Guy decides to pay 8,800 pennies to get his car out of impound

reply to post by Republican08


You have admitted to making assumptions about me...wrongly, but hey it doesn't matter. This shows me that your judgement is...off kilter, so i'll try to clarify things for you, to help you to understand my views a little better.

Protest DO draw attention to a cause, but only if the MSM covers it properly and without bias, which sadly is lacking these days.

Protest DO NOT however, change much at all in society.

As an example, before Iraq II, MILLIONS of Britons marched on the streets of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland..as did much of Europe...to what end?
While the protests did receive MSM coverage, the millions of people marching (in Great Britain alone) had zero effect on the plans for the second Iraq invasion, nothing changed, upwards of 1.5 million people are now dead, and the war continues six years later.

If protesting in this situation has had no effect, do you think protesting over extortionate parking fines will?

Why would the employee be pissed off at counting the pennies? Are you suggesting they do no work throughout the day or are lazy in some way?

What difference is it to them, if they are paid their hourly rate for parking cars, issuing tickets, or counting change? It's all part of their job description, and ultimately they are not losing or benefiting from having to spend more of their workday counting change. They still get their wages for doing what is already in their job descriptions, and hence part of their jobs.

The aim here is NOT to piss off the employees directly, as you say they only care about their paychecks, if not for wages, would they do the job for love? No, of course not. Their paychecks, their primary reason for doing the job is unaffected.

The aim here is to piss off the company owners. To make it harder for them. To get them where it hurts - the bank account. They do it to you, it's only right you do it right back to them.

Your mcdonalds analogy isn't a good one. For a start, you get your food before you pay (no spitting involved), and two, Mc Donalds doesn't fine you massively disproportionately, for not eating their food.
While it is possible to pay with 5000 pennies, why would you want to...unless they have stitched you up in some way. Like, oh...charging an enormous fine or lose your car! (and possibly your job too)

So you feel people should just forget making a stand about anything, accept what they are told to do like good little minions?

Have you forgotten that these people are no better or worse than you are?
Why would you submit without question to anyone, let alone a rip off merchant trying to hurt you and your family financially?

If that's your credo, fair enough..it takes all sorts to make the world, but it's not for me or mine thank you.

I agree, the company may initially react to everyone and his or her dog, paying with change, by either trying to increase the rate at which people are plundered, or even raise the fines to compensate for lost work hours, but as you rightly point out, this would serve to highlight the issue of what amounts to daylight robbery in the minds of the public, who just like these companies, hate being parted from their money.

This would be a far better way of raising the issue, as people will react far more strongly to losing more money, than they will to losing a point of principle.

Are there any other options the company could take, other than raising fines or productivity? Yes, plenty.

They could install change counting machines, 8,800 pennies would be counted in a matter of seconds. Employees are still unaffected, but the company still loses out, by having to hire or buy and service the machines. A smaller win for the motorist, but still a good way to make a point.

For your information, and with respect to the actual workers, working as a counter jockey and towing away cars is not a profession. It's a job of work. It's not a calling. And frankly, if someone tried to rip me off for a LOT of hard earned money, the last consideration for me would be whether or not the employee counting the money is happy in his or her work or not. If they don't enjoy it, do something else, they only have one life to live the same as all of us.

My main motivation, the same i suspect as the guy were talking about here, would be to win a victory of principle over the company charging me hugely disproportionate amounts of money for a parking misdemeanor.

If parking fines and such were really intended to ease congestion instead of making a few individuals very wealthy at the expense of the ordinary driver and their families, many, many more cheap parking spaces would be available..they're not. The fines are a money making exercise, for the companies involved and the county. It's extortion, plain and simple and it happens all over the developed world, and it has to be fought.

Is that any clearer for you? Or do you still not understand where i'm coming from?

Not that you have to agree of course, just understanding my view will suffice.

Interesting, in the UK coins are only legal tender up to a maximum amount (except £1 and £2 coins). For pennies, it would be 20p. I take it there is no such limit in the US?

[edit on 2-9-2009 by quackers]

it would seem so quack - and police are robots here so yeah 1p = 1p.

lets not suggest a limit though i still like to buy beer with nickels

reply to post by Republican08
tow companies are a scam. i live on a country road in georgia. my van was towed because they called it an accident. an accident alright, i attempted to turn around and my front wheel went to far over into the ditch. i paid $150 plus storage. while my van was in storage someone broke in and stole a scrapbook that contained collectibles (greeting cards, sketches from WWII, ration tickets, etc) and i could not prove it. they charged $20/day for storage. You cannot event get your personal belonging (like a purse) until you pay the initial storage fee.

and the owners are related.

haha, 8800 pennies. I wonder if the pound counted them all.

