# Nonsensical parking lot experience **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122 "2011-08-18T05:49:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/121 "2011-08-18T19:40:40Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Although, once back inside, more confrontation was certainly inevitable. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Is it really that difficult to go into a store and not talk to someone? All he had to do was go back in, pay for his stuff, and leave. There was nothing requiring him to confront her. It was in no way inevitable. All the lady had to do was pay for her stuff, too. She’s the one who couldn’t keep quiet. **Jamie** did. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/122 "2011-08-18T19:42:48Z")
Here **jamie** , try [this](http://www.parkingmobility.com/how-it-works/report-violations/)and your favorite charity may gain 20% of the fine. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/123 "2011-08-18T19:43:02Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Perhaps, but this thread isn’t about an _improperly displayed_ placard. It’s about a _non-displayed_ placard. Oh, well in that case, let me pull up Obama’s number out of my phone book. Improperly displayed card is nbd, but _non_-displayed… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/124 "2011-08-18T19:43:08Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > There actually **is** a special citizens-deputization program with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Dept that does exactly this. This program has been stalled and stagnating in the “concept” stages for a couple of years now, due to financial and economic factors. I have been trying to help get it going and would _ **love** _ to take part in such a program. Nothing would be more satisfactory to me. Well that’s great and I hope it gets going and things work out well for you. Also if you do get the program going don’t forget to call the A@E network to see if you can get on Parking Wars so I can watch you on TV. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/125 "2011-08-18T19:43:43Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Yes, we have non-emergency numbers, just nobody in their right mind would call to report a car that is possibly parked improperly. I don’t know how Canadia works, but if I called the cops in LA or Chicago over lack of a displayed handicapped permit, I would be laughed out of town, and rightfully so. I cannot even imagine calling the police with plate number in hand to report wrongful use of a parking space. Well, I know nothing about the police in either Chicago or LA, never having interacted with either group. However, the police here are very friendly on the non-emergency line. Now, admittedly, I’ve never called them for a car I thought was parked improperly so I can’t say how they would react, but I’ve called them for stuff that was way stupider (IMHO) and they were perfectly helpful and friendly. Really, if the choices are phone the police on the non-emergency line or confront people who could be loony, or cranky, or packing heat, the phone call seems superior in every way. Obviously doing absolutely nothing is also an option; however, it doesn’t sound like one the OP is willing to take. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/126 "2011-08-18T19:44:35Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > There actually **is** a special citizens-deputization program with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Dept that does exactly this. This program has been stalled and stagnating in the “concept” stages for a couple of years now, due to financial and economic factors. I have been trying to help get it going and would _ **love** _ to take part in such a program. Nothing would be more satisfactory to me. I think you probably belaboured the point a little longer than really necessary, but I do applaud your getting in people’s faces about the asshole things they do. Would you mind coming up here and policing our parking lots, too? People just do whatever they please and no one (being polite Canadians) ever calls them on it. > [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Bah - my city had two crappy murders last year. The cops need something to keep them busy. 😛 They could try enforcing a few laws around here, but they don’t really seem interested in that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/127 "2011-08-18T19:52:37Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > They could try enforcing a few laws around here, but they don’t really seem interested in that. 🙂 Oh I don’t know, I think they’re pretty good at handing out speeding tickets. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/128 "2011-08-18T19:53:09Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Your right, they don’t need to know, or care, _why_ the placard wasn’t displayed when the car was parked in handicapped only parking. They (the police) only are concerned with _ **if** _ the placard was displayed. So they (the mother and daughter parked in handicapped parking) **would** have been ticketed. Very probably. So why didn’t you call them, again? Look, I’m all for adults trying to resolve their differences without calling the cops. I hatehatehate when people’s first response to noise disorders, or an unmowed lawn or a dog outside is to call the cops, rather than to address the neighbor like a fellow adult and human being. But you did that, and it didn’t work, so the next stop isn’t to ask them again, it’s to call the cops. Chicago very definitely has a non-emergency number (several of them, 311 being the easiest to remember) and they’ll take a call like this in a professional manner. They may roll their eyes and “hey, guess what I just got” their coworkers when they hang up, but they’ll listen to you vent with due professionalism until they get you off the phone. