Dropping $100 to avoid taking the bus everyday seemed like a fantastic idea at first, until I realized I probably could have saved the money for something else and still parked at the school.

In the early part of the year, the school sold parking spots and also auctioned them off for the remaining juniors. This is a great idea, to have room for all the students to easily access their spots. It is the give and take of marketing, you buy the product…now you want to use it, right?

Unfortunately, when people who do not buy permits go ahead and continuously park in spots that are designated for people who did pay, it is a worthless system. Not only does that mean that you have to start parking 15 miles away from the school in the nosebleed section, but this also means that complete chaos will ensue at roughly 2:58. I feel like the whip needs to start cracking on the people who do not have permits to make it more fair towards the rightful owners of the parking spots. There is a clear reason as to why there is a set number of parking permits given away every year, and when this quota is met, ignored, and exceeded by double, accidents are prone to occur, as well as increase departure time by a great margin.

Since leaving the school is a nearly impossible task, I have to schedule my leave. When the clock strikes 2:58, my feet are fumbling towards my car.  I already have to make up for a minute of time since some teachers let their students out at 2:57. If I am not in my car by 3:01, I will remain in that parking lot for more than 15 minutes. There is no line to declare who goes left and who goes right, and it sure does not help that cars are parked along the sidewalk to pick up kids. This now means that what should be a 2 lane stretch, is now a 3 lane battlefield. With no authority to direct traffic or ensure safety, car after car will pull out in front of each other and miss a collision by a couple centimeters.

When parking near the football field, there is a security task force employe who helps to direct traffic and ensure safety.  This makes everyone’s day so much more calm and relaxed, as opposed to sticking your bumper into an opening, hoping someone will not just create another lane and go around. I feel like safety should be a main priority in this school’s parking lot and if people do not want to abide by these rules they do not deserve a permit, but this all ties back into the fact that when more kids are in the parking lot than needed, the chaos is amplified to an unreal extent.

Of course, coming to school earlier would hopefully ensure my spot, and that is my responsibility. However, the luxury of parking at school has been paid for already, so that should not be an issue. If the train comes through or the bridge is jam packed with other angry drivers, I should still be able to have a spot within a couple miles. So many variables affect the ability to get to school earlier. It is not that simple of a fix.

With a little guidance and enforcement, I feel like the Farrell Lot will look more like a high school parking lot, rather than a high school party that was just raided. When kids who break these rules start to get acknowledged and punished accordingly, I think everyone will be a lot happier. There needs to be more direction within the lot to help organize the system and let everyone have a swift and SAFE exit to their destination. Everyone deserves a chance at happiness, but the Farrell Fiasco is not happiness.  It is a dreadful interaction between erratic drivers and people. When I step into my car, I should not have to call my mother and tell her my final goodbye.  I’d rather be at ease with the situation. With my luck though, I, the law abiding citizen who pays for his permit, will be pulled over for having my phone out in the school zone. Sometimes you just can’t win.