Local Yokel? Okel-Dokel!

I park in a leased parking lot a few feet from where I actually work at and I pay a partial parking fee for the usual every quarter, which I have no qualms about, but I’ve been noticing little things occurring there since I’ve been parking there and seems to me that neither the city of Evanston or the Evanston Police Department isn’t exactly doing their job as well as they could be.

While warming up my car these past few months, in the middle of the afternoon during my lunch break, closer to 3pm as a matter-of-fact, I’ve noticed a lot of unfamiliar-looking cars in the parking lot.

The signs where I park clearly state: “City Of Evanston; parking Lot 64 permit required. Monday through Friday, 5am to 3pm. Free Evanston theater parking weekends and after 3pm weekdays” and “All trucks and buses prohibited. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

That sign is a relatively new one, posted up nearly a month ago after which a lot of people tried to park illegally in the lot during a Northwestern University basketball tournament, which caused lots of headaches for those of us who park in the lot. A lot of those unfamiliar cars park there since the local greasy spoon; Mustard’s Last Stand has a tiny parking lot next to the alley, approximately seven spaces. Ah, they just don’t build cars like they used to, but anyway, the funny part about that first sign is that the movie theater has been closed for several years and yet people still park there knowing that, cheating the law.

And speaking of Mustard’s Last Stand, what’s the deal with the morning deliverymen dropping bread off on their side windowsill facing the parking lot and leaving? You’d think that the hot dog joint would have a better system, but oh no, not them.

Sure the bread is wrapped up tightly and in plastic, but still, anything could happen, like say a curious rodent shows up like a squirrel and takes a bit out of the bread or a vagrant man or woman wonders by and steals it? I think they are asking for trouble in the long run.

And what about that one suburban Pace bus driver that ignores those bus signs and drives through the lot at exactly 3pm each day just so he can take a shortcut to get to the Linden El Station in Wilmette? Shouldn’t he be reprimanded too?

But then again, I suppose it’s like those poor clowns who park in the Chase Bank parking lot on Central Street, just because they couldn’t find a metered space on Central Street to return a movie at Video Adventure, have a meal at Prairie Joe’s, mail a letter at the post office, get their hair or nails done.

The schmucks don’t care, just as long as their needs are met. In the meantime, they take up a good space for folks who really want to do business with the bank, despite the fact that there are signs in place there that strictly prohibit parking, plus cameras, but apparently, they are ignored.

Ah well...what do I know? I'm just a local yokel! Okel-dokel!