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/129 "2011-08-18T20:00:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Kneejerk comment apologized for in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=620871), but since it started here, I apologize here also. hadn’t seen the other thread yet. thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/130 "2011-08-18T20:02:11Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Well, I know nothing about the police in either Chicago or LA, never having interacted with either group. However, the police here are very friendly on the non-emergency line. Now, admittedly, I’ve never called them for a car I thought was parked improperly so I can’t say how they would react, but I’ve called them for stuff that was way stupider (IMHO) and they were perfectly helpful and friendly. > > Really, if the choices are phone the police on the non-emergency line or confront people who could be loony, or cranky, or packing heat, the phone call seems superior in every way. Agreed. Lay the problem in the lap of the police, and let them decide how to handle it from there. They might dispatch an officer; or more likely, they’d get in touch with the mall cops and have them deal with the matter. Either way, it’s not your problem anymore, and you can go about your business safely. On a broader note, I’m sure that the police non-emergency line often fields calls from cranks and crackpots; so they know how to handle what is (to them) trivial and nonsensical, while allowing the caller to feel that the matter is being taken seriously. But at this point, it is the decision of the police as to what to do; it is no longer the caller’s. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/131 "2011-08-18T20:08:26Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Ughh. The audacity of idiotic assumptions… Wow, you really went there? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/132 "2011-08-18T20:11:58Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > People just do whatever they please and no one (being polite Canadians) ever calls them on it. Well, to refine that, in Alberta, it’s perfectly legal to park your pickup truck in two or more spaces in a parking lot. 😃 Just kidding, but it sure seems at times as if pickup truck drivers in this province think the above, since they’re so good at parking in two or more spaces simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/133 "2011-08-18T20:13:04Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > alice in wonderland suggested it, for one. Don’t make MOL catch a case up in this here thread. Whew. Someone understands “catch a case”. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/134 "2011-08-18T20:14:42Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Very probably. So why didn’t you call them, again? > > Look, I’m all for adults trying to resolve their differences without calling the cops. I hatehatehate when people’s first response to noise disorders, or an unmowed lawn or a dog outside is to call the cops, rather than to address the neighbor like a fellow adult and human being. But you did that, and it didn’t work, so the next stop isn’t to ask them again, it’s to call the cops. > > Chicago very definitely has a non-emergency number (several of them, 311 being the easiest to remember) and they’ll take a call like this in a professional manner. They may roll their eyes and “hey, guess what I just got” their coworkers when they hang up, but they’ll listen to you vent with due professionalism until they get you off the phone. Lmao! You’re joking, right? This is Flint, ma’am. They don’t even respond to most _ **murder** _ calls within 3 or 4 hours, _ **if** _ then. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/135 "2011-08-18T20:17:09Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > Wow, you really went there? Do you disagree? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/136 "2011-08-18T20:19:15Z")
> [@jali](#): > > Whew. Someone understands “catch a case”. What I found hilarious is that Rand Rover was the first to explain it in this thread. Rand Rover. That’s when you’re not cool, when Randy is explaining to you how the kids speak. I mean, not that you’re not cool, **LurkMeister** , because you are. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/137 "2011-08-18T20:22:14Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Although, once back inside, more confrontation was certainly inevitable. > [@Joey P](#): > > Is it really that difficult to go into a store and not talk to someone? All he had to do was go back in, pay for his stuff, and leave. There was nothing requiring him to confront her. It was in no way inevitable. > [@cochrane](#): > > All the lady had to do was pay for her stuff, too. She’s the one who couldn’t keep quiet. **Jamie** did. From the OP, Jamie spoke first outside, Jaime also spoke first inside. > [@](#): > > I go back inside to pay for my things and I encounter the young(ish) woman, whom I’m guessing was the older woman’s daughter and was abusing her placard (but that part is just my speculation). “Ma’am, you need to take your permit out and put it up when you park in the handicap spots.” “Why didn’t you do that?” She was standing by the cashier and she said, “Oh, will you please ring these up quick so I don’t catch me a case up in here?!” Um, okay, I’ll leave it at that. Geezus. Jamie could have just kept his mouth shut. A confrontation inside was _not_ inevitable. There was no reason for him to say anything to her inside (or outside for that matter). If Jaime hadn’t said anything, do you really thing the other lady would have? Or do you think she would have just finished what she was doing and left. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/138 "2011-08-18T20:28:42Z")
n/m I’m getting way too saucy. Bowing out now. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/139 "2011-08-18T20:31:52Z")
Mods?? Am I the only one who is getting the distinct impression that many in this thread are treating it as though it were a “Pit” thread? Enough with the personal shots, geez. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122/140 "2011-08-18T20:41:37Z")
Why isn’t “notify the property management” a reasonable response to seeing an improperly parked vehicle? It is literally the single most insignificant crime I can think of! Do you call the police for jaywalkers and people with a crack in their windshield or too much window tinting or people riding their bicycles on the sidewalk? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-parking-lot-experience/593122.md?page=8)