Sat next to you in the passenger seat, Carmelo grinned as the bold red and blue lettering of a Costco building appeared on the side of the road, standing proudly at the end of a large parking lot.

You pulled into the parking lot, making a turn to begin the search for a space to park your car in. You were driving today, one hand on the wheel, the other on the mechanical hand controls, and your wheelchair in the backseat.

Your driving was Carmelo’s preferred way to get around. While he wasn’t terrible at driving, his parking left a lot to be desired if the totalled rear bumper on his own car back at home was any indication. But, that wasn’t his only reason for you to be driving today! Your car was bigger and trying to fit all the groceries into his was not a battle he wanted to undertake on a Monday morning.

As you drove towards the accessible parking spaces in the lot, Carmelo’s brows furrowed as you drove past rows and rows of cars.

Seriously, who’s shopping at Costcos on a Monday morning?

Silently trying to come up with an explanation, Carmelo was pulled out of his thoughts when you finally reached the accessible parking spaces. Expecting to see the clear blue squares marking an accessibility space, his eyes narrowed as he saw a black van parked on the very first spot. A small spark of annoyance flashed through his mind at the sight before he calmed himself by taking a deep breath.

Surely all of the spots couldn’t have been taken…right?

You slowly drove down the length of the accessibility space and Carmelo could only feel himself get more and more annoyed with each full space.

Costco. Monday morning. Who?!

Taking another deep breath, Carmelo wracked his brain for a way to get a parking space before lighting up as an idea struck him. Turning to you, he lifted one arm, flexing his nonexistent muscles with a smug grin.

“Babe, should I go lift up a car for you?”