Learned Helplessness

At work, you have to pay to park your car.

You have to pay to park your car, even though the place you park your car is nowhere near your actual office.

Still: Forced Daily Walk!

You have to swipe to get into the garage.  Which make sense.  Clearly, if we are all paying for the privilege to park here then we must protect these spots.

But what made less sense to me was that you also have to swipe your badge to get OUT of the lot.  Guys, once I'm in, that's it.  I've parked.  I've used the space.  Bygones.  What are you going to do if I lose my parking pass during the day?  Let me rot in the garage forever?  I'm now in garage-jail?

And then I realized that they were using those swipes to track employees.

Oh.

More understandable, but also more creepy.

Anyhow, the past few days the gates have been broken at my garage, so they've just left them open.

Oddly, anarchy did not ensue.  Who would have known?

On the contrary - each of the past two days I've had to sit patiently behind a person who not only stopped at the open gate, but dug around, found their pass, and waved it at the sensor.