I wasn't going to write about the serious attitude problem we have around town, but when my neighbor nearly ran over my foot and didn't bother to slow down -- much less apologize -- I decided to throw caution to the winds, and air my grievances. Hey, I've got a column... isn't that what they're for??
"There was a woman at the ice rink the other day who blew my mind. She was livid over the fact that she couldn't park exactly where she wanted to.
It all began when she first parked her Mercedes SUV in the fire lane, right in front of the pavilion. When the rink owner asked her to move, she answered, "No, I don't think so. Everyone else parks here."
She had a point. Until recently, a lot of parents didpark their cars in the circle while dropping off our kids. But since the ambulance has been called to the rink twice this season, they've gotten more serious about enforcing the fire lane rule.
Reluctantly, she moved her car to the far parking lot and then marched inside the pavilion to argue about the matter for the next 20 minutes. She was certain, you see, that some rink employees might be parking in the near lot and paying customers like herself should not be asked to walk the extra minute or two to deliver her children for lessons.
"I guarantee you that pick-up truck," she sniffed, "does not belong to one of the mothers." She promised to return later to watch the employees and stage a surveillance op to watch exactly where the rink staffers parked.
She had dozens of reasons why she shouldn't be asked to park farther away. She had a baby and it was inconvenient for her. She was a customer who was paying for lessons. She was a Westport resident who pays her taxes – a lot of them – and therefore deserved a parking spot in a town lot more than someone who works at the facility. (She mentioned her sizable property tax bill on three occasions. Translation: I own a big house. I have a lot of money. I should get to do what I want.) Next year, she threatened, she would not be enrolling her kids in group lessons where she'd have competition for the best parking.
It was astounding, appalling and unfortunately, not all that surprising. I've seen other instances of this me-first mindset all over town. And most often, it manifests itself on the road.
To start, just this week, my neighbor almost ran over my foot while I was at the corner bus stop waving goodbye to my kids in the morning. Unwilling to wait until the bus routine was over, she drove up behind me just two feet away, barely slowed at the corner, and continued on her merry way. Maybe she was oblivious to our near run-in. Maybe she just didn't care.
Then there are the people in the parking lots. At school every morning during drop-off, there's a minivan that parks in the middle of the lot, blocking in three cars. The parent gets out of his car and walks his child in, which takes at least 5 minutes. He doesn't seem to care that he's in a drop-off zone, blocking the dozens of other parents who need to do exactly the same thing. He could follow the rules and park in an actual spot like everyone else. But that would inconvenience him, so he inconveniences other people instead.
I live on a street that's privately-owned. But because we're between Compo and Imperial, dozens of people cut through every day, despite the no trespassing signs signs, gates and speed humps. Not only are they technically trespassing, they speed, too. More than one driver, when we've pointed out that they're not supposed to be on our street have answered, "I don't care." And I believe them.
Then there are the people who blatantly run red lights, who ignore cyclists and cut them off at corners, who drive too fast under the Compo/Bridge street underpass.
What's this all about? Part of it, I think is that we're all in our own little world. We're thinking about making the train, or what we have on our calendar that day or what time our kids need to get to basketball practice. Part of it is the anonymity and false sense of invincibility of being in a car, distanced from other people. If we lean on the horn when someone pauses a moment at a green light, most likely, no one will know it was us.
And among some, there's also a sense of entitlement. Like the woman at the ice rink, some people seem to subscribe to the theory that he who pays the most property tax should get the best parking spot. People pay a lot to live in Westport, and they think they deserve some perks because of it. Unfortunately, that system breaks down if everyone feels entitled to park in the middle of the school lot during drop-off or abandon their SUVs in fire lanes.
To the me-first people: if an ambulance can't get to your hurt child because people feel entitled to park in the fire lane, will it really matter how much you paid for your house?"
http://westport.patch.com/articles/our-entitlement-program
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