I hate paying for parking.
It's not that I'm cheap, but because I use my debit or credit card for almost everything, I never have any change for the bloody meters.
Truth be known, I also even hate paying for parking when it's in a lot and they have one of those machines where you can use your credit card.
It just sort of freaks me out that a box sitting on a pole in the middle of nowhere has my credit card information.
I often wondered if any of those pay parking boxes in B.C. Parks parking lots have ever been ripped off?
I don't think I have that much of a criminally inclined nature, but even I've been tempted to swipe one of those things.
C'mon - it's a box on a stick with money and credit card information sitting in the corner of a parking lot in the middle of a quiet forest.
Maybe nobody wants to go out there after dark because of the bears and cougars.
But I no longer have to be tempted or annoyed with those B.C. Parks parking lot machines, thanks to Premier Christy Clark.
Like many of you who enjoy local summer paradises like Alice Lake, Shannon Falls, Murrin Lake and others, I was pretty stoked to hear the new provincial Liberal leader followed through on one of the promises she made during her leadership campaign.
She had promised to eliminate all those parking boxes in B.C.'s parks and make parking free after more than eight years of complaining from British Columbians.
On May 3, she announced the fees were being permanently removed as part of the 100th anniversary celebration for the provincial park system.
I thought politicians weren't supposed to do those sorts of things.
It makes it hard for people like comedians and writers to rely on the old "politicians-are-all-lying-corrupt-bastards" stereotype.
What's next?
Honest used car salesmen?
Hockey players with all their teeth?
Nuns on roller skates listening to rap while chewing tobacco?
A federal NDP official opposition?
Wait what?
Anyway, apparently use of the parks has dropped since the parking fees were implemented in 2003, and most folks have always seen the program as just another tax grab anyway.
I just hope the reduced revenue doesn't affect the fine people who work at the parks, or the quality of the fine parks themselves.
I'd hate for there not to be someone there to make sure the park areas are well-looked-after and supervised, to answer tourist questions, and point out the "No Dogs on the Beach" signs again and again.
I often wonder if those people with dogs running around on Alice Lake's beaches can't read, don't care or have some kind of rare "sign blindness" that only affects certain dog owners and most B.C. drivers.
With parking fees gone in the parks, we'll likely see a whole lot more people at Alice Lake this summer, including some who'll ignore the "No Dogs" signs.
But it's a small price to pay for no price to pay, and although there is still pay parking around to hate, I may just have to change my mind about politicians.
