See spot. Parking spot!!

So, today is the last class day of the semester :) AMEN!!! I had enough days present in lecture to exempt me from the final, so I don't have to stress over studying the material from the whole semester! It'll be nice to not worry about it over the weekend.

The topic today? Parrrrking. Ah, I got the idea from yesterday's Kidd Kraddick in the Morning show on KISS FM. Don't you hate it when you're waiting for a parking spot, and someone jumps in in front of you and swings into that spot? I find it rather annoying!

What I find funny about parking is the disparity in quality & cost of parking at the TCC campus and the UTA campus. You see, at TCC, parking is free, and your pass lasts 2 years. I very, very rarely have problems parking. In fact, I usually find a spot almost right away. In contrast, at UTA, I pay $112.50 for a one year parking pass, and sometimes even MISS CLASS because the parking is so awful. Sometimes, I even parked illegally in desperation to save my grades. That's pitiful, that the campus that gets more revenue from parking has such a horrible parking problem, while the campus without that same revenue has great parking.

In fact, at UTA it's kind of funny, almost a predatory game to find parking. Here's the method- you watch for a student to walk into the parking lot. The first person to fall behind that student usually gets the spot. At peak times, when classes usually release (20 after & 10 til), it can get really intense. Some people go so far as to offer the departing student a ride to their car (so they're guaranteed to get the spot).

I've never given a ride, but I admit to slowly driving behind students while they're walking to their car. I hate when people do that to me, and I kinda get a kick out of walking slowly to see who is patient enough to defend that spot. Who is desperate enough? Besides, I have nowhere to go, so no hurry! It's hilarious how far people will go to get that precious spot- remember, though, that we've paid $112.50 for those few available spots.

I've been very angry about this, because not only is the parking situation shameful, but they keep knocking out student lots to make them faculty, or destroying them altogether to build a second special events building (for sporting events and such). Why?? We already have one!! We need the parking more!!

To make matters worse, they've just built a second building for the Engineering students. Again, WHY?? My tuition money is going into a building I'll get nothing out of. Even better, they didn't add more parking for that new building, so the already packed, tiny social work lot will see a significant influx of engineering students who want close parking too. Social work parking will be destroyed starting in January. What a SHAME!! They're talking about building another garage- to which, of course, the admission will be outrageous. Hardly anyone uses the already existing garage simply because of the expense.

Typically, I don't get overly angry over losing a parking spot unless I've been waiting and missing class. Even then, I typically don't SHOW anger, except for maybe using a few choice words. Sometimes, people try to get a rise out of me, but it doesn't work very well! However, I've seen people get too angry, even aggressive, over parking, which doesn't help.

So, to wrap up, I just kinda wanna laugh over the way parking is created and maintained, and especially the hawk-like behavior of people looking for a spot. You may feel victorious over finding a spot right away, but remember the people who have been waiting. Doesn't mean you should give up the spot, but at least use common courtesy (even in desperate times), and don't steal spots. Since it's a really important time of year for retail, I think this is a rational suggestion, and hopefully it'll spark some thought in those who really want to think about others and use respect.

Auf weidersehen!