Parking Wars

I discovered a new television show this morning that is playing on the A&E channel. It is called “Parking Wars”… after watching 2 or 3 back-to-back episodes this morning (they were playing 6 or 8 shows straight through this morning for whatever reason) I am hooked! This show is about the daily ups and downs in the life of a parking ticket writer, a meter maid, a tow truck driver, the “boot” installer, etc. What a concept for a reality show! Now some of you that have known me for a long time, remember that I used to work the parking patrol beat when I was a student at Georgia Tech… back in the good ol’ days of college… I was young and poor, fiercely loyal to my employer, a huge believer in the greater good and fast on my feet… everything one needed to possess to write parking tickets on a college campus that had 12,000+/- students and faculty and only about 8,000+/- parking spaces. Yes, it was a challenge to play student by morning and then be the parking enforcer by afternoon and night… I could write about so many episodes that I experienced in those 4 years that could fill an entire year of blogs… I was not liked by many, loved by a few, but supported by most… And loved every minute of it! I made about $5 an hour and got called every name in book along the way by quite a few parking law breakers… but it was well worth it. I wore my uniform proudly. I ducked every time a bottle was thrown at me. I ran for the hills successfully every time a football player chased me from his newly ticketed vehicle. I could slim-Jim just about any vehicle driven on campus with my eyes closed. I could install the boot on a car in about 45 seconds flat. And I ALWAYS finished a 5-hour shift with at least 50 tickets issued… Yes, I was KM-231 and every one either respected me or feared me. The campus police loved me and the athletes hated me. That was the best job I have EVER had in my entire adult life…. EVER.
So back to my original thoughts… Parking Wars is about the life of the parking officers and tow truck drivers on the streets of Philadelphia and each incident on that show takes me on another wonderful trip down memory lane…. Thanks, A&E.