Four years ago, Cheri was on a parking shuttle at DFW Airport on her way home after a long trip to New York. The shuttle was operated by The Parking Spot, which seems irrelevant but is important to the story, probably more so than it should be. Anyways, the driver got called to pick up another passenger en route to the parking lot, which was kind of annoying. Cheri was tired. She wanted to go home.
She grew less annoyed when she saw Jack step on board. He was handsome in a boyish way and was wearing gray sneakers. Cheri was also wearing gray sneakers, and they struck up a conversation. As it turned out, gray tennis shoes were not their only shared passion. They also both liked kickball and loved Mexican food.
Later, Jack took her to see a Beatles cover band. They continued to hit it off, just like they had on the airport shuttle. While the band was closing out the set with "Hey Jude," Jack leaned in, and they kissed for the first time.
Fast forward three years. Jack and Cheri are still together, and they're headed to Colorado to visit his family. He calls The Parking Spot and asks if, just maybe, they'd consider playing "Hey Jude" on the way to the airport. The company, smelling a marketing opportunity, did him one better, reserving a private shuttle and driver. When the song came on, Jack knelt down on one knee and proposed. You can watch it happen on security footage.
Fast forward another year to July 28, and Jack and Cheri are in Colorado for the wedding. What better way to get to the reception than a black-and-yellow Parking Spot bus? And what better locale for wedding photos? And who wouldn't want one's wedding to be used as part of a multi-media marketing campaign?
Cue Mark P. Wildman, the company's senior VP for marketing.
"This is such a classic story of two people being in the right place at the right time," he said. "Where you park does matter, and in this case, two strangers felt comfortable enough on our shuttle to strike up what turned out to be a life-changing conversation. We're honored to be a part of their story."
So honored, in fact, that the company helped pay for the couple's honeymoon to Maui, which is a pretty sweet deal. Sweet enough to overcome getting proposed to on a parking shuttle? Only time will tell.
