#661 Yield Your Slot

I was walking downtown the other day and I chanced by the parking enforcement office.
Parking enforcement is one of those unsung hero type of jobs. If they weren’t there, people would bitch. And when they are there, people bitch.
Most people drive cars not cycles. So, as there is a limited amount of parking downtown, it is necessary to keep the parked cars cycling.
If I am looking for a parking place, I am only too glad that the guy with the place I covet has to yield it because he fears a parking violation enforcer. That same parking violation enforcer becomes my enemy once I occupy my slot.
Kind of a NIMBY thing. Now that I’m here, keep everyone else out before they ruin the neighborhood.
We are only human.
The Lord never said to Adam, “go forth and make sense.”
Parking enforcement suffers from what I call the tow truck syndrome. Most of the ads you see for tow trucks are the little signs on private parking lots saying you will be towed away if you park there.
Yet the signs have to strike that delicate balance between be stern enough to sound like they mean business and friendly enough so next time you’re in a ditch you’ll remember their name and give them a call.
A towing company who actually does tow your car away from a private lot will no doubt suffer your eternal opprobrium and can kiss you off as a customer for life.
No wonder tow truck companies always seem to be changing their names.
The downtown parking enforcement office has a fifteen-minute parking slot in front of it, by the way, so people can run in and out to pay their fines.
Why do I think it’s the one parking slot in all of downtown where they never write a violation?
In any event, as I went by, I saw this sign in the window. “In a hurry? Save time and pay your parking violation online.”
It was such a cheery and helpful sign. You almost forgot you could have saved even more time—if they didn’t write you the dang ticket to start with...
America, ya gotta love it