c/anxiety·Posted by u/priya_nair·21h ago

Why does the parking garage after work feel worse than the actual office?

The office itself is loud and fluorescent and somehow I can do it. It is the garage at 5:40 that gets me. Concrete, that wet-tire smell, my footsteps too loud, and then I cannot remember which level I parked on even though it is always C. Last Thursday I walked C twice with my badge still clipped to my pocket, heart doing that thin fast thing, like I was late for a flight. I was not late for anything. I sat in the car for ten minutes with the door locked before I even started it. Nobody else seemed in a hurry. I felt ridiculous counting the painted numbers on the pillars. Daytime on the street is fine. That echoing ramp is the part my body hates. Anyone else crash after they already 'survived' the day, in the stupid in-between space?

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