Post by J-Man on Oct 28, 2009 8:10:19 GMT -5
I have been watching Parking Wars on A&E for a while now. It’s pretty funny and I really enjoy the show, but it does prove one thing, that these parking authority guys are out to get you.
Now I am no anarchist, but I believe in laws that actually protect the innocent and punish criminals. Like stealing, or killing, not some guy leaving his car 1 foot away from the curb and getting a ticket for it.
That being said, these parking laws are in place for a reason. If someone parks on a sidewalk, they obstruct people walking about. That is very minor in my book, but it does affect people in their day to day lives. So they may deserve a ticket.
The big thing with these meter maids is that they claim there is no quota to meet. Which may be true, you don’t have to meet it, but if you don’t, then you could get reprimanded. Its like the pizza guys, they say 30 mins or free, so they drive fast to make it in time…but we are told, “in order to not force our guys to drive fast, we do not take the free pizza out of their paycheck.” I knew a guy who delivered food and that is not a lie. They really don’t take it out of your pay, but try and get 3 free orders by being late, and you’re fired.
That being said, if there really is no quota, no loss of pay etc, then why are the guys on this show so excited about ticketing and booting cars? Like what’s the point. You didn’t nail a murderer or something. It’s just some regular guy who didn’t pay his ticket, which is a BS law anyway.
I have only ever gotten 1 parking ticket in my life and it was at Bergamot (my old stomping grounds) when I was picking up a Chapion. I parked for literally 2 mins, ran inside the building and helped him carry some stuff to the car. I get back, $75 ticket. It’s impossible for that guy to have just been there…he saw me come in and park and when I ran inside, he ran to my car and ticketed me.
Now I was in the wrong. It said no parking…but I lived there for 25 years of my life and it was NEVER a no parking spot. It was just added there a month ago and I never noticed. Ok, so I paid it and that’s that.
But if there is no quota, why would the guy nail me like that without giving me a min to come back? He saw me running (not because it was no parking, but because my buddy needed help to carry his stuff), so he knew I was in a hurry.
Parking Wars shows a lot of these guys saying “It’s my job, I am just doing my job.” I do my job too, and believe me there are a lot of rules. Salesmen must fill out a request for my to provide prices for boxes (I price boxes, for those who don’t know). Now if they don’t fill in all the details (most of which are pointless) I have to give the request back to them. But salesmen are usually the road, so they wont be back in the office till the next day or two, by that time their customer has gotten a price from someone else, and we lost that business, and the salesmen loses his commission for it. All because he didn’t fill out the form properly. I am within my rights as per the company to return this improperly filled out form…but I don’t. I just call the rep and ask them. They tell me the info and say they’re sorry for missing that and it’s done.
I don’t try to hurt the salesmen by teaching him a lesson about filling out forms. “That’ll teach you to fill out forms properly buddy!” This is the attitude of the these guys. They are out to prove they are better than you because they have authority and you don’t. Give me a break here.
I am not against these parking people who are doing their job. And people shouldn’t park where there is no parking. All I am saying is that it’s not a crime and the parking guys don’t need to act like it is. And I am a bit tense that they ENJOY giving the tickets. I don’t enjoy my job, so if it’s just a job, why get so much joy out of it?
In any case the show is still really fun to watch. People get super pissed off and there is always a yelling match. I love the conflict. Most of the time the parking guys are right in the sense that the meter did run out, they did park too far off the curb etc. But it’s still funny to see them get upset over it.
Now I am no anarchist, but I believe in laws that actually protect the innocent and punish criminals. Like stealing, or killing, not some guy leaving his car 1 foot away from the curb and getting a ticket for it.
That being said, these parking laws are in place for a reason. If someone parks on a sidewalk, they obstruct people walking about. That is very minor in my book, but it does affect people in their day to day lives. So they may deserve a ticket.
The big thing with these meter maids is that they claim there is no quota to meet. Which may be true, you don’t have to meet it, but if you don’t, then you could get reprimanded. Its like the pizza guys, they say 30 mins or free, so they drive fast to make it in time…but we are told, “in order to not force our guys to drive fast, we do not take the free pizza out of their paycheck.” I knew a guy who delivered food and that is not a lie. They really don’t take it out of your pay, but try and get 3 free orders by being late, and you’re fired.
That being said, if there really is no quota, no loss of pay etc, then why are the guys on this show so excited about ticketing and booting cars? Like what’s the point. You didn’t nail a murderer or something. It’s just some regular guy who didn’t pay his ticket, which is a BS law anyway.
I have only ever gotten 1 parking ticket in my life and it was at Bergamot (my old stomping grounds) when I was picking up a Chapion. I parked for literally 2 mins, ran inside the building and helped him carry some stuff to the car. I get back, $75 ticket. It’s impossible for that guy to have just been there…he saw me come in and park and when I ran inside, he ran to my car and ticketed me.
Now I was in the wrong. It said no parking…but I lived there for 25 years of my life and it was NEVER a no parking spot. It was just added there a month ago and I never noticed. Ok, so I paid it and that’s that.
But if there is no quota, why would the guy nail me like that without giving me a min to come back? He saw me running (not because it was no parking, but because my buddy needed help to carry his stuff), so he knew I was in a hurry.
Parking Wars shows a lot of these guys saying “It’s my job, I am just doing my job.” I do my job too, and believe me there are a lot of rules. Salesmen must fill out a request for my to provide prices for boxes (I price boxes, for those who don’t know). Now if they don’t fill in all the details (most of which are pointless) I have to give the request back to them. But salesmen are usually the road, so they wont be back in the office till the next day or two, by that time their customer has gotten a price from someone else, and we lost that business, and the salesmen loses his commission for it. All because he didn’t fill out the form properly. I am within my rights as per the company to return this improperly filled out form…but I don’t. I just call the rep and ask them. They tell me the info and say they’re sorry for missing that and it’s done.
I don’t try to hurt the salesmen by teaching him a lesson about filling out forms. “That’ll teach you to fill out forms properly buddy!” This is the attitude of the these guys. They are out to prove they are better than you because they have authority and you don’t. Give me a break here.
I am not against these parking people who are doing their job. And people shouldn’t park where there is no parking. All I am saying is that it’s not a crime and the parking guys don’t need to act like it is. And I am a bit tense that they ENJOY giving the tickets. I don’t enjoy my job, so if it’s just a job, why get so much joy out of it?
In any case the show is still really fun to watch. People get super pissed off and there is always a yelling match. I love the conflict. Most of the time the parking guys are right in the sense that the meter did run out, they did park too far off the curb etc. But it’s still funny to see them get upset over it.
