Tweet
This is a bit of a self-sighting that has been a long time brewing and myself along with others feel is completely justified...
A bit of background: I am at least an hour away from every place that I work at. The place in this story is an hour drive, but most are around 2-2.5 hours, so you can understand a bit about the frustrations a lot of us whom have to drive this distance tend to have towards the end. Many of us refer the parking office and their patrol as "parking nazi's", and for good reason. They are some of the biggest EWs I've ever had the displeasure to have dealt with. They are the same people who attempt vigorously to charge the people who are actually working the events at the arena for parking at the event rate (which I think is $8 or something like that) regardless of the fact that they are WORKING. Most of us think that the whole idea of having to pay the university who pays us in the first place to go to work is complete bullshit, but more on that later.
So I was on my way to work last week to do an arena show for some unknown band I've never heard of before. It occurred to me that I needed a new parking permit because this is my first time back to work at this arena in 5 months. This works out for me because the show is actually a later start than usual which means the parking office will actually be open for me to get a new pass. So I leave about 30 minutes early because the parking office is in the middle of campus from where the arena is and I generally like to be early anyway.
Unfortunately for me, I got pulled over on the way to work for speeding. See, I got a new car (2011 Ford Fiesta) which is a little more zippy than I'm use to being that I'm use to driving an F-150, so as I made a left turn at a stop light, I was going a little faster than I thought I was. That's the other thing... this car seems like it's going slower than it actually is. From my testing this theory on the highway, what feels and looks like 55 is actually around 70-75 where as in my truck, 55 feels and looks like 55 and 70 looks and feels like 70. Anyway, I was pulled over for doing 52 in a 35 and the cop was awesome and didn't give me any points on my spotless driving record. However, I did get a fine of over $100 for not signing my registration card?
Oh well, no points, so I'm happy. Though would have been happier not being pulled over in the first place. heh
Needless to say, that put me in a bad mood because it's bill week and my boss had yet to pay me from work I did 3 weeks previous, so I was even more stressed out than before, but I was still on time. I did text my boss to let him know what was going on so if I was late, he wouldn't freak out and start calling frantically.
Cue pulling into the parking office lot, which instantly irritated me in the first place because, well, I hate the parking people with deep dark passion. Actually, I hate the university for having the most back asswards parking system in the world, but I do sometimes take it out on the parking employees because A: I know they take a lot of crap from students because, well, I've seen more students parking like morons and then argue about it than I care to think about, however, I AM NOT A STUDENT, DO NOT TREAT ME LIKE ONE! and B: They have a completely power crazy attitude thinking that they are the overlords of the parking spaces and that everyone will bow to their will, which I've had the conversation several times which goes something like this:
(Scene: night of the show, I'm driving in for load out and they are still collecting event parking money)
Me: I'm working the show *flashes backstage passes*
Parking: $8 please
Me: Umm, no. I am here to WORK THE SHOW. *jingles backstage passes*
Parking: You need to pay to park.
Me: I am not going to pay you event costs to go to work.
Parking: Well you need to pay to get into the lot. There is a show going on.
Me: No shit? Really? A show you say? And who is going to take this show down at the end of the night? That's right, ME! Now get out of my way so I can park and go to work, please.
Parking: Well I can't let you in unless you pay.
Me: Hold on a second... *pulls out phone and presses button* I'm going to call *bosses name* who is the production director of the building and you can tell him that I'm turning around and going home because you're a fucking moron and trying to charge me to park for an event I'm here to work for.
Parking: Err... *pauses* Go through.
This has happened about 6 times that I can think of off the top of my head. It doesn't happen so much anymore because my boss has called the parking offices and bitched them out quite a bit the past few years. His job is very high stress and he doesn't handle stress very well. Needless to say, while he can't seem to get us permanent parking for free yet, he has cleared out a lot of the crap they use to pull with us, though there are occasions where we have come out and all our cars are ticketed because it's after 2am and they ticket people after that time on the parking lot on normal days.
