A parking meter is nothing like a gumball machine. When you put a quarter into a gumball machine you get back – well, a gumball. A clear cut, uncomplicated transaction. These days, though, a stop at a metered parking spot can become quite an adventure in uncertainty. Is our registration current? Is the inspection sticker in order? Did that check for the insurance premium clear OK and on time? And what is to come next on the to-do list for the harried motorist?

Naturally, we encourage everyone to obey all laws and to pay all of the fees associated with the privilege of operating a motor vehicle in this great land of ours. However, we cannot help but question why it should be mandated that parking control officers take it upon themselves to enforce certain obliquely related ordinances.

Yes, the law is the law and, theoretically at least, any uniformed representative of our community constabulary ought to respond appropriately to an obvious infraction. But there is a perception by many in our community that we are being over-policed, and subsequently over-charged in the process.

A lot of resentment seems to be in the air lately. Many of our fellow citizens are vowing not to park at any metered spaces at all, which in turn implies less patronage for local businesses, among other things.

We wonder how this trend will play out in the long term. Most of all, we just want our gumball.