What She Shovels

Last night, as I arrived on campus for class, I noticed that there was very little parking available. The end of the semester must be close or something. At the beginning of the semester, way back in August, the closest lot was always full and the 2nd closest was usually full, but there was always parking in the other 5 gagillion lots. As the semester progressed, the lots got emptier and emptier and I could usually get one of the really close spots. But lately, in the past week or two, parking’s been more scarce again.
With all of this parking, why, exactly, do we need to buy parking permits? It’s not as if people are using the lot to park at the county jail next door. It’s not as if there’s a giant shopping center with limited parking that overflows and takes all of the college parking. The really crappy part is the street out front is a main road and there’s no curb-side parking. The closest place to park is probably at the jail, and other than that, a neighborhood about 3/4 mile away.
And for the pleasure of parking in the always empty lot, we pay $40 – to pay for the “security guard” who stands around talking with his friends and won’t venture outside when it’s “too cold.” When the outdoor lights went out a few weeks ago (some sort of electrical issue), it was pitch black out and he was nowhere to be found. I have no issue with walking around in the pitch black out in the middle of nowhere, but across a parking lot with idiot drivers and a jail next door? No thanks.