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Driver’s car park fury
Tuesday 24th February 2009, 4:25PM GMT.
A motorist caused traffic chaos at one of Telford Shopping Centre’s busiest car parks today when she launched a protest against paying – by blocking off the exits.
The motorist trapped cars in the centre’s Red Oak car park at lunchtime by parking her 4×4 vehicle across the exit barriers.
Eyewitnesses said she was “raving” and “shouting” about having to pay for the time she had parked in the town centre car park.
Drivers stuck in the jams caused by the woman’s protest said she seemed to be a tourist visiting from America and claimed they did not have parking charges in her country.
She is understood to have blocked the exits for 20 minutes, forcing car park control and security officers to divert drivers through the Asda petrol station exit.
Paul Taylor, who watched the commotion unfold, said: “She was shouting and raving and the whole car park was gridlocked. She has parked her vehicle so she is blocking the two exit barriers.
“It was utter madness.”
Mr Taylor said all the car park rows were blocked with cars trying to get out.
“She was saying ‘I’m not paying, we do not do this where I come from’,” he said.
Another motorist, who declined to be named, said: “The woman just wouldn’t move. She was blocking the barriers. No-one could get out of either of the exits on to the ring road.”
It is understood the woman had lost her ticket after entering the short stay car park.
The car park policy, which is stated on all machines and signs, states anybody who loses their ticket will be charged for the full day – £6.
A spokesman for the shopping centre’s car park security services said: “She moved on after about 20 minutes of starting. She realised she wasn’t getting anywhere.
“She paid the fee and left and everything returned to normal.”
Chris Ammonds, Telford police spokesman, said officers were called shortly before 11.45am, but the matter was resolved before officers arrived.
By Kirsty Smallman
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though I do not agree with the way she protested I do believe this driver has a point, it is far to expensive to park at the Town Centre at Telford. Looks like there is no credit crunch concerns for the Town Centre owners.
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Sorry for the people that were stuck, but you can’t help but laugh at this!
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It is unfortunate but we all have to pay to use the car park. She probably picked the most expensive of all the car parks available but there are ways and means and this isnt it
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I admire the woman, she is fighting for her beliefs!
Pity the nation does not do similar, we may then get a vote on Europe, our useless leaders, and kick the PC/nanny state into touch. Instead of 650 odd inept, talentless snouters pulling the strings.
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Must have been the time of the month or she forgot her HRT patch!
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Idiot – so she thinks it’s ok to inconvenience people who are nothing to do with the imposition of these charges then does she? Her car should have been towed away and a hefty fine levied for its recovery. I hope she’s proud of herself.
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Good on her it is time all us over taxed motorists protested against these charges. How many people would pay an admission charge to go in a shop and buy something, this is what this amounts to, I will not shop at any town that forces me to pay to spend my money.Traders you are loosing out because of the greedy councils
BEWARE of people power
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i think well done to her its about time someone did something about it the charges are way too expensive.
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Please correct me if wrong, but I always thought that tractors were normally just abandoned anywhere. Why pay to park one?
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Maybe this is the start of the REAL motorist’s revolt! – and it’s LONG overdue!!
We have been overtaxed, and ignored for far too long.
The roads are bad, there are far too many road works where roads are closed at the drop of a hat for no good reason .. Unrealistic speed limits and other speed restrictions are being applied … the list goes on and on. Motoring has long ceased to be enjoyable – it seems we are only there to be treated as cash cows.
It has GOT to STOP
The motorist, who pays a LOT of money to use the roads, has been treated with contempt by authority for FAR too long.
Whilst it is difficult to uphold what this driver has done – I think it should be seen in the wider perspective of
“The motoring fraternity has had enough”
And those stuck in the car park should see it that way !!
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yes it is expensive, but she could park nearby somewhere and walk, or catch the bus with arriva which is dead cheap
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If she didn’t want to pay, why go in there in the first place?
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well done who ever done it..we all moan about the charges but do nothing..well this person has had the guts to do something..WELL DONE WHO EVER YOU ARE…
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There’s a simple solution.
To avoid paying for Telford centre parking, whether for work or shopping, become a Telford and Wrekin Council employee.
