An Essay On Entitlement

People in this country have a strange idea of what they are entitled to. As Americans, we are used to being able to do pretty much as we please, whenever we wish. People vaguely remember reading The Bill of Rights in high school government classes, and it leaves them with strange ideas of what they are allowed to do. Usually they are incorrect.

For instance...

I manage a network consulting firm in the central Indiana area. Recently I was visiting one of our offices in a small, affluent town north of Indianapolis. The town was at that time holding some sort of community festival that apparently had very high attendance, and parking was at a premium. Our office is located in a small strip mall near the center of town. We were the only business in the strip mall that was open during the festival and I spent most of the morning defending the two parking spots that were still open when I arrived at 8am. I try to keep parking places in our lot open for my customers since many of them are elderly and usually carrying a heavy computer. As long as I have two spots open, I'm usually pretty happy.

As the morning wore on and open parking places in town were dwindling, the blood-pressure of the people I had to run off increased. I ended up getting into an argument with a young woman about her parking in my lot. When I saw that she was not coming into my office, I walked out and politely requested she relocate her car, since I was expecting some clients to arrive. She started to argue with me, so I informed her that she was parked on private property. I referenced the sign posted in our parking lot that warned that vehicles of non-customers would be towed at the owner's expense. Since she had parked on the side of the building where that sign was not visible, she became more incensed, saying that if there were no sign, she would do as she wished. Furthermore, I was informed by this woman that my parking lot was indeed NOT private property, but public since it was in the downtown area. Additionally, she informed me that my sign and the act of my asking her to leave were illegal. From there the situation escalated.

Let me let y'all in on a little secret. The fact that you can enter a property without asking permission, like a mall or a restaurant parking lot, does not make it public property. Most people know that you can be asked to leave the mall (Paul), that you can get kicked out of Taco Bell (Dan), and that you can be sack-tossed by two bouncers out of The Rock Lobster in Broadripple (myself). What makes someone think that parking lots and the front lawns of businesses are any different? Think of it this way: if the town, city, county, state or federal government doesn't own the property, it is not public property but private and subject to the same rules of eviction that you enjoy in your own home. Furthermore, businesses always have the right to refuse to serve or do business with someone as long as it is not discriminatory - based on race, creed, color...well, you know the rest.

Don't let anyone push you around. Always stand up for your rights, but be aware of exactly what your rights are. Don't fall prey to your failing memory of a government class you took fifteen years ago and didn't pay attention to in the first place. You just might get arrested.