Josh's Updates: Pet Peeve or jealousy?

Do you ever get upset that someone always breaks the rules and does not respect authority? There are lots of people out there and Josh has a bone to pick...

I work in a building that has over 20 stories. Attached to this office complex is a parking structure that is ample enough to always find a spot. Keep in mind that the employees that work in this office complex must pay money to park here. In exchange for parking fees, you will receive a gate transponder that opens the gate each time you enter and/or leave the structure.

To the immediate exterior of the parking entrance is a loading zone for delivery trucks that supply our center of commerce and businesses with the daily supplies that are required to accomplish our goals and establish validity for our employment.

This loading zone is limited to delivery only and vehicles, by law, may only be unattended for 20 minutes. So basically, it a 20 minute loading zone. Signs specifically say "20 minute Loading Zone, violators will be towed at owners expense." This is not hard to understand because the men and women who drive big-rigs need to unload large cargo from their trucks and haul it up to their respective destinations.

There is an office called Irvine Plaza Copy located on the first floor. The employee entrance is not far from this loading zone. We are talking about 10 feet from their door. Because of the close proximity, a majority of their employees use this parking lot as their personal parking spaces, completely disregarding the rules and regulations set forth by the complex and local law. There are specifically 3 guys that park in this loading zone ALL DAY. 1 guy drives a dark blue Saturn with license plate "NHRA KID". This is such a clusterf*** in the first place because anyone who is true to the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) would not, in their right mind, drive a Saturn. Of all the muscle cars out on the market nowadays, foreign or domestic, this NHRA KID chooses a Saturn. I thought only women drive these cars. No masculinity available for this type of vehicle. Sorry...

The 2nd guy drives a black Ford Ranger pickup with mud tires. The back of his window has a sticker that says, "Got Mud?". This is another poser. I have never ever seen this truck contain one spec of mud or off-roading characteristics. This is another peeve that I have with California natives. They will take a truck or SUV and add a 4-12 inch lift kit to make the truck nearly impossible to climb into. Then they will purchase very nice looking rims with the largest set of tires you have ever seen. But yet, all of these owners would never dare to take these vehicles off-road! What is the purpose?!? Is it because they dont want to get their expensive trucks all dirty? Why spend $10K on accessories and 4WD modifications if you will only drive on freeways and never fully utilize what you have purchased? Ok, next guy...

The 3rd also works for this Plaza Copy place. He drives an older 80's model Toyota. Could be a Honda. not sure here. He is another one that parks here all day along with the other 2 outlaws.

I have reported these guys to security tons of times mostly because UPS, FedEx, USPS, and others need this space to back up their trucks to unload. Since these outlaws park there, the delivery men/women have troubles navigating their large vehicles in and out of the loading zone. Secondly, these outlaws cause the delivery people to park much further away from the loading zone, making their jobs much more difficult.

It gives me the same feeling as when you parallel park and the idiots in front and behind you, box your car completely in. Believe me, this happened alot in Chicago when Nicole & I lived on Irving Park road by Wrigley.

When I had reported to security that the delivery trucks where not able to deliver due to these lazy slackers parking where they should not, some of the security would actually ticket them sometimes. I remember one security guard (who was originally from Starving Rock, IL!) ticketed the NHRA KID every 20 minutes that went by. The guy finally came out to go to lunch and found 6 tickets on his windshield. Mathematically, the NHRA KID had parked there for around 2 hours without moving his hot rod Saturn. NHRA KID was screaming at the security guard, explaining that he was on a phone call that lasted 40 minutes. Thats horse puckey! This guy always parks there from 8 - 5. Unfortunately, I never saw the security guard after that day. Was he fired? I hope not. Just when I finally met a man with integrity and felt that there should be some order.

Still to this day, these guys park here all the time. Am I jealous because they dont pay for parking like I do? Or because they got the best spot in the entire complex? No! Will I take advantage of this free-for-all parking? Not likely. If I did, I would probably be the one who gets towed. But most importantly, I would not park there out of the consideration for the hard working men and women who drive the delivery trucks and haul our packages across the country. Yea they may drive slow but they are the ones who deliver the care packages from our families. Who may deliver our paychecks. Who keep our local coffee shop stocked with Columbian Coffee. I also would not park here simply because we are not supposed to. Read the signs. They were put up there for this very reason... "don't cheat your way through life" or life might cheat on you. Or you, yourself will be towed away...