Stop parking without a permit

When you can’t park in the parking lot you’ve been assigned to, it feels like you can’t park in your own driveway because people are visiting your next-door neighbors and they didn’t feel like walking a few extra feet.
This year, I’ve had a great time living in Keough. Even though the walls are the paper-thin and I get absolutely no cell phone reception, I’ve looked past all that, and still had a good time. However, I have one qualm.
Parking during the weekdays was and still is horrendous.
The first few times I couldn’t find a parking spot in the Keough parking lot during the day, I didn’t know what was going on. I was absolutely bewildered. I parked in the Murphy parking lot on an ultra cold day with a wind-chill of 50 below zero. This was because there was no way I was going to walk from Park & Ride in that temperature, or any temperature.  I didn’t pay $20 to park there.
It was only later on that I noticed students would park their cars and walk straight to Kearney with books in hand, heading to class. Young students, old students, it didn’t matter, as long as they didn’t have to walk a couple extra feet to class, God forbid.
Don’t get me wrong, lot assignments are fantastic. They’re a complete step up from last year, which was absolute bedlam. Last year, it was every man and woman for him or herself to find a place to park. At night, if you got back too late from Taco Bell, it was a given that you were going to walk from Park & Ride, where windows get smashed and belongings are taken. No Grilled Stuffed Burrito or Chicken Quesadilla in the world is worth jeopardizing the safety of your automobile and belongings.
However, no matter what lot students are assigned, they pay for their parking stickers and have the right to park where they’ve been assigned.
I realize that not all the people that park in the Keough parking lot are parking just get a closer spot to class, but they’re also visiting friends that live there. That’s fine by me.
However, don’t be a jerk.  Don’t park in a lot you don’t even belong to for two hours when honest people are trying to find a spot. Others and myself have things to do and places to be.

To residents of Keough, not being able to find a parking spot is the same as not finding a spot in their own driveway because it’s full of people who’ve worn out their welcome, and that’s not cool

By John Peters
jmp6968@sjfc.edu