Doing the right thing isn't easy

[milwaukeesportsfan]

Today at work I noticed that a co-worker had parked in a place that he should not have parked. He's done this before, and it hasn't really bothered me, but today he crossed the line and parked in a handicapped space. This aggrivated me on several levels. One, it's illegal, and he could have/should have gotten a $180.00 parking ticket. B, he knows better. And three, I did him a favor by letting him know he needs to move his car before I called the parking checker. Not to mention the fact that there are people out there who actually need to park in handicap accessible spots.

 

A little while later, I came inside the building, and I saw him standing outside the office. I asked him, in a very calm way, if he had moved his car. He looked at me like I was the bad guy and said, "What do you think?"

 

Here I am trying to do the right thing and let somebody who should definitely know better that he should not be pulling crap like this, and all I get is attitude. And that is not what is bugging me. What's bugging me is the fact that a few minutes later I took out my anger on somebody else, and he got mad at me, too. Now, I really feel like the bad guy.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is getting tougher and tougher to do what I feel is right when all I get is lip. Sometimes I feel like it would just be better to let it go. And that bugs me, too. I don't want to feel like that. Maybe I should just quit.

[IslandsAC]

What a crummy situation. The guy sounds like a complete schmuck. I'd say call him in for parking in the handicapped spot and don't think twice about it. You gave him a fair warning.

[homer]

The guy is a dink. Sometimes confrontation is difficult but you did the right thing. People that park in handicap spots should be publicly humiliated.....unless they are handicapped of course.

[SeriesFinale]

You should have just called it in rather than getting involved.

[BraunsBoyfriend]

To be frank, it's none of your business. You could call a parking checker but that's about where your involvement ends.

 

We have peoples whose jobs it is to check these things and write tickets. It's not your job to tell people you're calling the police because of where they are parked. And the fact that he's a coworker...could make for a bad work environment.

 

Sometimes you just have to let things go. We had a person at my work who parked like an idiot for awhile and we would joke about this person and everyone thought less of them because of this behavior.

 

If you feel like you really have to say something to this person, don't threaten them. Tell them how you feel about it and tell other workers, in a more or less light hearted manner about it. You need to have tact I guess is what I'm saying.

[milwaukeesportsfan]

What do you mean it's none of my business? It's my job to check on these types of things. I was doing him a favor letting him know he needed to move his car.

 

Who cares if everybody thinks he's an idiot? Being an idiot doesn't make it right.

[BraunsBoyfriend]

Well, if it's your job to check where people are parking and alerting them and then the police, then fine....I didn't know you were a parking checker. If it's "your job" (you're paid to do this) then you aren't doing the right thing. You're doing your job.

 

But it sounds like you're just another office drone and you were bothered by someone else and leveraged power on them or something. People generally don't like it when people approach them like this.

 

I was saying it's none of your business to tell people where to park. If you see someone parked illegally, then call the police. But it's not very tactful to go up to them and threaten to call the police because of where they're parked.

 

YOU end up looking like the jerk then.

 

If you feel the need to approach him then do it the right way.

 

You might be right but that doesn't mean the publics perception of you (your coworkers) will agree. I've worked in offices and know office culture well enough that most people would call you a trouble maker and an annoyance. Yeah, this guy was parked like a jerk no doubt. But most people would handle it differently if it bothered them by letting them know there are some really handicapped people who need it. Or passively by calling the police without letting anyone know.

 

But going up to a guy and saying you're going to call the cops if they don't move their car creates a confrontation. People don't like confrontations. And since everyone will see you creating a confrontation, you'll be labeled the jerk.

[pitchleague]

boy, I thought the original poster was pretty nice to tell the guy he should move his vehicle. It's a "I'm telling you now out of the goodness of my heart before somebody else DOES notice it and call the cops on you" kinda thing, to me.

 

I would think he'd look MORE like a jerk if he just called the cops without giving the guy a chance, because eventually the guy who gets ticketed will find out who called the cops on him and straining relations in the office.

[gypcasino]

I'm with SeriesFinale. Just call it in and be done with it. Obviously the guy knows he shouldn't be parking there and knows he's taking a chance of getting a huge fine and doesn't care. Pointing out the obvious to him just increases the chance of arguments and confrontation.

[aracko]

Just go punch the guy in the kisser. Then tell him that he is now allowed to park in the handicapped spot until he shakes the cobwebs.

[milwaukeesportsfan]

It's tough to say that just calling the cops is the right thing to do in my case because I rely so heavily on my coworkers and knowing that they got my back if things get dicey. I know that if somebody I thought I could count on did something like that when he could have just told me to move my car and I ended up getting a fat ticket, I would hold a grudge against that person. That's why I gave him a friendly heads up. When I asked him later on if he moved his car, a response I would have appreciated would be something along the lines of, "Yeah, I moved it. Sorry about that." His response of "What do you think" is rather childish, if you ask me.

