Thursday Thoughts # 52
from Finger-Lickin' Fifteen, a Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich
" All over the field, teams were working at marinating meat and chopping vegetables. The air smelled smoky from applewood and hickory fires, and the barbecue kitchens were colorful with striped awnings and checkered tablecloths. Except for our kitchen. Our kitchen looked like the Beverly Hillbillies were getting ready to barbecue possum."
Lula: "all I gotta do is enter the contest as one of them chefs. I bet I could even win."
Stephanie: " you can't cook."
Lula: "that's true so far, but that could change. I'm real good at eatin' "
Today's Thoughts:
from our local free weekly newspaper:
" Due in part to the proliferation of shops and staff who need parking for the popular Stuart Road, Dulwich corner, traffic grinds to a halt up much of Grandview as each side is choked with unrestricted parkers, from as early as 7.30am most days."
This is a problem absolutely everywhere.
I'd venture to say world wide even.
Wherever there are shops, you can expect customers, and those customers need parking spaces.
When supermarkets are built, large parking areas are allocated for customers, but no thought at all goes into parking areas for shop owners and staff.
None.
It's the same with smaller shopping areas.
I know the one referred to in the paper, I've been there many times, the bakery is filled with delicious yumminess.
But there is no parking lot for most of the shops there, customers park on the street, buy their goods, then move on.
Unless they spend time also at the outdoor cafe area attached to the bakery. They sit there sipping their coffees, eating lunch or snacks and their cars are taking up space that others might want.
Maybe they're looking at some of the other shops, still, their cars remain parked.
IF they can find parking space that is.
Because of course, the shop staff have their cars parked as well.
With large supermarkets, parking lots are for customers only, shop staff have to park in nearby streets where time is restricted. I lost count of how many times during my one small shift, staff members had to race out and move their cars, or risk a fine.
How unfair is this??
Hopefully they'd find somewhere else to park quickly enough so they could get back to work.
So here's the $64,000 question:
When shopping areas are planned and built, why are there not provisions made for staff parking??
When I worked at Coles there were around 200 staff members and not everybody travels by bus as I do. They come to work in their cars and need to be able to park for as long as their shift.
Short shift like mine or all day, makes no difference. They should not have to run outside every couple of hours to move their cars.
In happier news: I won!! No, No, NOT the big lotto draw!! pfft. although I did get $13.35 from that.
I won $50 from one of the many Code Cracker puzzle entries I sent in. I don't often send an entry, I buy the books because I enjoy the puzzles. So it was a lovely surprise to check my mailbox and find a letter with a cheque attached. Yay me!
" All over the field, teams were working at marinating meat and chopping vegetables. The air smelled smoky from applewood and hickory fires, and the barbecue kitchens were colorful with striped awnings and checkered tablecloths. Except for our kitchen. Our kitchen looked like the Beverly Hillbillies were getting ready to barbecue possum."
Lula: "all I gotta do is enter the contest as one of them chefs. I bet I could even win."
Stephanie: " you can't cook."
Lula: "that's true so far, but that could change. I'm real good at eatin' "
Today's Thoughts:
from our local free weekly newspaper:
" Due in part to the proliferation of shops and staff who need parking for the popular Stuart Road, Dulwich corner, traffic grinds to a halt up much of Grandview as each side is choked with unrestricted parkers, from as early as 7.30am most days."
This is a problem absolutely everywhere.
I'd venture to say world wide even.
Wherever there are shops, you can expect customers, and those customers need parking spaces.
When supermarkets are built, large parking areas are allocated for customers, but no thought at all goes into parking areas for shop owners and staff.
None.
It's the same with smaller shopping areas.
I know the one referred to in the paper, I've been there many times, the bakery is filled with delicious yumminess.
But there is no parking lot for most of the shops there, customers park on the street, buy their goods, then move on.
Unless they spend time also at the outdoor cafe area attached to the bakery. They sit there sipping their coffees, eating lunch or snacks and their cars are taking up space that others might want.
Maybe they're looking at some of the other shops, still, their cars remain parked.
IF they can find parking space that is.
