You’re either thinking “hell yes” or “oh shit” right about now.
We are all familiar with the predicament of Franciscan University’s parking and the financial punishments that ensue if you fail to park in the right place.
Now, I never had a car when I attended the university, but a fair amount of my friends did, and I was constantly hearing their complaints about receiving unfair tickets and “random” boots on their cars.
At first I was skeptical. I mean, come on; if you get a boot on your car, you had to have done something seriously idiotic. And as for tickets, well, the parking zones are clearly marked for whom and for when; if you got a ticket, maybe you should learn how to read.
But the more I discussed the nature of Franciscan’s parking problem with my peers, I realized that all of the complaints could be narrowed down to one problem: there just isn’t enough parking.
One girl got a ticket for parking in a staff zone.
Her reason?
“I had nowhere else to park; I circled the campus at least four times, and there literally were just no spots left except the staff ones.”
A guy got booted for parking in a Trinity handicap place for several days.
His reason?
“There is zero parking for Marian and Trinity. I broke my ankle and needed a spot close to my dorm; what, was I supposed to walk all the way from the soccer fields parking to Trinity every day?”
I heard of one girl who couldn’t find parking anywhere and was directed (by a Jeffy) to park in the Heights; she didn’t live there, and parking in the Heights isn’t allowed unless you do. The next day she received a ticket from a different Jeffy because she parked in the Heights. I’m not sure how the story turned out, but the whole situation is just ridiculous to me.
I don’t know what the solution to this problem is. Franciscan University is a small campus, and there isn’t exactly an abundance of surrounding space for constructors to create an extra parking lot wherever it is needed. But maybe one of you has a more creative mind than me and can figure out the answer.
