw a loading zone ahead. I decided to go there instead and swerved in like a maniac.

I hopped out and clenched/fast-walked/ran into the grocery store, straight for the restroom. On my way, of course, I was praying that a stall would be open because if not, I was done for. Lo and behold, a stall was open and I barely made it.

Learning from my parking experience

The day was so stressful for me already that I just sat in the stall and cried. I had a why me moment and just felt so small and fragile. I hate that at 31 years old, I have to deal with these unpleasantries. But, after five minutes or so, I got myself together. Washed up, and walked calmly to my car, praying that I didn’t get towed.

I didn’t. And I was ready to be reprimanded by an employee but in my favor, no one was around and no one said anything.

Phew. I survived the awful IBS attack and got away with parking illegally. I guess if there was any silver lining to that day, it was that.

Have you ever parked illegally in order to survive an IBS attack? Share below, let’s share stories.