[stoutdude04]

Funny that you said A, B, and three. On a side note, I like what you did. The guy needs someone to put him in his place. If he does it again, I wouldnt even confront him and call him in. I usually say something to people at wal-mart when they dont put there cart in the stall thing which is like 10 feet away. They usually look at me, some end up putting it away, some dont.

[jlau20]

A few years ago in high school we had alot of kids who, for whatever reason, felt it was cool or necessary to park like morons. Parking in handicap spaces, adding spaces to the end of rows, parking over yellow diagonal lines and making it difficult to get out of the lot sometimes, etc.

 

What irritates me most, is that there is no real reason to act like a tool and threaten the fabric of society by parking like you own the place. In a blizzard, when you can't see the lines, fine, I can see the parking situation getting dicey, but this sort of thing was happening on beautiful 70 degree days and even the farthest parking spot was no more than 150 yards from the door.

 

Of course, these people never got parking tickets, yet when I would have to pull around and park in the teacher's lot because people who didn't pay for a pass parked in the student lot, I got a ticket.

 

Blows my mind.

[gypcasino]

Anyone catch the recent episode of Penn & Teller's show on Showtime called Handicap Parking? Pretty interesting look at the Americans With Disabilities Act and what a bureaucratic nightmare it is with some people saying the disabled are worse off now than before the Act went into effect.

[COOOOP]

I think you did the right thing. The person parking in the handicapped spot knows he is doing something wrong, yet does it anyway. Maybe he was late, maybe he didn't think the rules apply to him. That doesn't change the fact that he parked in a handicapped slot. And its not like you said "DID YOU MOVE YOUR CAR FROM THE HANDICAPPED PARKING AREA YET?" You just asked him if he moved his car. The non-handicapped parking in handicapped spaces irks me on so many levels. And no, it is not my job to check parking. But I will call you on it if you do it in front of me. Why? Because I have empathy for the person that may need that spot, having a conscience doesn't hurt either. A lot of people do things when they think that people aren't looking. You are just reminding that little voice in their collective heads that they should be doing the right thing, not the wrong one.

[cweber39]

Call Terry Tate Office Linebacker.

[Crazyk1294]

I'm picturing the movie "Joe Somebody". This guy sounds like a douche. You were right for trying to do something about the situation. I would have just called the parking checker and had them give him a ticket. I don't see a reason to tell an adult that they shouldn't park in a Handicap spot. He knows better.

 

I'm sure this isn't the first or the last time that he will try to get away with this either. Karma, he'll get his. Just like the Cub fans.

[cottonheadlover]

I agree with braunsboyfriend, there are people whose job it is to check cars and ticket people. The guy deserved a ticket but you should have just told him you didn't think he should park there and made him feel guilty but calling the parking police is a little extreme. I don't see why people in wheelchairs should even get to park close it's not like they have to walk really far like non handicapped people do.

[Crazyk1294]

I don't see why people in wheelchairs should even get to park close it's not like they have to walk really far like non handicapped people do.

 

This is supposed to be in blue, right?

[cottonheadlover]

It was a joke but it wasn't sarcasm because it's true, so what color should that be? Red? Because it could make sensitive people mad?

[Schlitz001]

I could call up my Uncle Walt for you.......

 

JS Online aritcle on Uncle Walt

 

He says he gets an equal amount of resistance as shock when he issues these tickets, because people have been doing it for so long they just don't expect it.

[rluzinski]

Uncle Walt is awesome. Really, the ticket should be more than $288.

[FVBrewerFan]

There is nothing wrong with the way you handled it, but I understand it is ironic YOU felt awkward for doing what is right. You could certainly skip the step of talking to him, and just call the parking checker and/or the police.

 

This is actually a huge pet peave of mine. Not quite as bad as when I see I mother driving with her toddler on her lap. On several occasions I have confronted the offenders in both cases.

 

People parking in handicap spots just wreaks of laziness and entitlement. "There's 6 spaces here nobody is using!" Who cares, that's not the point!!! Move your car or I'll call the police and make sure I give them your license plate number (in case you leave before they get there.)

 

Quite honestly, as I've aged I speak out more often on all sorts of illegal and socially obnoxious behavior. I'm the guy at Miller Park who will tell the group of 20 year olds that there are kids around, stop saying the f word every other word, or I'll get security. The more we all speak out, the better our little piece of the wrold will be!

[sgtcluels]

I watched the Pen And Teller show. It was interesting. Obviously they were picking tid bits that supported their argument. But it was pretty eye opening to see how insanly easy it is to get a Disability Parking ticket, and just the amount of abuse that is going on. For instance having difficulty using a phone is an enabler for a disability tag. What the?

 

People who abuse something like that are just jerks, and they deserve whatever fine they get.

[slack00]

Schlitz,

 

Thanks for linking back to that article. It's a great read and I agree 100%. Whether it's ignorance, laziness, or just an inconsiderate person, they deserve that fine.

 

As far as the original poster, you shouldn't feel bad for speaking up as you did. If there were more people like you that cared about the little things, we'd all be happier.