Debbie Schlussel: Are You Tired of Special Parking Spaces?: Hybrid Drivers the Latest So Anointed
I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of the gazillion special classes of people for whom parking spaces are reserved.
We began with handicapped spots. Fine. People with disabilities, I understand that. I feel bad for their physical misfortunes . . . though many of the people I see using those aren't actually handicapped (a lot of fraud there). And it's hard on businesses who have small lots, very few spaces, and must provide the mandated number of empty spots that rarely go used.
Then, there were the "expectant mother" and "mother to be" spots. In many cases, those are the women who probably need the most exercise of walking across the lot, as they've eaten more ice cream than pickles.
And don't forget the "employee of the month" parking spot at many retail giants.
Now, the latest is hybrid-only spaces at Home Depot, Office Depot, and Ikea. Completely annoying, especially when you consider that many hybrids are neither cheaper nor do they save much gas. Why do they deserve special treatment while we search in vain for an empty parking space within a mile of the front door?
I wonder what would happen to me if I parked in a hybrid spot (I don't drive a hybrid). Would Ikea's green-nazis give me a ticket? Would they not let me purchase their pressed particle-board contemporary splendor? (For the record, I like modern furniture, and while I dislike Ikea's lefty policies and gazillionaire hypocrite owner, I love the furnishings.)
What's next--special parking spots for illegal aliens, the non-English speaking, Muslims, vegan lesbian yoga teachers who were artificially inseminated?
Don't laugh. At least some of these are likely in our future.
A business is free to do what it wants to attract customers. But sooner or later, people will grow tired of a retailer that deals in cheap chic but engages in tactics, which repeatedly elevate certain political classes.
It's a bad way to do business. And eventually, it backfires.
Posted by Debbie on August 22, 2008 02:05 PM to Debbie Schlussel