So I walk into the parking office and tell them I need a pass for the arena lot for a month. She starts clicking away at the keyboard while informing me the price will be going up next month (let me act surprised.... nope, can't do it). I remember that I left my University ID in the car, so call my wife, whom also works with me, to bring it in because she holds on to it because she clocks me in when we get to work while I get other things done, so I never have my ID anyway. She asks for the license plate on the vehicle and I tell her it's in the computer since I was just in a few days ago for another show in a parking garage at the theater. She informs me that the computer doesn't store the license plate numbers. Bullshit. In fact, every time I rattled off my plate number to them when I had the truck, they always answered: Black F-150? So, being that it's a new car and I've not memorized the plates, I start looking for the picture I took with my phone the previous week of the plate.
While I was standing there scrolling through pictures trying to find it, she makes the comment in that condescending "I'm talking down to you like you're a student and dumber than a box of rocks; bow to your parking gods" tone that "you need to have your university ID and you should always have your plate numbers ready before you come to get your parking permit."
Oh. No. You. Didn't.
That was the straw that broke the camels back. I looked up and I said, "You know, the problem is that this universities parking system is so absolutely god damned retarded that it screws those of us who have to travel. You expect us to drive over an hour on an off day to pick up a parking pass because your office isn't open when we start working on show days because this university is too stupid to offer an alternate way to pay for a parking like every other university in the country is doing, then have the nerve to do things like ticket us because we don't have your god damn passes on show days...
At that point, my wife stopped me because I guess she knows I was getting really angry at that point and from the morning we were already having, probably wasn't a wise idea to let me continue because I probably would have gone into full blown yelling at that point. So I snatched up my pass and left.
Yah, I was probably a SC there, but I hate people talking down to me just about as much as I hate the stupid parking system at that place. It's the only venue we do that is this difficult. Other universities have great systems setup, but this one, which mind you, this is one of the biggest universities in the country, can't seem to get anything right. I think the bigger issue is that the university tries to get as much money out of people as possible, regardless of who they are or why they're there. I don't think I'd mind it as much if this were a daily job, but we're there maybe 1-3 times a month at best.
A bit of background: I am at least an hour away from every place that I work at. The place in this story is an hour drive, but most are around 2-2.5 hours, so you can understand a bit about the frustrations a lot of us whom have to drive this distance tend to have towards the end. Many of us refer the parking office and their patrol as "parking nazi's", and for good reason. They are some of the biggest EWs I've ever had the displeasure to have dealt with. They are the same people who attempt vigorously to charge the people who are actually working the events at the arena for parking at the event rate (which I think is $8 or something like that) regardless of the fact that they are WORKING. Most of us think that the whole idea of having to pay the university who pays us in the first place to go to work is complete bullshit, but more on that later.
So I was on my way to work last week to do an arena show for some unknown band I've never heard of before. It occurred to me that I needed a new parking permit because this is my first time back to work at this arena in 5 months. This works out for me because the show is actually a later start than usual which means the parking office will actually be open for me to get a new pass. So I leave about 30 minutes early because the parking office is in the middle of campus from where the arena is and I generally like to be early anyway.
Unfortunately for me, I got pulled over on the way to work for speeding. See, I got a new car (2011 Ford Fiesta) which is a little more zippy than I'm use to being that I'm use to driving an F-150, so as I made a left turn at a stop light, I was going a little faster than I thought I was. That's the other thing... this car seems like it's going slower than it actually is. From my testing this theory on the highway, what feels and looks like 55 is actually around 70-75 where as in my truck, 55 feels and looks like 55 and 70 looks and feels like 70. Anyway, I was pulled over for doing 52 in a 35 and the cop was awesome and didn't give me any points on my spotless driving record. However, I did get a fine of over $100 for not signing my registration card?
Oh well, no points, so I'm happy. Though would have been happier not being pulled over in the first place. hehNeedless to say, that put me in a bad mood because it's bill week and my boss had yet to pay me from work I did 3 weeks previous, so I was even more stressed out than before, but I was still on time. I did text my boss to let him know what was going on so if I was late, he wouldn't freak out and start calling frantically.