Because of course, the shop staff have their cars parked as well.
With large supermarkets, parking lots are for customers only, shop staff have to park in nearby streets where time is restricted. I lost count of how many times during my one small shift, staff members had to race out and move their cars, or risk a fine.
How unfair is this??
Hopefully they'd find somewhere else to park quickly enough so they could get back to work.
So here's the $64,000 question:
When shopping areas are planned and built, why are there not provisions made for staff parking??
When I worked at Coles there were around 200 staff members and not everybody travels by bus as I do. They come to work in their cars and need to be able to park for as long as their shift.
Short shift like mine or all day, makes no difference. They should not have to run outside every couple of hours to move their cars.
In happier news: I won!! No, No, NOT the big lotto draw!! pfft. although I did get $13.35 from that.
I won $50 from one of the many Code Cracker puzzle entries I sent in. I don't often send an entry, I buy the books because I enjoy the puzzles. So it was a lovely surprise to check my mailbox and find a letter with a cheque attached. Yay me!
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Yay! Congrats on the win! ;)
ReplyDeleteGood job on those wins! At our big box stores staff are required to park at the far edges of the parking lot. But in our village it's much as you describe. The situation is exacerbated by the thousands of park visitors who must have a look at the quaint area, oohh and aahh, and leave with their money in their pockets. Unless they purchase something from the park store that came from China.
ReplyDeleteNever anything wrong with a check in the mailbox.
ReplyDeleteHooray for cheques in the mail.
ReplyDeleteOur parking isn't good either. And, in the city, is very expensive. The last place I worked didn't have enough parking and staff who arrived late parked in the nearby shopping centres car park - which compounded the problem.
The one thing I'm grateful for, since I'm no longer able to work, is not having to worry about parking.
ReplyDeleteWait, that's not true... I am PROFOUNDLY grateful not to have to drive on snow and ice.
Put in more helipads, perhaps....
ReplyDeleteWoo HOO! Congrats on the win! Fifty bucks is fifty bucks.
ReplyDeleteParking can be a big issue. Our little town has a lot of funky little shops and terrific restaurants, but it wasn't prepared for all the people who would come. Additional parking has been added, but more is needed, so now a multi-level parking deck is in the works. (Did I happen to mention it's a SMALL town?) I hope the businesses continue to thrive after the shopping deck is built.)
Snoskred; it certainly put a smile on my face! Years ago I sent in entries almost weekly and and only once won a small trinket of the 'made in china' kind.
ReplyDeleteJoanne; the problem with quaint little villages is if you take a field and make a parking lot, you lose that very quaintness which is so appealing to the tourists. I also think it should be mandatory for tourists everywhere to not be allowed to leave without buying at least one item.
Marty Damon; it was the perfect ending to my day and I wouldn't mind at all if it happened more often.
Elephant's Child; compounded problems indeed, often made worse by on-street parking not being allowed in some areas.
Jac; I don't drive at all, so the parking isn't such a big problem for me, but I had to watch my friends constantly checking their watches to be sure they weren't in danger of a parking fine, then racing out to move their cars. I'm also no longer working which makes things a little easier, I can choose the not-so-busy time to shop.
Lee; do you often arrive at shops by helicopter? :D I don't see how a helipad would help unless it is allocated for staff parking.
Susan; thanks, I'm panning how to spend it. Perhaps a few more puzzle books?
Like I mentioned to Joanne above, creating large parking areas in cute little villages, takes away that very quaintness that tourists love. If it's possible, a multi-level parking garage could be designed to resemble something other than what it is and that might just keep the tourists coming, so the shops will survive.
Don't spend your win on booze and bad men. I remember some large shopping centres had staff parking. I am wondering where the phrase $64,000 question came from. It was a quiz show, but which?
ReplyDeleteJust me being stupid, River...like my researching, my sense of the ridiculous went off into overkill and overdrive! I'Il pull my head in! :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes you are right on the parking. My husband is one of those cafe workers who on some days has to rush out twice in a day to change his car. It always seems unbelievable to me. Years ago he worked at Chadstone shopping centre and even they were pretty stingy with staff parking.