The Reserved Parking Spot

Ben has had the same assigned parking spot at his apartment building for two years. It is number fourteen, right beside the side entrance. For most of that time, it has been reliably his. It sits empty and waiting whenever he gets home from work.

本在他住的公寓楼里有一个固定车位，已经两年了。它是14号，就在侧门旁边。大部分时间里，这个车位都稳稳地属于他。每次他下班回家，它都空着等他。

Then, over the course of one month, a small gray car starts appearing in his spot. It happens two or three times a week. Ben never sees the car arrive or leave. He only notices it there when he pulls in after work. It's always gone by the next morning.

然后，在一个月的时间里，一辆灰色的小车开始出现在他的车位上。每周两三次。本从来没有看见那辆车是什么时候来的，又是什么时候走的。他只是下班开进来时，才发现它停在那里。到第二天早上，它总是已经不见了。

He leaves a polite note on the windshield the first time it happens. He asks the driver to please use the guest spots instead. The car appears again three days later anyway, as if the note had never existed.

第一次发生的时候，他在挡风玻璃上留了一张客气的字条，请司机以后停到访客车位去。可是三天后，那辆车照样又出现了，好像那张字条从来不存在一样。

Frustrated, Ben starts checking the lot earlier each evening, hoping to catch the driver in the act. He never does. The gray car seems to appear and disappear on its own schedule, always avoiding him completely.

本很恼火，每天傍晚都比前一天更早去看停车场，希望能当场逮住那位司机。可他从来没成功过。那辆灰色小车似乎按自己的时间表出现和消失，总是完全避开他。

Eventually, he mentions the problem to Rhea, the building manager. He expects sympathy more than an actual answer. Instead, Rhea pulls up the building's parking map on her computer and studies it for a moment.

最后，他把这个问题告诉了楼里的物业经理蕾娅。他期待的是几句同情的话，而不是真正的答案。可蕾娅在电脑上调出了这栋楼的停车位地图，看了一会儿。

"Ah," she says. "I think I know what's happening. We renumbered the spots last month after the repaving. The old signs are still up in two rows. Someone's probably reading spot fourteen off the old sign, which is now actually spot nine."

“啊，”她说，“我想我知道是怎么回事了。上个月路面重铺之后，我们给车位重新编了号。有两排的旧标牌还立在那里。可能有人是照着旧标牌上的14号停的，而那其实现在是9号车位。”

Rhea prints new signs that afternoon. She replaces the old ones herself before the lot fills up again. Ben never learns who was driving the gray car, and honestly, he decides he doesn't need to. The mystery wasn't really a person at all, just two sets of numbers disagreeing with each other.

当天下午，蕾娅就打印了新的标牌。趁停车场还没停满，她亲自把旧的都换掉了。本始终不知道开那辆灰色小车的人是谁，说实话，他觉得自己也不需要知道。这个谜根本不是个人，只是两套互相对不上的号码。

The next evening, spot fourteen is exactly where it should be. It is exactly as empty as it's supposed to be.

第二天傍晚，14号车位就在它该在的地方。它空得正如它该有的样子。