14 Meter Maid/ Mall Cop
When most of us see the faux-policemen riding down the street in their 3-wheel ticket-mobile looking to write up anyone who is even a minute over their allotted meter time, blood-boiling images of Paul Blart on his segway pop in our heads. These officers of the law strike many of us as some of the pettiest, most insignificant employees we have come across in our life, rarely compromising with the cash-strapped college student or the mother-of-two who got stuck in the store for an extra 10 minutes because her child was sick.
Most mind-numbing of all is most meter maids’ complete inability to have a sense of humor about the job they do, and for this reason being identified as a meter maid means being cast in an all-too-true stereotype of dweebishness that most people are not willing to be associated with. This is not a breed of government employee that those living in rural or even non-metropolitan areas have to deal with often or at all, but there are ample city dwellers who will attest to the maddening affect one no-tolerance meter maid can have on an entire neighborhood.
As if the name is not humiliating enough, their appearance in a cramped 3 wheeled vehicle, often wearing helmets or protective gear and a flamboyant vest is enough to replace the clown as entertainment at a 6-year old’s birthday party. You have to guess that they are the intern of the police family too, equivalent or below the cop directing traffic as some sort of disciplinary measure in terms of humiliation.
Unlike some of these jobs that are terrible only because of the work they entail, this is mostly awful because of the reputation that comes with having the job. Most people of legal driving age know the feeling of relief that comes with being let-go by a reasonable cop who decided you had learned your headlight-induced-lesson without the need for a financial penalty. You leave the interaction with a pep in your step, optimistic at the pragmatic possibility for policeman with the ability to think for them self, not blindly abiding by the letter of the law. And then the meter maid hits you with a 50 dollar ticket for running 2 minutes over your allotted time, and your view of the police as more of a punitive force rather than a protective one is right back intact. Thanks Paul Blart, Meter Maid.
