OLD PA'S WEDNESDAY CLUB
'SPIES IN CRANFORD'
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| He smirked as he booked me! |
Here are a couple of little stories inspired by Shellhunter's brilliant tale of when her beloved Beetle Jazzman was towed away by Spies.
I nipped out to the local shops one evening and parked my car close by. A Spy was close to me. I asked him if it would be OK to park, as I would only be a couple of minutes.
He said :
'no problem mate!'
I was in the shop about 3 minutes and when I came out he was writing out a ticket. I challenged him!
'You said it was OK to park. Why didn't you say I could not park?'.
'Sorry mate I'm only doing my job. Free parking starts at 7'.
By now it was passed 7.
I was livid and what made matters worse, is that he had a satisfied smirk on his face. I had a hard job just to keep control, I really wanted to smack this guy, but knew I would be taken to the cleaners if I did. I accepted the ticket and paid up the £40 pound fine.
The second story is probably just as bad. It was Christmas Eve and again I parked outside a local mini Supermarket. When I came out, there were several Spies booking everybody who parked on this area, which ran parallel to the main road. It was common practise to park there.
I found out that the Spies did this every Christmas Eve, it was like a Christmas Bonus for them. They were told go out and get X amount of tickets, then they could go home, early trap for Christmas. Make someone happy on Chrstmas Eve. That particular Road was easy pickings.
I despise the 'job' of Spies and would find it very difficult ever do that job.
If I was ever down and out I would rather caress the bottle than do a job like that.
But saying that, I've got a little Pensions and dogs to feed. So lets open that bottle.
And very appropriately, one of my favourite Doors Songs from Morrison Hotel (1970).
4 comments
Tulis commentsMany years ago, an old girlfriend of mine left her comfy job working in a photographic studio to become a traffic warden in Camden. She received horrific verbal abuse every day for just doing her job, but to her credit she stuck to her guns and didn't leave until she moved out of London some years later. She would occasionally turn a blind eye or try to give a friendly word of advice rather than a ticket, but she told me that some of her 'colleagues' were somewhat keener to get as many registration numbers in their book as possible, by whatever means necessary. It sounds like your 'spies' might have been similar to her 'colleagues'.
ReplySadly it does sound rather typical - I'm sure most people who go for these kind of jobs do so just for a sense of power (and The Swede's old girlfriend must have been a welcome exception!)
ReplyParking attendants seem much the same. Mr SDS got back to our free car park recently to find an 'Excess Charge' notice on the windscreen. He found the attendant and asked why he had an 'Excess Charge' notice seeing as he was displaying the ticket and hadn't exceeded the time for free parking. "It's not an Excess Charge" says the parking attendant. "Oh but it says 'Excess Charge' on it so I thought it was an 'Excess Charge" replies Mr SDS (with just a hint of sarcasm). "It's a warning that you will be fined if you park like that again" says the attendant. "Park like what?" It turned out one of Mr SDS' tyres was about an inch over the line. And the only reason he'd done that was because the bay on that side of him was OUT OF USE for building work so nobody could park there anyway. He was just being generous to the car on his other side.
I think it's what you might call being a jobsworth. Or a bastard! ;-)
I love this song!
ReplySuch an unenviable job, I'd definitely rather pick up dog poo on the street than be a traffic warden receiving a never ending torrent of abuse. I suppose some would enjoy the thrill of the catch, definitely for the thick skinned.
I worked with a young lady who's previous job was a traffic warden and she told me all sorts of things. It was like she had been released from the FBI, things about how to they marked the tyres etc, very interesting!
ReplyI like this song, but then again I love The Doors!