I did the same thing years ago at a gas station when gas first hit $2/gal. I used all dimes, nickles, and pennys to pay for a complete fill up. At first the gas attendant was in disbelief when I dumped the change on the counter then just kinda laughed(maybe at me lol). Meh, I made my statement of my displeasure of gas prices at the time hehe.

reply to post by Tyr Sog


While I'm always down for sticking it to TPTB, the gas station is overboard. That poor dude behind the counter probably makes close to minimum wage and not only does his or her job suck, they now have to count all this change some fool dumped on their table. Stick it to TPTB not their poor pawns, those are our brothers and sisters. S+F to the OP, this definitely made me smile, just had to pay about $100 to get my car out of the lot from some vulture tow company in the city.

reply to post by Republican08


oh wah. you cant say that you don't hate getting towed, and it happens to everyone. most of the time's these tow companies are just bottom feeders.

some people have no sense of humor

I guess I just don't get the whole DUI thing. I've seen several friends get DUI's and following that their life has been hell.

I think DUI laws are fine the way they are, and I personally believe there should be more checkpoints on Friday and Saturday nights. You really are endangering the lives of so many people by driving intoxicated. All it takes is your cell phone to ring, you look down, swerve into a car and kill people.

Me and my friends take a taxi when going out. Regardless of the fare, you split a cab ride a few ways, get there and home safe and sound and pose no danger to anyone else on the road. Problemo solved

reply to post by Republican08


you obviulsy never had your car towed.

its basicly theft for gods sake.

AHA!

Win 1 for the average Sumerian!


Fail for the impound lot.

Although I sympathise with it - because of these niggly stupid car impounders p*ss me off...

What would be better is to go buy some car clamps and go clamping the cars at the impounder's car park! (to hell with the expense).

It's a terrible job, no more honest than robbing banks.

reply to post by Republican08


I understand your point but respectfully disagree. Staff are paid to be representatives of their employers, it's their job. You might find that that employee got overtime that day and therefore a few extra quid in their pocket. Also as someone who worked in branch banking for 6 years, unless it was just before closing I'd have been happy to recieve such a deposit in pennies. Serving one person for half an hour is much less onerous than serving 20 people in the same time.

Recieving those pennies would mean I could relax and just get on with the extended job of counting and weighing them, knowing that for the next 20 minutes I wouldn't have to keep making fake smiles and saying with gritted teeth 'next please' to the 20 or 30 customers in the queue. All the pressure to do that would be on my colleagues who would be whispering 'B*&%$#d' at me under their breath as the queues built up. Infact during the summer months a major local tourist attraction (The Grand Pier WSM before it burned down) used to turn up on a monday afternoon with a large pick up truck with a mountain of coins from their hundreds of arcade machines. Counting it used to be a job that everyone tried to get, because you got to sit in the safe for an hour with your mates chatting and counting 10ps.

reply to post by Rockstar1102


Yeah, just gotta hope a DUI doesn't ram the taxi...oops.

Sorry, the irony...

The McDonalds analogy is terrible.
In food service, or any sort of service based, not ripping you off, type of business, the business has the right to refuse service... at any time.

Try paying for 20 bucks worth of food at McDonalds with pennies. They'll tell you to get the hell out. And the police won't be able to help you.

Nah, this type of deal is only applicable in a scenario such as this. Where someone is holding something from you in lieu of payment.

I say give 'em hell if they are ripping you off.
S&F

that was awesome. wish i had the idea when i had my car towed the couple of times while i was in college...woulda made my night at 4:00 in the a.m., specially when they charge a lil extra to get it out that same night. b.s.

reply to post by JayinAR


I didn't like the McDonalds analogy because I don't think I've gotten my food before I paid. You order, you pay, you wait, you get food, you stuff face. That is the way it's always been for me.

PS. Whoever said that the employee would like helping that one customer instead of a multitude of others, I completely agree! I work in the customer service industry and I LOVE when my manager gives me ONE task to do before I can do any other.

PPS. I couldn't do the 8800 pennies though. I don't like how pennies make my hands smell. Wait...that's another way to hurt them, run them out of soap faster so they have to spend more haha. I'd have to had washed my hands 100 times after counting all those pennies haha.

Originally posted by Awolscout
reply to post by jd140

 

A DUI should not have as heavy penalty's as it does, the punishments are massively over-proportioned, and who is to decide what should qualify as a DUI anyways, me personally I don't even agree that a 21 year old standard for alcohol should be enforced, at the very least the age should be lowered to 18 IMHO

are you joking?
Do you know how many people die from drunk driving a year?
Heres an idea... Don't drive under the influence... and if you do, you deserve every fine they have.

Originally posted by Republican08
reply to post by spikey

 

Protest. That helps, it draws awareness and allows people to act in.

This is a form of protest, not all protesting is done with signs.



IMO if you work for a company that profits from extortion I mean fines, your part of the problem.

reply to post by Odessy


i agree, i have been in cars with drunk drivers before, and they are a totally differant person on the road. we flew up to 140mph. weaving traffic, one clip and we weould have been killed and probably someonelse. alough being drunk also at the time it wasnt that scary.

reply to post by jd140


I think each situation has its own merits. And it's own punishments. In Canada having 1 drink can put you over the legal limit now that it has be dropped to .05