by Rebecca on 2009-01-11
(Warning: angry rant about my job ahead. I mostly needed to vent, so it wonʼt hurt my feelings if you donʼt read this.)
Last week, I got the following email from our parking coordinator at work.
Rebecca - effective Monday, 01/12/09, space 1042 will be your assigned parking space, and your assignment at the Capitol Visitorʼs (CV) garage will terminate. Please remove the CV garage decal from your vehicle(s).
The CV access card #10290 issued to you in May of 2006, must be returned to Parking Administration in Rm. 153, before close of business on Tuesday, 01/13/09.
You will receive a separate email regarding decal placement.
Right now, I park across the street in a parking garage. I donʼt mind parking there because the parking is covered, and every little bit of exercise helps. Parking in the onsite garage is limited, so parking is assigned based on years of state service. I have about 3.5 years of service, and I know there are other people with more service than I have who are still parking in the same parking garage as me. So, I emailed her back:
Is this an uncovered parking space? If possible, Iʼd prefer to stay in the CV with covered parking and let someone else from the CV lot move to the spot that youʼve recommended from me. Is that a problem? (Just thought Iʼd ask before committing …)
This is her response:
Unfortunately, Rebecca, that is no longer an option. If you qualify based on longevity and there is a parking space available, you are required to move to TWC property. Sorry
That was it. She signed it with “Sorry”? Iʼm pretty sure that she was not sorry at all, but rather, was sitting in her little office in the basement of our other building rubbing her hands together and smirking at the supreme power that she wields over my agency.
At that point, I was getting a little worked up about the whole thing because it seemed like such a ridiculous policy. I asked our admin to call Parking and talk to them again. Turns out that if I choose not to take the spot that theyʼve assigned me, I forgo my current spot as well as any future chances at a covered parking spot. I would have to be assigned to any spot in the onsite lot that was available due to employee illness or travel or whatever caused that spot to be free that day. And if there were no spots free from my department, Parking would be unable to find me a spot because I had made the conscious decision not to accept an assigned spot. Yes, thatʼs right: Parking would refuse to help me find a spot. Isnʼt that their job? If theyʼre sitting around refusing to help people find parking spaces, what are they doing all day, sleeping? Playing World of Warcraft on state-owned computers? Selling state property on eBay?
So, tomorrow, Iʼll be parking in the onsite garage for the first time, in an uncovered parking spot that I didnʼt ask for. And on Tuesday, I have to meet with a security guard to remove my old parking sticker and apply the new one and sign several documents confirming this exchange. Iʼm surprised that Iʼm not being asked to hire a notary for the event. I only hope that itʼs raining because then the guard will have to change my tag in the rain, instead of in the covered spot that I had requested. Such an irony.
Working for the state really isnʼt worth it sometimes.