My tax dollars at work...
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:37 am
OK, so it’s Monday morning rush-hour in Downtown Houston. I’m running south on Caroline at 7:50am expecting to turn east at McKinney. Well, I’m moseying on over to the left lane after crossing Rusk when I notice a mid-90’s burgundy Ford Taurus stop and double park in the number 2 lane (second from the left) about 30ft south of the Walker intersection on Caroline. The left (number 1) lane is blocked with cargo traffic (two pickup trucks) waiting to use the loading docks at the Fulbright building.
By the time I stopped behind traffic waiting at the at Walker traffic light, I noticed an exceptionally large, yet short, woman get out of the Taurus wearing a parking enforcement uniform. This woman had to have weighed in excess of 400lbs, because the Taurus literally righted itself and sprang upward about three inches after the woman stepped out of the car. I’m a big guy, my wife used to own a Taurus, and the car never did that when I drove it. So, I know this woman had to have weighed more than me.
Anyway, when the traffic light changed, several drivers and I were forced to stop in the intersection and allow traffic in the number 3 lane to pass before we could maneuver around the double-parked, parking enforcement officer’s car. While waiting for traffic to pass, I watched as this officer waddled down the street toward the front of the second truck to which she planned to issue a citation. She seemed to break a sweat just reaching up to put the ticket under the passenger-side windshield wiper of the first truck.
Now, I must say that I wasn’t bothered by the fact she was issuing citations to vehicles that were illegally parked and blocking rush-hour traffic. That’s fine and it’s the job she was hired to do. What bothered me was the fact she made matter worse by not using the available space to park BEHIND the vehicles she was citing for parking violations. Doing so would have significantly reduced the risk of a traffic accident and would not have unnecessarily impeded traffic. Of course, the downside for her is that doing so might not have allowed the quick get away she needed to escape the irate truck drivers I saw when circled around hoping to get a picture of this cow blocking traffic.
By the time I stopped behind traffic waiting at the at Walker traffic light, I noticed an exceptionally large, yet short, woman get out of the Taurus wearing a parking enforcement uniform. This woman had to have weighed in excess of 400lbs, because the Taurus literally righted itself and sprang upward about three inches after the woman stepped out of the car. I’m a big guy, my wife used to own a Taurus, and the car never did that when I drove it. So, I know this woman had to have weighed more than me.
Anyway, when the traffic light changed, several drivers and I were forced to stop in the intersection and allow traffic in the number 3 lane to pass before we could maneuver around the double-parked, parking enforcement officer’s car. While waiting for traffic to pass, I watched as this officer waddled down the street toward the front of the second truck to which she planned to issue a citation. She seemed to break a sweat just reaching up to put the ticket under the passenger-side windshield wiper of the first truck.
Now, I must say that I wasn’t bothered by the fact she was issuing citations to vehicles that were illegally parked and blocking rush-hour traffic. That’s fine and it’s the job she was hired to do. What bothered me was the fact she made matter worse by not using the available space to park BEHIND the vehicles she was citing for parking violations. Doing so would have significantly reduced the risk of a traffic accident and would not have unnecessarily impeded traffic. Of course, the downside for her is that doing so might not have allowed the quick get away she needed to escape the irate truck drivers I saw when circled around hoping to get a picture of this cow blocking traffic.
