One would think that when you purchase a parking pass on a college campus, that you would always be able to find a place to park. After all, that’s what you paid an arm and a leg for.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case. *frustrated sigh*

The college sells more parking passes than it has parking spots. This isn’t normally a problem, because there are usually less people on campus than there are spots.

Usually.

Today, I found myself circling the campus parking lot for 30 minutes (Thirty. Freaking. Minutes.) trying to find a place to park. And the process of finding a parking spot when you’re going to be late to class is, like, the worst. Ever.

The feeling of constantly searching, and having absolutely no luck… My metaphorical senses were tingling. I laughed bitterly, and said to myself, “This is literally my dating life.”

I’m single. Like, constantly single. And I’m surrounded by friends who all have their cars parked in wonderful spots, and it’s great to see! But sometimes it just kind of makes you wonder when your time is coming.

You know when you think you see a free parking spot, only to pull up a little further and find some tiny Prius is sitting there all pretty? That happened a few times. And you know when you SEE AN ACTUAL FREE PARKING SPOT, and somebody comes and whips their rig in before you can even reach the aisle? Yeah, that happened a few times too. (These are metaphors. Stay with me.)

This bad luck with trying to park (date) makes you wonder, what are the other cars doing that I’m not doing? Why are they having better luck than I am? Is my car just too ugly for a spot? Is it fate?

It’s not fate, you melodramatic-boyfriend-and-parking-space-seeker. It’s life.

When you find yourself in this situation, you have a couple of options. You can get frustrated and yell and scream and keep driving around until you find some place, any place, to park your Ford. You could even resort to slowly stalking innocent walkers who may be returning to their cars, praying that they don’t call the cops, and that you’ll gain their spot upon their exit.

Or, you can take a step back and look at the facts: attendance isn’t required in your classes, you have good friends who can send you the notes, and you aren’t going to be making a habit of skipping class. Plus, you desperately need some well-deserved you time. A nice session of Gilmore Girls, some ice cream, maybe a face mask, and just vegging. A little mini-vacation from the frustrating world.

I’m not saying to skip class, or to leave the dating world and never return, or whatever. I’m just saying, when finding a parking spot on campus takes you 30 minutes (literally), and you waste about 10,000 gallons of gas in the process (figuratively), you get frustrated. When you spend 20 years (for some, longer) looking for someone to do life with and have little to no luck, same feeling.

Just know when it’s time to give yourself a nice, soothing rest from the dating world, if that’s really what’s right for you. You’ll benefit from it in the end, and your time will come eventually.