Parking Wars

I hate being an enforcer. It goes against my nature in a couple of ways.

First, people should know better, right? There shouldn't be a need for enforcement-people know what's expected of them and they shouldn't need fear of punishment to do what's right. Now, that's a nice thought but I'm not that hopelessly naive or optimistic about human nature. It's much more likely that the reverse is true. People know what's expected, but they'll do exactly what they figure they can get away with, regardless of anyone else affected by their actions.

And I am generally a rules and law abiding person. I dislike rules and such that are blindingly obvious-don't like having my intelligence insulted or my morals questioned. :D I'm also not above bending or breaking regulations that either don't make sense to me or I'm willing to accept the consequences of forgoing (like Prin and her speeding ticket-the justified one-if I get busted, it's a fair cop and I won't dispute that I was in the wrong). I do like to make up my own mind about things, and I expect that others do, too. I still expect them to be considerate in their choices. I can't stand a drunk driver that tries to justify their behaviour by saying that they'll only hurt themself (bullshit!) or that they are willing to take their lumps if they get caught. Taking responsibility for your own actions, by definition, requires that you make responsible decisions, right?

I hate being a tattle-tale or a snitch, too. Blech! That's a hold-over from childhood. No one wanted to be the rat.

All that said, I find myself needing to be the parking police. :( For some reason, there is a person that insists on using one of my two store spots to park in. She lives in one of the apartments upstairs and her assigned spot is much farther away from the back steps than my spots are. Well, tough! All of the tenant spots are farther away than the merchant's spots. Merchants pay higher rent. Rank Hath Its Privileges, after all!

I do understand that the weather stinks, and it would be tempting to park in the best spot to avoid as much snow and ice as possible. I also could care less if she did so after hours. What do I care then? While the store is open, though, I need that spot for my customers. Especially the older or handicapped ones. They truly need to park closer. The annoying parker does not. She is hale and healthy-apparently just lazy.

She's even hovered around in the lot, waiting for me to leave. That tells me that she knows who I am and that she shouldn't be parking where she does. That's even more irritating. She avoids me, so that I can't say anything directly to her.

Well, tickets speak louder than words anyhow, right? Apparently, the price of a ticket is worth it for her to park in that spot. ARRRRRGGGHHHH! I finally left a note on her car, pointing out that my customers are complaining and I was about to go to a daily ticket plus a complaint to the landlord about it.

So now she parks in her own spot.

I won, but I won by being a bully. I don't really think that this is a victory. Not only did I fail to get her to do the right thing willingly, but I sank down to her level to get rid of her. I had to find my own lesser nature to deal with her.

If you need me, I'll be looking for some anthills to kick over or some little kids with milk money I can steal from them.