That way, you can park free of charge in their very own, town centre, council tax-payer-funded car park, all day and every day. No keeping your eye on the time, no racing around to avoid going into the next payment tier, no having to divert more of your meagre salary from feeding your kids to ever-increasing parking costs.
Or, if we ALL had to pay for our parking, maybe TWC could have avoided a “mere”, inflation-busting 2.5% council tax rise this year by creating parking income from their staff, the same as all other employees have to pay for the privilege of going to work.
Indeed, the trough is full and the gravy luscious and bountiful. Ah, how the public sector laps it up! And how the rest of us have to watch on in pure envy!
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Only one word for this…SELFISH
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stupid woman, you know when you go in the car park you have to pay!! Wonder if she ended up paying. Dear me, what a silly woman!
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I admire her guts. Good for her for making a stand! She must have been having a bad day generally though ;-)
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It’s not worth paying to park there anymore half the shops have closed down. Glad this woman made this protest but at the end of the day she made the centre more money by keeping people on the carpark for longer, surely it would have been better to block the entrance.
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About time someone protested about these silly prices.
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Paying between 50p and £1.10 is a joke especially when I am only doing my food shopping. I don’t tread to look around the other shops due to watching the pennies. Who ever protested ” you go girl”!!!!!!
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It all depends how long she was parked for in the car park, she drives a 4×4, its not like she is worrying about how much money she has in her purse if she can run a 4×4 with proerly a 2 litre engine. And if was over 50p then protesting like that is just stupid, have a complaint, dont take it out on others, phone them up or break the barrior. Yes the prices are a bit to much for the people who just want to do shopping and have a day out, but its life we have to get on, we cant hold everyone else up over a few quid.
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It all depends how long she was parked for in the car park, she drives a 4×4, its not like she is worrying about how much money she has in her purse if she can run a 4×4 with proberly a 2 litre engine. And if it was over 50p then protesting like that is just stupid, have a complaint, dont take it out on others, phone the car park company up or break the barrior. Yes the prices are a bit to much for the people who just want to do shopping or have a day out, but its life we have to get on, we cant hold everyone else up over a few quid.
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Well done for having the courage to go it alone. It is far to expensive to park in the Town Centre, but Hark & Appollo really couldn’t give a monkies.
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If she didn’t want to pay then why go there?
Its like going to a restaurant and then complaining that you had to pay for your meal!
IF YOU DONT LIKE IT THEN DONT GO THERE!
I like the fact you have to pay in the town centre, which is why you can ALWAYS find a parking space and shop in a warm safe environment!
No I don’t work for the town centre, or in retail at all. I wish they would charge for admission as well as parking to stop all the chavs and scumbags window shopping up there getting in my way!
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I can only say ‘well done.’ It sounds like she was only there a short time and can only agree that there should be an allowance for less than half an hour!
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I left Telford for the U.S.A. the day parking charges were introduced. I however vowed I would never pay to park for shopping. Paying to park makes every item you buy more expensive.
People should boycott Telford shopping centre and other shopping malls etc.
I have never came accross a shopping mall/centre since I came over here and I have been to some pretty big Shopping malls with multi-story parking.
When I tell people over here you have to pay to park in the UK they can hardly believe it.
Uk drivers are penalised and made to look anti social. It’s about time motorists dug their heels in and say “enough is enough”
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She has a point. One goes to the town centre to spend money; it’s just greedy of the owners to make a charge for doing so.
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I used to shop in Telford all the time until the parking charges were introduced. Now I hardly ever go there, last time I parked by The Range, was there for less than 30mins which should have been free and was charged £1! There is no one to complain to and once you put your ticket in the barrier to leave you don’t get it back, so you can’t complain to anyone later. I shop online or go to Merry Hill – at least it’s still free to park there. Not sure that this ladies approach was the best, but I can understand her frustration.
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I don’t necessarily agree with the parking charges, but to try to make a point in this way is like lying down on a supermarket floor and throwing a tantrum, like a small child.