Cue pulling into the parking office lot, which instantly irritated me in the first place because, well, I hate the parking people with deep dark passion. Actually, I hate the university for having the most back asswards parking system in the world, but I do sometimes take it out on the parking employees because A: I know they take a lot of crap from students because, well, I've seen more students parking like morons and then argue about it than I care to think about, however, I AM NOT A STUDENT, DO NOT TREAT ME LIKE ONE! and B: They have a completely power crazy attitude thinking that they are the overlords of the parking spaces and that everyone will bow to their will, which I've had the conversation several times which goes something like this:
(Scene: night of the show, I'm driving in for load out and they are still collecting event parking money)
Me: I'm working the show *flashes backstage passes*
Parking: $8 please
Me: Umm, no. I am here to WORK THE SHOW. *jingles backstage passes*
Parking: You need to pay to park.
Me: I am not going to pay you event costs to go to work.
Parking: Well you need to pay to get into the lot. There is a show going on.
Me: No shit? Really? A show you say? And who is going to take this show down at the end of the night? That's right, ME! Now get out of my way so I can park and go to work, please.
Parking: Well I can't let you in unless you pay.
Me: Hold on a second... *pulls out phone and presses button* I'm going to call *bosses name* who is the production director of the building and you can tell him that I'm turning around and going home because you're a fucking moron and trying to charge me to park for an event I'm here to work for.
Parking: Err... *pauses* Go through.
This has happened about 6 times that I can think of off the top of my head. It doesn't happen so much anymore because my boss has called the parking offices and bitched them out quite a bit the past few years. His job is very high stress and he doesn't handle stress very well. Needless to say, while he can't seem to get us permanent parking for free yet, he has cleared out a lot of the crap they use to pull with us, though there are occasions where we have come out and all our cars are ticketed because it's after 2am and they ticket people after that time on the parking lot on normal days.
So I walk into the parking office and tell them I need a pass for the arena lot for a month. She starts clicking away at the keyboard while informing me the price will be going up next month (let me act surprised.... nope, can't do it). I remember that I left my University ID in the car, so call my wife, whom also works with me, to bring it in because she holds on to it because she clocks me in when we get to work while I get other things done, so I never have my ID anyway. She asks for the license plate on the vehicle and I tell her it's in the computer since I was just in a few days ago for another show in a parking garage at the theater. She informs me that the computer doesn't store the license plate numbers. Bullshit. In fact, every time I rattled off my plate number to them when I had the truck, they always answered: Black F-150? So, being that it's a new car and I've not memorized the plates, I start looking for the picture I took with my phone the previous week of the plate.
While I was standing there scrolling through pictures trying to find it, she makes the comment in that condescending "I'm talking down to you like you're a student and dumber than a box of rocks; bow to your parking gods" tone that "you need to have your university ID and you should always have your plate numbers ready before you come to get your parking permit."
Oh. No. You. Didn't.
That was the straw that broke the camels back. I looked up and I said, "You know, the problem is that this universities parking system is so absolutely god damned retarded that it screws those of us who have to travel. You expect us to drive over an hour on an off day to pick up a parking pass because your office isn't open when we start working on show days because this university is too stupid to offer an alternate way to pay for a parking like every other university in the country is doing, then have the nerve to do things like ticket us because we don't have your god damn passes on show days...
At that point, my wife stopped me because I guess she knows I was getting really angry at that point and from the morning we were already having, probably wasn't a wise idea to let me continue because I probably would have gone into full blown yelling at that point. So I snatched up my pass and left.
Yah, I was probably a SC there, but I hate people talking down to me just about as much as I hate the stupid parking system at that place. It's the only venue we do that is this difficult. Other universities have great systems setup, but this one, which mind you, this is one of the biggest universities in the country, can't seem to get anything right. I think the bigger issue is that the university tries to get as much money out of people as possible, regardless of who they are or why they're there. I don't think I'd mind it as much if this were a daily job, but we're there maybe 1-3 times a month at best.
When I say hunting permit, I actually mean a parking permit. That's what I call parking permits: they give you permission to park, with no guarantee you'll actually find a space.
Comment