# "Parking Wars" on A&E **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552 "2008-01-30T04:48:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/1 "2008-01-30T04:48:42Z")
Oh. Ma. Gawd. You have never seen a more wretched hive of entitlement and idiocy. It’s half an hour of pure _schadenfreude_. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/2 "2008-01-30T05:37:34Z")
I thought it was amusing, among other things. In the Reunited clip on their website, I was laughing my ass off at the people talking to their cars. One lady said, “You gotta talk to your cars like your pets. They understand.” Waaahh? :smack: And the pink lowrider truck? That was hysterical! The sad part is how poorly people behave when they’re getting a parking ticket. I see it everyday outside my office downtown. Um, there are signs people. Yeah, tickets suck, but come on, now. Those people are just doing their jobs. Have some class. And the ingrates that pulled down a narrow street while the tow-truck, blocking the entire street, was loading up a car and honking as if they’re gonna actually stop what they’re doing to move for traffic? Those people are Grade A dumb. But I laughed when Garfield says that when they do that he “just goes slower and slower.” I’m not sure how much slower you can stand around watching a tow-truck operator load up a car, but okay. Funny stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/3 "2008-01-30T07:12:55Z")
I don’t know how the PA officers keep their composure so well with all those entitled assholes screaming at them all the time. I do not have a long enough fuse to be able to do a job like that. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/4 "2008-01-30T13:27:51Z")
What I don’t understand is how any of these people can view this as anything other than _their own damn fault_! And yet they throw a tantrum and claim the sky is falling and the world is ending. Usually over a $20 ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/5 "2008-01-30T14:15:34Z")
Have you ever been in Philadelphia? I have only been there a few times and driving around, the thing that is most screwed about that city is PARKING, or the complete lack thereof to be more precise. If there is a space that could be covered by a pack of gum, there are two cars parked there. [Here is a painting of parking conditions in Philly.](http://www.tyukanov.com/gallery/Paintings/uprising-of-sausages-and-hot-dogs.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Runestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@Runestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runestar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/6 "2008-01-30T16:00:00Z")
I’ve only watched bits and pieces of the show - mostly because I want to smack the people who are being such asses and screaming at the PA folks. They’re just doing their job people, don’t keep trying to shoot the messenger. Actually, I watch it mainly because most of the action takes place in the Center City part of Philadelphia, which is where I grew up (and where my parents still live). I like seeing the old stomping grounds on the television 🙂 “Hey, it’s Rittenhouse Square!” “That’s the Apple store at 22nd and Walnut”. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/7 "2008-01-30T16:10:50Z")
I’ve seen two episodes as timekillers before something I really wanted to watch came on. “Meh” is about the nicest thing I can say. I just don’t find people screaming about parking tickets to be terribly compelling television. Although I was amused when some guy behind a counter asked a lesbian couple what film they’d just seen and they told him [Itty Bitty Titty Committee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itty_Bitty_Titty_Committee) and he all-but salivated at the thought of it. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/8 "2008-01-30T16:42:19Z")
[QUOTE=Runestar] …I watch it mainly because most of the action takes place in the Center City part of Philadelphia, which is where I grew up … “That’s the Apple store at 22nd and Walnut”. Heh. [/QUOTE] I never say this, but I think I feel old now that there are people who grew up near Apple Stores. I had to walk uphill both ways to CompUSA for my ADB one-buttoned mice, and _I liked it_! I kinda like Parking Wars, mostly because my rage burns with hellfire at people who are shitty parkers (being in San Francisco). I refuse to ever double-park except directly in front of my door, which is on a quiet side street. I never park in bus stops or lanes or fire hydrants or taking up two spaces, and I wish a painful death upon all those who do. ---
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/9 "2008-01-30T16:46:09Z")
If parking tickets in philly are only $20 I’m moving there. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/10 "2008-01-30T19:29:21Z")
I think the silliness of it all would be a form of amusement for the parking ticket people. Like badge wearing Grim Reapers they stalk the land condemning forever the lives of the innocent. The fine is so low, the people are so guilty yet the frustration and anger is so intense, I think it lowers my blood pressure just watching…no way do I ever want to be that tightly wound. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/11 "2008-01-30T19:41:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] I think the silliness of it all would be a form of amusement for the parking ticket people. Like badge wearing Grim Reapers they stalk the land condemning forever the lives of the innocent. The fine is so low, the people are so guilty yet the frustration and anger is so intense, I think it lowers my blood pressure just watching…no way do I ever want to be that tightly wound. [/QUOTE] There’s only one [badge-wearing grim reaper](http://www.deadlikeme.tv/characters.php) that I know of. Her name’s Roxy. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/12 "2008-01-30T19:50:20Z")
From a 1993 NYT article > [@](#): > > Beyond the motorists who turn ugly or violent, traffic agents are alarmed by what they see as a broader public perception – expressed only half in jest – that they are fair game. A New York Post cartoon last year showed an agent flattened against a car’s grille, with the caption “Motorist’s Fantasy.” A recent editorial in a Queens neighborhood newspaper seemed to condone violence against traffic agents. Similarly, news accounts of attacks on agents routinely ignite readers’ letters in support of the attackers. > > Still another example is the almost annual failure of a bill in the Legislature to stiffen sentences for those convicted of assaulting agents to the same as those for attackers of sanitation workers, dog wardens, toll takers and park rangers. > > The defeated legislation would have made assaulting an agent – now generally a misdemeanor, like any other simple assault case – a felony and set a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. Currently, said Edward W. Luczynski, an assistant commissioner, “assaulting an agent is usually about the same as a traffic violation,” usually resulting in a fine of $300 or less. > > [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D6153CF937A1575AC0A965958260&scp=2&sq=assault+parking+ticket+legislation&st=nyt](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D6153CF937A1575AC0A965958260&scp=2&sq=assault+parking+ticket+legislation&st=nyt) People seem to think they have the right to attack traffic agents. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/13 "2008-01-30T19:52:58Z")
Calling out to him: _“Meter Maid… oh Meter Maid!”_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Runestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@Runestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runestar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/14 "2008-01-30T20:14:05Z")
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] I never say this, but I think I feel old now that there are people who grew up near Apple Stores. I had to walk uphill both ways to CompUSA for my ADB one-buttoned mice, and _I liked it_! [/QUOTE] The Apple store wasn’t there when I was growing up, but it’s there now. I moved away 22 years ago, but my parents still live in the area, and I’ve walked past the store a few times; that’s why I recognized it. Feel better now? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/15 "2008-01-30T20:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=ethelbert] …People seem to think they have the right to attack traffic agents. [/QUOTE] Unfortunately, it’ll probably take a PA staffer’s death or serious injury before the law changes. Parking-enforcement officers are like IRS agents - the government officials “everyone” loves to hate, despite their indispensability. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-wars-on-a-e/435552/16 "2008-01-30T20:49:32Z")
Are traffice agents armed with any kind of defensive equipment? I know they don’t carry pistols, but do they have pepper spray or mace or a board with a nail in it?