Good People, Good Grief

You know it is bad if you have a job where you have to apologize to everyone you see.  I noticed a bumper sticker on the back of the meter-maid's scooter (which by the way, was illegally parked and contained a meter-maid asleep)  that read, “Good People, Tough Job.”  Really?  Tough job?  A larger understatement could hardly be imaged.  The word should be “loathsome.”  And “Good People,” are you kidding me?  That is rather like Josef Mengele putting a bumper sticker on his car that read, “good dentist.” 

The problem with meter-maids is two-fold.  First, because most parking rules are specifically designed to result in mass failure, as that is the only way the municipality can make the money it needs to fund the graft, shrinkage and mismanagement in which they specialize, much less justify the meter-maid’s job, the job, by its very nature is immoral and they, by definition, lack any semblance of integrity in its performance. 

Second, because the source of the revenues is publicly owned space, a meter-maid participates in a form of theft that involves every citizen of the municipality.  In essence, they're stealing from their neighbors.  There are no other jobs whose very existence depends on stealing from your neighbors.  It is this characteristic that accounts for at least some of the distain people, nearly universally, have for meter-maids. 

Finally, because most meter-maids have been unable to deal with this internal conflict, notwithstanding their bumper stickers, they react to the public with anger, rudeness and callousness.    This of course only adds to their plight and their pathetic need to publicize their apologies.