I hope you got my note.
I was the guy pulling into a spot in the EMU Student Center parking lot this afternoon, fair and square, when you cut me off by going the wrong way and took it. My jaw appropriately dropped onto the steering wheel, I pulled up next to you, rolled down the window, and asked “are you serious?!” To which you got out of your car and announced “I have to go to work.”
Hey, we all have our bad days. Lord knows I have mine, and maybe you were having one of yours. I followed you in to see where you were working, but I’ll leave out what door I saw you go into. But I believe you were going to work. I understand. I too was going to work and I too was on a tight schedule, which is why I was parking in the guest lot. I was at the Student Center to meet some of my students and to go to the annual first year writing program’s “celebration of student writing.” But I don’t know, maybe it was more important for you to take the spot I was pulling into for some reason.
I thought what you did was super rude, but I don’t really care that much that you were rude to me. Like I said, I work here too, so being rude to me is not really that big of a deal– well, other than the fact that it’s not a good thing for co-workers to be rude to each other.
No, what I really care about is who you could have been rude to. See, this was in the guest parking lot at the EMU Student Center. I’m pretty sure that most (at least many) of the people who park in the Student Center guest parking lot are guests at EMU, and being rude to guests is never cool.
I mean, what if you had pulled this stunt with someone visiting EMU who was thinking about coming here in the Fall? What if it was a parent? What if it was an alum coming back to visit the new Student Center? What if it was one of the hundreds of people who had come to the ballroom for today’s “celebration of student writing?” Heck, what if it was someone who was interested in donating money to EMU? That wouldn’t be, good would it?
Anyway. No harm this time, but could you do me a favor and think a little more about this sort of thing next time? We’ve got enough image problems at EMU without trying to cut off potential guests to the school just in the name of a parking spot. Thanks for thinking and thanks for reading,
–Steve (aka, sitedad)
Shame on Susan Martin.
Ha! No, not Sue Martin. From the handful of times I’ve chatted with her, I don’t get the feeling she’s someone who would cut someone off to get a parking spot.
Kirkpatrick, on the other hand….
To give you an idea of how easily this “Employee” of EMU could have offended a real guest of the university, take note of the following:
1) Today was a “Fast Track” day. There were over 130 high school seniors and their family in the Student Center from around 8:30-1:00 p.m. These students were on campus to ENROLL for the upcoming fall!!
2) There were nearly 30 additional high school students plus family signed up today for either the 10:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. campus tour. These tours start in EMU Admission’s “Welcome Center” located where? Yup, the Student Center! Most of these students are current high school juniors who are exploring EMU for the first time! This woman could easily have become their first impression of the university.
So, there were around 150 future or prospective EASTERN MICHIGAN students AND their families who used the guest parking lot today that she very easily could have offended.
These are the students whose tuition and housing (if they live on campus) pay her SALARY!
Note: Did either of you have a staff/faculty parking hang tag? If so, you ought to have parked in the parking lot between the parking structure and Bowen. It is almost as close and there were spaces in late morning when I walked through, (and took pictures of the new Bowen Fieldhose look).
She should be reported to her supervisor. Personally, I feel I work very hard to provide good service to our students and prospective students. It annoys me how such efforts can be immediately ruined by this type of behaviour.
Both of us had staff parking tags. Funny enough, the issue was not the amount of parking– there were plenty of places. It was basically one of those situations where “that spot” was apparently really important. Whatever.
Normally, I would have parked in a staff lot, but I was only in the student center the other day for a limited time and it was worth it to me to pay for parking that day. I can’t speak for the “I have to go to work” woman’s motives.
If the parking is for guests, why are employees, rude or polite, parking in the guest lot?
– Steve
I think the parking lot is for anyone– guests or not. It’s a pay lot, and that too is for anyone/everyone, guests or not. I sometimes park there when I am only on campus for a short while and in the student center– I was meeting with a student this day, I believe. Under those circumstances, it’s worth it for me to pay $1 or $2 for the time I’m there, especially if it’s the middle of the day on a Tuesday or Thursday when parking on campus is pretty tight.
Sitedad, I am sorry the other parker was rude.
The emich parking website says:
D. Visitor Parking
Visitors, guests may, without a permit, park in any of the metered areas, the Pease Guest Lot, Student Center Guest Lot, Oakwood Guest Lot, Washington Street Lot Meters, McKenny Guest Lot, and Alexander Guest Lot, by paying the posted fee.
It doesn’t say anything about employees and students that do have a permit whether they are prohibited from parking in the visitor lot.
But it seems like as a courtesy, employees and students shouldn’t park in the visitor spaces.
Just like business owners shouldn’t park on Michigan Avenue. They can. They Do. It is isn’t illegal. But those spaces are for customers and visitors to the area. Make it easy for them to get to your store.
I think the same should hold true at EMU.
Leave the guest and visitor parking for guests and visitors.
Cheers!
– Steve
Of course, one of the differences is that it’s really easy to park in downtown Ypsi….
Look, not to belabor this, but the issue wasn’t so much that this person took the last spot in the student center lot. There were PLENTY of spots. I was not taking away from anyone else’s chances for parking there. The issue was this person was about as rude as you could possibly be in taking the spot I was pulling into. Very very uncool.
But like I said, I generally don’t park in the guest lot, mainly because I don’t want to pay. I am sure that every once in a while, when a business owner is in a hurry etc., they park on Michigan Ave. too. Not that big of a deal.
Hey sitedad,
True enough. But I thought part of your point was you never know who might be the guest/visitor the rude lady would dis and she shouldn’t be rude. You said it could be a parent, a prospective student, or a donor.
Just pointing out, rude or polite, if employees and students park in the guest/visitor lot, if the lot is full, and sometimes it is, you never know what guest may not be able to find a parking space.
Smart business owners know, even for a minute, you don’t ever park in front of your business because it only takes a second to lose a customer.
Cheers!
– Steve
P.S. Parking can be challenging downtown. Especially when students are taking up the two hour parking spaces that business need to stay in business.
When Mayor Schreiber was told about the problems with students parking in the city parking lots, he said there wasn’t anything the city could do to keep students from parking in City lots.
The Mayor told the business owner to talk to the Dean of Business School since it was his students.
No-no-no—
My point was this person was über-rude in the way that she took my spot. I mean, she cut me off from a spot I was clearly pulling into by zipping in from the wrong direction. And when I expressed my displeasure with this, her response was “I have to go to work” wasn’t exactly polite. So it wasn’t her parking per se; it was her ‘tude.
Mean people always gets theirs in the end. Just be patient.
Steve