[5 of 100] Covered Parking Bourgeoisie
In this edition of First World Problems, the parking lot at work is raising the the monthly rate from $65 to $92.50. Not only is this an exorbitant increase, they’ve tacked on an extra 50 cents as a nice little “screw you.” When we spoke to the parking lot manager, she said the old rate was a “special” that had “expired.” She didn’t make physical air quotes, but her tone of voice was such that she didn’t need to. The bottom line was they had the power to screw us, and they were taking full advantage of it.
Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do about it since the Founding Fathers neglected to mention reasonable access to parking in the Bill of Rights. If only they’d foreseen the advent of the horseless carriage! But they didn’t, so I’m left powerless as The Man tramples all over me with his pesky Capitalism, bludgeoning me into submission with the dual hammers of Supply and Demand.
The sad thing is, I know I’ll huff and puff and make a big stink about the price increase, but end up paying because I’m now part of the covered parking bourgeoisie. Having been spoiled by the luxury of not having to circle the block for twenty minutes to find a spot, I can’t go back to the uncouthness of street parking. Forget spending all that time trying to parallel wedge myself into a spot that’s probably too small for my car. Screw walking three blocks in the rain from my car to work. And let’s not even talk about having to remember on which days I can’t park on a certain side of the street because of street sweeping. Completely uncivilized.
Like I said, first world problems.
