Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/20/man-systematically-videos-peop.html
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No Parking Porn
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I just watched 8 minutes of a car getting towed. That’s what good production value gets you!
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“The sleazy music, pop-up commentary and just-right production values really make it.”
The ghost of the guy’s car being towed as he and his girlfriend stand next to where it formerly was put it over for me. Two thumbs up for time well-wasted!
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So, yes the videos are cheesy, but there is a legitimate problem with people not respecting the signs. This is at Deep Ellum in Dallas, where scammy “parking attendants” fleece people out of cash in an area where it is notoriously hard to find a real parking spot.
I think I’d be frustrated too if I was a business owner who had spent a decade trying to keep my parking lot and loading dock areas clear, even going so far as to tell people that they’ll be towed, and still being ignored. What exactly is so objectionable here? It’s like 11foot8, where people disregard a laser height sensor that flashes a big sign that warns them before they take their truck or RV through a low-clearance bridge that damages or destroys their vehicle.
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Normally I don’t root for the tow trucks, but they do warn people. It’s on the edge of a club district and they do need to keep their parking spots clear.
The worst are the scumbags who pretend to be parking attendants that collect money from people to park in the spots. Their channel sparked some local news stories warning people about this scam.
If you’ve ever thought that your vehicle was too hard to tow, guess again!
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This channel has been one of my guilty pleasures for a while. I hate parking so much, I don’t mess around with it–point me at a parking garage and I’ll head straight for the top level to avoid looking for the one perfect space. These people give example after example of why I make the right choice.
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I’m confused @beschizza are you FOR or AGAINST what this company is doing? Because as far as I can tell they are within their rights to do what they are doing. Not sure what’s wrong with it.
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I think it is pretty clear that he’s OK with what the company is doing, but then again boingboing doesn’t subscribe to a particularly consistent world view so ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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I used to work in parking garages. The top level is where I would find the most used/discarded drug paraphernalia and condoms.
OH, nevermind. Carry on.
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Well, I read the article and picked up a disapproving tone. I could be wrong.
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Yeah, me too. That’s why I am asking…just not sure if there is “this is bad” what exactly is bad about it.
I was even going to suggest they are wasting potential income by not having evening pay for parking; but since some folks are authorized I am assuming perhaps they have some people paying for monthly parking in that space.
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I do. Every time. Too many over-privileged bros that just got their BMW/Audi/H2 towed have screamed at me, tried to fight me, or threatened to sue me or get me fired. But they made dealing with the homeless a bit easier. At least the guy that said I was “ugly like the cops and the Jews” when I asked him to leave a parking garage was the victim of mental illness.
Parking pro tip: don’t work in parking.
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only one thing makes your vehicle hard to tow…
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I admit I have been watching a bit too much of the power washing porn subreddit…I may need to back off or everyday power washing may no longer arouse me and I’ll have to get into the hardcore stuff.
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That’s the funny thing about text. I thought Rob was gloating.
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Eh, those tow grapples they use are pretty flexible. They’d snake it out of the spot, attach dollies to the front and be away with it.
I look forward to the arms-race when it’s a self-driving car with counter-towing programming. i.e. spot the tow truck, leave immediately, drive around the block until it’s gone, re-park.
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I look forward to the day that frustrated people who can’t find a parking spot set their self-driving cars to just drive around and/or randomly loiter instead of paying for parking.
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This “cars-get-towed” channel and the 11foot8 channel both make a show of human beings failing in absolutely typical human ways. Both invite a viewer to feel inwardly smug and superior, to mock the carelessness, foolishness, and failure of others by observing the inevitable fallout that results from a larger, genuinely difficult systemic problem.
Neither showcases the people who heeded the warnings. Neither does anything to put the viewer in the victim’s shoes, to show the pressures and challenges the victim is facing when everything goes wrong. Neither has any sort of positive contribution to make.
I admit I’ve sometimes watched 11foot8 videos to marvel at the carnage. But I feel dirty about it too. I know I’d be just as likely as anyone to crash a rental truck that way.
I guess I don’t like this because it’s so relentlessly negative, because of the way the presentation opens a viewer to an us/them mentality.
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Or maybe just go somewhere else to park, and return when summoned. But what would make more sense is a car sharing system where a car that is not in use can be hailed by other people instead of sitting 40 minutes in a parking lot.
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