def pad(val: str, spaces: int = 2) -> str:
    """Pad val on left and right with `spaces` whitespace chars

    Arguments:
        val {str} -- string to pad

    Keyword Arguments:
        spaces {int} -- number of spaces to pad on either side (default: {2})

    Returns:
        str -- padded string
    """
    pad_str = ' ' * spaces

    return '{0}{1}{0}'.format(pad_str, val)