I have a minor dilemma on my hands at the moment. It has to do with school parking, which is an underrated source of consternation in many parents' lives. My oldest son starts summer camp on Monday at an expensive private school a few neighborhoods away from us. They have curbside drop-off, so parents don't have to get out of their car, which is especially nice for parents who have other little kids with them, but I prefer not to use it. I always drop Lil' S2 off at his daycare first, and the school's roundabout drop-off zone always turns into a massive clusterfuck, which I do my best to avoid, so I like to park on the street and walk the few dozen yards to the school. Some other parents like to do this too.
But this year in the back-to-school packet it says explicitly that we are not supposed to park on the street anymore due to an "agreement" between the school and the homeowners in the area, who are undoubtedly annoyed by the added congestion in the neighborhood caused by street parking. This request, to not park in the street, has been reiterated in several subsequent emails.
My dilemma: Do I continue to park on the street this summer? At first blush, the answer is no, because it's now against the rules. But here's the thing: The street doesn't belong to either the school nor the homeowners. It belongs to they city. Anybody is allowed to park there within the confines of DC law. The school and the homeowners have no legal right to make an agreement among themselves governing city parking. Of course the agreement could be that the school will ask parents not to park there as an act of goodwill (which I think is the case), but unless they made some sort of agreement with the city as well (which I don't think is the case) then it doesn't hold any water beyond an expression of courtesy.
And so there is a big part of me that says "fuck it," if it's legal to park on the street, I'm going to park on the street if I damn well please. After all, that's how it works everywhere else in the city. I live within a mile radius of at least 20 churches (not an exaggeration), on Sunday afternoon there is never street parking on my block. We just have to deal with it. A prominent Jewish school is three doors down from me, and when the bus drops off kids in the morning it blocks an entire lane of traffic; sometimes I have to drive a little bit out of the way to avoid the congestion. But that's part of living in society, especially in a big city. Everybody in every neighborhood has to deal with a business or a school or any other establishment that attracts crowds. Having to put up with a little extra congestion for -- what? -- a hour half? 45 minutes? twice a day is hardly an exceptional burden.
The whole thing smacks of entitlement and privilege to me -- which I hate. The school is in a very wealthy part of town, and I strongly suspect this would not be an issue if it wasn't. It's really rich people who are annoyed because it takes them an extra three minutes to get out of their neighborhood during their morning commutes, and they pay a lot in property taxes, dammit! Meanwhile, I assure you, when they go somewhere else in the city and have to park on the street, they don't give a second thought as to how it affects people in that community. It's total, hypocritical BS.
With that said, sometimes it's better to just go along and get along, even if you're getting the short end of the stick. It doesn't behoove me in any way to get on the bad side of the people who are responsible for the well-being of my son for eight hours a day for the next six weeks. If they ask me not to park on the street, then isn't it best to just not park on the street? Therein lies my dilemma.
Well, I have to go now, but I'm sure you are all on the edge of your seats waiting to see how this all resolves, so I will keep you posted. But for now, I must bid you adieu.
Until next time...
But this year in the back-to-school packet it says explicitly that we are not supposed to park on the street anymore due to an "agreement" between the school and the homeowners in the area, who are undoubtedly annoyed by the added congestion in the neighborhood caused by street parking. This request, to not park in the street, has been reiterated in several subsequent emails.
My dilemma: Do I continue to park on the street this summer? At first blush, the answer is no, because it's now against the rules. But here's the thing: The street doesn't belong to either the school nor the homeowners. It belongs to they city. Anybody is allowed to park there within the confines of DC law. The school and the homeowners have no legal right to make an agreement among themselves governing city parking. Of course the agreement could be that the school will ask parents not to park there as an act of goodwill (which I think is the case), but unless they made some sort of agreement with the city as well (which I don't think is the case) then it doesn't hold any water beyond an expression of courtesy.
And so there is a big part of me that says "fuck it," if it's legal to park on the street, I'm going to park on the street if I damn well please. After all, that's how it works everywhere else in the city. I live within a mile radius of at least 20 churches (not an exaggeration), on Sunday afternoon there is never street parking on my block. We just have to deal with it. A prominent Jewish school is three doors down from me, and when the bus drops off kids in the morning it blocks an entire lane of traffic; sometimes I have to drive a little bit out of the way to avoid the congestion. But that's part of living in society, especially in a big city. Everybody in every neighborhood has to deal with a business or a school or any other establishment that attracts crowds. Having to put up with a little extra congestion for -- what? -- a hour half? 45 minutes? twice a day is hardly an exceptional burden.
The whole thing smacks of entitlement and privilege to me -- which I hate. The school is in a very wealthy part of town, and I strongly suspect this would not be an issue if it wasn't. It's really rich people who are annoyed because it takes them an extra three minutes to get out of their neighborhood during their morning commutes, and they pay a lot in property taxes, dammit! Meanwhile, I assure you, when they go somewhere else in the city and have to park on the street, they don't give a second thought as to how it affects people in that community. It's total, hypocritical BS.
With that said, sometimes it's better to just go along and get along, even if you're getting the short end of the stick. It doesn't behoove me in any way to get on the bad side of the people who are responsible for the well-being of my son for eight hours a day for the next six weeks. If they ask me not to park on the street, then isn't it best to just not park on the street? Therein lies my dilemma.
Well, I have to go now, but I'm sure you are all on the edge of your seats waiting to see how this all resolves, so I will keep you posted. But for now, I must bid you adieu.
Until next time...
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