Traffic wardens have become the scourge of British society. They have been demonised in the press for issuing parking fine tickets too enthusiastically and, invariably, on a zero tolerance basis. Their humanity appears to have disappeared in recent years. So, it was with some pleasure, that a friend told me about his experience in southern Ireland!For years it seemed that you could park your motor in a ‘restricted’ area of the UK without too much fear of reprisal, providing of course, you didn’t stretch the boundaries too far. Indeed, if the road around your vehicle was empty, or your parking ticket had expired by a few minutes, nay half an hour, then parking wardens tended to use their discretion and leave your vehicle be, probably assuming that you had been caught up in a supermarket queue. However, if you blatantly tried their patience by parking in a definitive ‘no park’ area, then you could rightly expect to incur their wrath with a parking ticket.
However, these days, it seems that you get a parking ticket if you are seconds late or the wheels of your vehicle stray a few inches into a restricted zone. People believe, rightly or wrongly, that many local authorities have put their wardens on commission…..the more tickets they issue, the more they earn. And sometimes, with wardens prowling near vehicles making ready to pounce (as parking tickets are about to expire), the belief is probably born out.
Where have the words ‘tolerance’ and ‘discretion’ gone?
So when my friend headed for Dublin he went with all the baggage of his UK parking experience. He told me: “My vehicle was parked in a restricted area and I was talking on my mobile phone standing at the driver side of the vehicle, when I noticed a parking warden approaching.
“He spotted that I had quickly begun fumbling for my keys and was rapidly concluding the phone call in order to shift my car before I got a fine ticket.’Take your time” he said, ‘finish your phone call first’!”
Hooray for sanity, hooray for humanity! A ‘soft touch’ or someone with the realisation that we are all human? I’ve never met that man but I like him already. Pretty good networker I bet?. Fancy a job Mr?