Was It Worth It?

The director at my company owned a white Humvee that I swear could double as an ocean liner on wheels. The monstrosity barely fit in a parking spot, and it was lifted to a degree that it just barely fell short of needing an elevator or a sizeable ladder to get in. What she was compensating for, I’ll never know.

The director felt that she deserved a close parking spot because of her job title.

She used the visitor parking spaces for a while because they were “more convenient” than the employee parking. Keep in mind that the employee parking is close to an Employee-Only door with an employee badge access scanner. Not only would this get her in quickly, but she would be close to the staff area where her locker was located. No matter the weather, she would have a spot close by. By parking in visitor parking, she had to come in the front door and walk halfway across the building to put her things away.

The higher-ups got on her case for taking up visitor parking, and after a small tantrum, she started parking in a new, even more inappropriate spot. If you guessed it was the disability-accessible parking, you’re very close! Since parking in an accessible spot would get her a ticket, she parked next to the accessible spot… in the “crosshatch” area. Yep. You can get a ticket for parking in an accessible spot but not, apparently, in the parking stripes next to accessible parking spots! Right? Right?

Wrong.

She was soon screeching about getting ticketed and was gobsmacked that no one sympathized with her.

A company-wide email “reminder” from the vice president directed at “all staff” reminded everyone not to park in areas not designated specifically to employees, under threat of being ticketed or towed. In professional language, the message was, “If you’re stupid enough to illegally park, you deserve what you get.”

Of course, the director got another ticket for doing the same thing, and the third time, she got towed. She threw a tantrum and ultimately got fired. 

She was breaking company policy and violating state law by interfering with an accessible spot. So, not only does she have to pay for the tickets, but she’s jobless, too. A cushy paycheck was ripped from her hands because she felt entitled to a special “parking spot”.