There's a hardcore group of TCT.com fans who really wish I would give the parking crap a rest. I can't help it. I'm sick. I'm obsessed. I'm the Ray Finkle of parking. It doesn't help that GO Transit validates my feelings and feeds my addiction to outing GO parking lot donkeys by texting me about parking courtesy, or making announcements about safe and responsible parking like the 6:43 pm Union-Oshawa LSE CSA did tonight.
As the train rolled into Oshawa (Oh, on a side note, I rode with Knitting Psycho again, who spent the entire train ride on her phone bitching about an incident at a Dollar Store) the CSA cleared his throat and began an impassioned speech about how not to park like a douche. I quote, "Just a reminder folks, to practice safe parking. I, too, park at Oshawa and this is the worst I've seen in three years (he pauses for emphasis) PLEASE PARK STRAIGHT. Thank you."
I immediately bolted straight up in my seat. The hell? You mean? No way ... Tears began to stream down my face. It can't be! Does GO ... does GO actually ... no, it can't be true ... Oh Christmas Baby Jesus, let it be true! Does GO read This Crazy Train!? Are there secret CSA meetings where they sit 'round a table in some portable at some random station with coffees, and they peruse my site, shaking their heads at my documented proof of people who suck at parking? "Dammit Jim!" cries one. "We must DO something!" And they all nod in agreement, clutching their chests in determination that they, they will be the ones to take up the torch and light the light for all the parking douches to see!
Hot damn. I better be right.
Below are more hot mess, reader-submitted, photos of parking donkeys at Oshawa today. Note the Ford Fusion and its position. Click the image to enlarge it so you can see, clear as day, there is no driver - no one idling. That the car is clearly parked and this person had made their own end of a row. You'll notice the Jeep from this morning (now the subject of my latest logo masthead) and its merry band of idiots.
My only suggestion is to arrive early. Before 7:30 am. Or carpool. Or take a bus. Or drive to Whitby which really is only an extra 7 minutes from Oshawa. There's a parking garage. I've done the Whitby thing a few times. It's not so bad. This behaviour isn't fair to people who play by the rules. If you're planning to take a train past 8:30 am, I strongly recommend you don't drive to Oshawa and use Whitby as your alternative.
Imagine the GO lots if everyone parked like a jackass? However, I have to point a finger at GO as they play a small role in this mess. Stop threatening to ticket and tow and just do it. This lackadaisical approach to parking enforcement isn't fair to people who have been ticketed. It can't be random. Enforce the rules for everyone.
ROFL, that car is parked in the middle of the road.
ReplyDeletehey asshole,
ReplyDeletehow about the people who take up 2 spaces and park on the island drive to whitby and leave the oshawa parking lot for us? don't be telling me to drive to whitby, shithead.
@ rick
ReplyDeletewait...what?!
@CJ
So I volunteered to be on this GO transit pannel and fill out the occassional questionaire. In the most recent one they asked what one this that GO could do better. I felt like leaving the laundry list, but for some reason I went with parking!
hahaha how about we all try and park like a douche one friday or something and see how F'd up the parking lot can get, then Go will have to enforce it better!
ReplyDeletethat's what the Ajax lot looks like EVERY day now that they've blocked off most of the north lot for the new parking garage! People are back to parking in the ditches and on both sides of the road going into the first south lot. craziness. cant wait for winter!!
ReplyDeleteWow Rick has serious anger management problems.
ReplyDelete@Anon: the car parked in the middle of nowhere was originally parked by at least one, if not 2 other illegally parked cars at the end of the row. I see that all the time at Ajax at the end of the day. This was even before they closed off the north lot and after the opening of the extra-south south lot.
ReplyDeleteI said the same thing to the transit panel, with a smaller diatribe attached. Basically saying that they closed the North lot almost a month ago and all they have accomplished was fencing it off and adding a crane. If this is supposed to be done by Spring, it needs to have been started weeks ago.
They don't care about parking or anything else, it's just lip service. They certainly didn't care when my car got broken into in Oakville years ago except to say there had been other recent break-in's and they "might" start patrolling the lot **rolls eyes**
ReplyDeleteIt'll take someone getting killed in a parking lot before they'll even take notice.
A friend of mine gets on at Whitby and says if she doesn't get to the parking lot way early, she has a looooooooong walk from her car to the station.
ReplyDeleteCalm down Dick,
ReplyDeleteEr I mean Rick.
I don't really have an issue with ppl who park at the end of a row if they aren't blocking anybody. Not everybody who pulls into the GO lot at 09:00 is a regular commuter. What about those who are getting VIA out of Oshawa? They may not realize there will be no parking. And going to Whitby isn't an option. I usually get the 07:00 train, but one day I was going in at 10:00. I was kinda panicked and surprised to see no spots. Of course now I know better, but as I said not everyone riding those trains is a commuter. Inconsiderate parking is another issue...
ReplyDeleteFor the record, a LOT of us at GO read your blog. You say the things we wish we could.
ReplyDeleteJ
That's a good point about the VIA people Kary.
ReplyDeleteBut VIA has restrictions in regards to parking in the lot at stations like Oshawa. I believe you need specific permission or a permit to leave your vehicle there. You can't just park and hop on. I'll get an answer on that.
Hi J
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised GO employees read the site, seeing as it's linked all over facebook/twitter, etc...
What would surprise me is if anyone in management actually took any of this at face value and listened. Maybe they do. Maybe they don't.
But I'm here to entertain. I call stuff out but the onus is on the public to smarten up.
@ Squiggles. the Ajax parking garage is not scheduled to be finished until spring of 2013. so in otherwords it wont be ready until fall of 2013 if we're lucky!
ReplyDelete@ Teena: unless you have reserved parking at Ajax, everyone has a looooooooooooong walk to the station from their car, especially those in the newest lot. It probably takes some people 10-15 minutes to walk from that lot allthe way to the station.