Turns out my "violation" on Friday was not for not having a city sticker but for a simple meter violation. Unlike 97% of the cities in America (I'm guessing here), the City of Newport forces you to feed their meters until midnight. Because obviously the increased prices at the stores around this hell-hole they call an entertainment district don't bring in enough revenue. The kind lady at the finance desk said this was a decision forced on the city by the local merchants who felt having the meters expire at say 6:00 PM like most places robbed them of the turnover needed to keep their businesses afloat. And obviously not enough people have been screwed and stopped going to make them change it.
I'd like to believe business and bureaucracies listen to their customers and do what is in the customer's best interest. But my experience has shown me the opposite - if they can line their pockets with money by screwing their customers, it saves them the hassle of being decent and forthright. Institutions, whether they be corporations or municipalities or governments or even churches, exist only to keep the institution alive, no matter the cost. And I have a hard time seeing any way to affect change. My not going to Newport isn't going to get them to change their meters. I doubt a letter to City Hall will be taken seriously either. So I'm left with the choice of going and putting up with their petty robbery or not going at all. But neither choice will change anything.
Feeling sore and violated...Æ
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Now playing: The New Pornographers - Adventures in Solitude
via FoxyTunes
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