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I still haven’t found a suitable place to leave my horse at this “Town Centre”. Anyway, the woman was stupid in the extreme. I’d have moved her vehicle if I’d have been stuck in the queue – there must be some gutless people around to let her get away with her antics. And the parking is very cheap – try city centre parking. More Shropshire backwater mentality….
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Shop in Shrewsbury instead. It’s known for drivers to have to pay to park in the U.K, she has to respect our rules like we would have to respect tipping staff at their resteraunts etc.
Brian….”I left Telford for the U.S.A. the day parking charges were introduced.” Would probably have been cheaper just to pay the parking fee really!
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The sooner the telford shopping centre closes the better. Its an eye saw and a draw to some unpleasnt people. I havent shopped there in 3 years, i shop in my local village or will shop in places with no car park charges !
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Trafford Park in Manchester is free!!!!!!!!!!
Open till late and good eating places to round off the day.
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NEXT time block the entrance that would be a better idea stop the cars going in no revenue from the car park. Shops not making money then they might just might listen…..
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I see where she’s coming from, but I lived in the States for 30 years and we had parking charges in every city I lived in.
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The fire has gone from Britains’ belly – we’re all armchair ranters now, this and the like across the internet gives harmless outlets instead of risking life and limb against a government (and police) with ever more powers/limits on our freedom.
It shows that if you believe enough in something you will get out there and go against the tide. We are in the worst of all situations where we self-censor – I mean the use of language like “ranting” has a subtle inference that this woman was in some way mad .. rather than an individual standing and risking for something she was passionate about.
The mad ones are the ones who put more importance on financial return when they measure our education, health and safety.
There’s no alternative – everyone in govt is right-wing now.
Oh – I wont shop at the tatty Telford town centre with the closing shops anymore, partly because of the parking charges but mainly because I realised that real_towns for real_people matter more than glossy expensive shop fronts. I still think the centre should be bulldozed made into parkland and invest in the real human scale towns.
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What a magnificent lady.
She disagrees with something and she acts!!
If we were all like this we would not live in this pathetic excuse for a country.
If every one of us refused to use the shopping centre for a week the parking charges would disappear for!
How about it people – remember – unitied we stand but divided we fall!
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Get in the real world.. If you don’t want to pay, don’t go in there! It’s not a difficult concept ! If this is all this “lady” has to complain about then she is very very lucky.
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This country may have its faults but which one has’nt. If Public Sector Enemy knows of one why are they living here?
As you say ‘ if you disagree with something act’!
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parking charges are ridiculous…although after a recent visit to Oxford and having to pay £20 per day parking…£6 for a whole day seems a bargain! In oxford £6 would have got us a mere couple of hours!
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Sounds to me like a severe case of PMT (Parking Mania Tantrum)
But seriously, we don’t tip parking valets in the UK, but when I am in America I do, as that’s the way they do things. She needs to learn that we don’t tip people for their helpfulness and courtesy in car parks but do put money into parking machines that have done absolutely nothing to help us park. That’s just the way we do things.
When in Rome, do as the Greeks do!
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Long live the revolution!
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I am the woman who blocked the exits at the Telford Town Centre.
In fact I did pay for my parking, I just forgot my ticket at the machine when after I paid my £1.10.
When I left my ticket in the machine I went back to the same machine. I asked a woman at the pay machine if she had found a ticket. She handed me a ticket, which I assume was mine.
At the barriers the ticket was rejected. I then informed the parking attended of what happened. I was then told by a female over intercom, it not her problem what happened to my ticket and I would have to pay £6.00”. I explained to that rude woman that already paid. All she could say was it is not her problem.
I am willing to admit I was wrong for blocking the barriers, but that does not give that mindless parking attended a right to treat badly.
Also, the £6.00 charge for a “lost ticket” is extortion.
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It appears that some have rushed to comment without reading the full report. It would appear that the lady had lost her ticket and was not happy that the greedy, money-grabbing company that owns the Town Centre was insisting on a penalty of the full days parking fee (£6). To me it would seem more fair to charge the fee incurred from when the car park opened to the time when the incident occured (11.45am).
However the company policy is obviously to screw as much out of the public as it can. Please don’t keep blaming the Borough Council into these disputes, the shopping centre is a private company.
