Red Mosquito

The place I park at is relatively cheap (considering it is in the city) at $6 a day

background:

pull into the lot and drive to the gate. press the button. take ticket. gate opens. there is a pay station 50 feet from the entrance where you insert your ticket, pay the fee (cc or cash) then leave and insert the ticket for the gate to open (pretty standard)

I noticed people pulling into the lot and then paying immediately and going about their business. i thought that is nice especially if it rains in the afternoon you dont have to get wet.

turns out if you pay immediately it doesnt charge you at all and you can leave at any time as it marks the ticket as paid.

first day i didnt notice this as i put my CC like normal and it spit them out. Second day i was slow on the cc and it spit the ticket out as paid and that is when i noticed. thought it was a fluke and did it the next day.

the third day i felt guilty and have since paid normally.


what would you do?

Stealing from parking lots is cool and good. I doubt the money is going to orphanages.

There's no way I'd pay if I didn't have to and I would feel great about getting away with it.

Speaking of parking lots, don't even get me started on shopping cart ethics.

If you're not reporting the error, you're basically corroborating with everyone ripping the place off, which isn't consistent with your guilt and subsequent personal course correction. One could argue the parking lot show runners should know better by now. But that doesn't necessarily make it OK. Just because you found a way to rip someone off doesn't give you the right to.

Before I answer you have to tell me whether or not thot attendant’s name is Mike Ehrmantraut.

Bammer wrote:Before I answer you have to tell me whether or not thot attendant’s name is Mike Ehrmantraut.

that hoe over there?

BurtReynolds wrote:Stealing from parking lots is cool and good. I doubt the money is going to orphanages.

Yeah

Interesting thread idea. It's easy to shed guilt over something involving freebies when the victim of your scofflawing is a faceless automation, isn't it?

The light rail system in my city sells tickets at every station and they are required to ride, but there's no turnstiles or scanners to board. You're on the hook if you get caught, but nobody ever gets caught because nobody is checking. Your taxes already subsidize this public transportation, so is it okay not to pay to ride the rail?

Can't wait until we get to mask ethics in this thread, btw.

Peeps wrote:

Bammer wrote:Before I answer you have to tell me whether or not thot attendant’s name is Mike Ehrmantraut.

that hoe over there?

The lot owners will eventually realize the scam, correct it, and will double the rate to recoup lost profits.

But depending on how long this has been happening, it does demonstrate what a racket offstreet parking is. Minimal upkeep, demand outstripping supply, charge whatever you want. And at least in Chicago, you have to know someone to own a lot/garage, so I assume it’s all mob controlled or something.

I am generally pretty ethical about how I go about things. At least I can satisfy myself that I am.

But I have little empathy for "big business" losing out when they aren't paying attention.

To be honest my line seems to be "if I'm getting away with something that I wouldn't be if the corporation in question hadn't automated the function away from humans" then I'm cool with it. Fuck 'em.

Automation will one day save us all from the jobs nobody really wants to do, and then UBI can allow us all behave like trust fund babies

I think in these situations, assessing the risk of punishment comes into play as well.

For example, not paying for street parking. The fine is $30 in my area. Sometimes I'm okay with that possibility when off-street lots are charging more. I weigh that against the people I could be hurting. In this case, I'm hurting the city by not paying their fee. