Reality is in the mind of the observer

Watching Parking Wars left me dumbfounded, because I could not comprehend why so many people were getting so angry with the Parking Authority Officer for giving them a parking ticket. The officer was simply doing their job, and the driver was clearly in the wrong the majority of the time. Yes, the officers did/do make mistakes, they are, after all, human. However, the majority of the time, they were/are spot-on.

What is happening is a matter of someone parking their car, and either they are not paying attention to the signs, they see the signs but either don’t understand them, or they do not care about following the law, or, and this is my favorite, they see the signs, but seem to believe that they are special or are only going to be a minute, so the law doesn’t apply to them. For example, on one episode, there was a woman who was livid because she received a ticket for parking next to a fire hydrant. Part of her argument was, “There is no sign!”, uh… seriously?  That is just one example of the brilliant repartee that takes place on this show.  The excuses and attitudes are comical yet sad.

Now, one might think that a lot of the footage in a show about parking tickets would be people acting out for the cameras, but since we’ve moved to our new location, I’ve seen it happen, two or three times now. In front of our building is a loading zone, mainly there for the residents of our building. There are two signs that clearly state that it is never a parking spot for anyone, other than someone with a handicap placard. People park there to run into one of the shops along the street, often.  I’ve seen them argue with the officers about only being in the store
for a minute, and that it is unfair that they are being given a ticket. So, sadly, this stuff is real.

Let’s talk about the pawn store show. Again, I am completely blown away by the attitudes people have when they go in to this place. They take in stuff that, oftentimes, is obviously crap, demand, (yes I said demand as a good portion of
the customers do not ask for a specific amount) then start acting like a two year-old child when the agent will not give them the amount they expect to receive. Name calling, tantrum throwing, refusing to leave the store, and/or threatening people because things are not going their way?

Since this is behavior that I have not actually witnessed, I can only hope that this is the behavior of misinformed people, who believe that getting on TV by any means they can, is a good thing.

I realize that we see the footage that the producers put together, and it is possible things are missing. It is possible that they really don’t care how they appear to others, and I am certainly not here to judge them, as I am positive there have been times I have responded in a fashion that I would not be so proud of if it were recorded. Regardless, they are the ones that have to live with the results of their actions, not me. It does, however, make me fear for future generations if this is how so many people are acting these days. I know I’ve talked about entitlement issues before, and it would appear that reality shows are really showcasing these issues, making them appear to be more widespread than I had originally thought. So maybe entitlement isn’t just an issue with the younger generations; maybe it is simply human nature… something I will definitely have to ponder.