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welcome to sunny telford? and generaly rude and ignorant people who live here. woman at parking lot.
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typical…… you would expect this sort of behaviour in telford afterall. was she wearing a burberry cap, hoop earings, tracksuit bottoms that dont fit and a pair of rockport boots….. yep, chavy telford again i reckon!
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Well done my dear. Seriously I back you 100%. All local government and shopping centres do is look at ways of exploiting the very people they need. If everybody took the same stance for one week these money grabbing morons would soon back down. Unfortunately you are one in a million and the rest of your fellow Salopians haven’t got the backbone to support you. So again well done. Fight rip off Britain.
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@Woman at Parking Lot:
We all do silly things, like lose our car park ticket, but most of us accept the consequences, have a quiet grumble, pay and go about out business. There’s still no justification for your outburst, you inconvenienced many people that day.
I do think Harry Pope has a very valid point though. That wouldn’t just be fair, it would be extraordinarily logical.
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I’m really pleased that she has the time on her hands to argue over six quid. Take it to court if it means that much to you! If I had been there that day and you had cost me 20 minutes of my working day I can assure you I would have moved your car!
I’m constantly amazed by how many people will not accept rules put there by businesses!
If it were your business and you could add hundreds of thousands of pounds (possibly more) in profits into your company, would you take the money or not? Of course you would take the money, the ones that say otherwise are unrealistic. Business is about making money, and as a consumer you have choices!
I make a choice, I go to the town centre and happily accept the charges. I know if i lose my ticket then I will have to pay a lot for a new one.
I think people need to remember that the Town Centre is not there as a public service such as the police, NHS or fire service. Its there as a business… to make money. Ever noticed that the car parks are always clean, lots of CCTV and security regularly patrolling? Its because we pay for it in parking charges!!!
You can park in Wellington for free…. your car might not be there when you get back to it though!
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Harry: Actually you make a very good point. Whilst the car park has to be on its guard for people who try it on, it would seem fairer to charge for the maximum that could have been accrued that day.
Woman at Parking lot: We call them car parks – please enjoy the rest of your stay in the UK.
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I wasn’t rude to Woman at Parking Lot, its just that its not my problem that you forgot your ticket – it was your problem.
At least I didn’t insincereley say “have a nice day” like you Yanks do – now that does really annoy me, when people say something they don’t mean.
I can only be honest and repeat that its not my problem, I don’t make the rules and don’t really care.
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With ALL this FANTASTIC CCTV we keep hearing about,…. in view of the fact that “woman at peking lot says she paid £1.10 for her parking ticket… but left ticket in the machine then ….
THEN, wouldn’t it be easy to prove that:
1 she entered the car park (number plate recorded at a specific time, and ..
2. She ACTUALLY did PAY for the ticket, left it in the machine, and returned later to collect??
3. And so … should be charged for the elapsed time.. NOT a whole day?
Assuming of course that CCTV is as good as we are led to believe?? AND .. of course …
You WOULD think that CCTV would be present on entry points and pay points in the car park?
Seems to me that this CCTV is not all it’s cracked up to be , or else it IS just down to sheer greed on the behalf of the car park owners – who just want the £6 irrespective of the Truth.
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The problem with the lady blocking the way out is that it is only hurting the innocent motorists behind her and won’t change anything. She should have moved aside and had her disagreement with the person to allow the people behind her to leave.
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I am a “one time Shropshire-Lad” but on my visit there in 2007, I did find people with responsibilities were unable to use their nous when faced with unhappy customers and situations.
Good manners are scarce to find in Britain today. Since I left 25 years ago you have become an “I-Me-Mine” society.
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On my annual visit to do my Xmas shopping at Pound Land, I park at Halfords for free and walk across.
Andrea: Good point about innocent motorists who aren’t so stupid as to loose their tickets. I was wondering how many of them were delayed to the extent that their tickets were invalid and had to pay extra?
And what if there was an emergency – car park clogged up blocking emergency vehicles? (I was once there when the fire brigade turned up)
If she thinks the intercom person was rude, she’s damned lucky it wasn’t me on the other end – I’d have given her some home truths. Honestly *tut*
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There are ways and means to moan.
