SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

Of course, you must not park in places where you could obstruct others or where it is forbidden. Parking in the city centre or its surroundings is an even bigger problem. Around kindergartens and schools. This is about minutes, not long parking times.

My two children attended kindergarten and Ledina Primary School. Those of you who know them will know what I am writing about. Every day the same story. In order to drop my child off at the kindergarten and the school, it is necessary to find a five-minute parking space nearby. Of course, speed is of the essence here. Everyone in a low start and as quickly as possible. We were all looking for the few parking spaces that were designated for this. After the time had elapsed, you had to pay for parking. If you weren't fast enough, you could get a notice from the police with a ticket.

As always, I am in a hurry. I park the car, write the time, the phone rings, I answer it, close the door and hurry. I pick up the baby and I'm off to the car. Meanwhile, I am frantically looking for my car keys. When I get to the car, I am absolutely sure that I have lost them. I run back the same way again and the keys are nowhere to be found. I get to the car and look inside. The keys are in the lock. The car has no central locking. The spare keys are in the drawer. 

I call my partner at the time and the father of my children and ask him to come and sort the situation out. He comes. Of course, it was not without unnecessary words that the spare keys belonged somewhere other than in the car. Meanwhile, I see the traffic wardens doing their job. I quickly calculate how long they have to get to us. Not very much. In the meantime, I call the fire brigade and ask them how much it costs to open the car. It's too expensive and we have to wait. I call the mechanic, who doesn't have time at the moment.

While I'm calling around, my partner at the time is trying his best to break into the car with as little damage as possible. The guards are just one car ahead of mine. I walk up to them, explain the situation and ask them if they can give us some more time. I assure them that we will be gone when they come back, but if we are still there, we will pay. They were reasonable and kind and agreed to my proposal. They drove past my car. I am standing behind the car thinking what else I could do.

Then two policemen on bicycles ride past me. One of them turns around, stops, gets off his bike and calmly asks my then partner, "Sir, what are you doing?" We explain the situation to him and prove that the car is mine and that we are not breaking into it. Within a minute they had solved the problem in a way that minimised the damage to the car. All four of us cooperated, opened the car and got the keys.

We thanked the cops for their understanding and help, and I promised them that I would keep spare keys at home in future. In my life, I have been confirmed again and again that our country is known not only for its natural beauty, but also for the kindness of the people who live here.

Mateja Jamnik, 28. 4. 2025