If you park on the car park you need to adhere to its rules. If you lose your ticket then you will have to pay – simple as. £6 is a fair price, if it was any lower everyone would be parking for the full day then just saying “oh, ive lost my ticket!”
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What an interesting and illuminating reply to this discussion from the
“Woman at Intercom”-
Quote- “I wasn’t rude to Woman at Parking Lot, its just that its not my problem that you forgot your ticket – it was your problem.—I don’t make the rules and don’t really care.”
Typical of the general attitude of the ignorant ‘jobsworths’ that are employed by the centre’s owners on security and car parking operations.
It must be the wages paid to these people; as the saying goes “if you pay peanuts, etc—”
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@Grim
Please refrain from tainting the entire Telford conurbation with the label of “chav”. Telford Town Centre is undoubtably chav, but there are many parts which are not. It’s just unfortuate that the town centre is so close to so many (anti)social housing estates that there are so many chavs about.
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Again,
As for the Woman at Intercom, now that I look back, you were not as rude as I thought.
However, as I did try to explain to you, “I did not loss my ticket” In fact I paid £1.10 for my parking, I just forgot my ticket at the machine. A woman at the machine gave me a ticket she found. I just assumed it was mine. I still have the ticket if you would to see it. Please do not classify all American as insincere!
As for Big Matty go jump!!!!!
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How ignorant are you Harry Pope? What did you expect the lady on the intercom do ? Break all the rules and let a car out or free because a “lady” couldn’t remeber to take her ticket out of the machine..Have you touhgt how many people try the “ive lost my ticket” trick every week ? If you let one out free, then you should let them all out free. Then the prices go up and ignorant people like you make comments about the car park companies !! Sad
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parking should be free we pay enough tax
lets have it free for all
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people should use their cars less
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If you all used public transport you WOULD NOT have this problem.
The bus station is attached to Telford shopping centre!!!
How many excuses do you need to go by car and pay arking
Go by bus
save money
and reduce pollution.
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Big Matty = Legend
I completely agree, It’s only £6. You made a mistake by losing the ticket, you have to accept full responsibility, it’s nobody elses fault. someone gave you a ticket which turned out not to be yours so payment for the inconvenience of you losing the documentation required for “Clearance” so to speak is just.
Your retaliation was child like, you didnt get your own say so others must suffer. Maybe someone behing you (Who didnt lose his/her ticket) was made very late for a job interview or something because of you? When you could have argued it by appeal maybe?
I sympathise with you for accidentally losing the ticket, I don’t sympathise you for the way you acted.
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labour are just anti car, get us back in an we’ll make car parks free for all
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Tory Boy: From what I can see this muppet who lost her ticket did turn the car park into a ‘free for all’, well for 20 mins!!!
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I would have bashed her tail lights in. I don’t know where in the States she is from but around here there is far more paid parking than free parking, as it should be. Free parking is a subsidy born by the rest of us who use more efficient forms of transportation.
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I turn 40 years old this week and have lived in the States my entire life. It is absolutely normal to pay for parking in large urban areas here, a lot less so in small towns, though many such schemes allow a discount on proof of purchase. Gasoline/petrol is significantly cheaper here than in Europe, and conversely public transit is far less developed outside of the largest cities (in New York and Washington it’s about as good as London, most other cities not.) Free parking is normal outside of urbanized areas, though small towns will occasionally have street meters in their town centers for maybe 50 cents an hour or the like.
That said, I am embarrassed at this woman’s behavior and wish that she had been arrested for theft of services or its local equivalent. I would absolutely expect Britons to obey local law and custom here and we have no right to expect anything different when visiting abroad or living ex-patriate.
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Bruce: Here, here. The British have a long tradition of obeying the laws of our land. For exaple you won’t catch us driving with mobile phones, speeding, smoking in our pubs and chaseing little foxes with dogs, all because our Queen has said we mustn’t.
That’s the problem with the States, there’s no absolute power and Americans think they can do what they like as and when it suits them.
Mind do what do you expect from a nation that doesn’t play cricket?
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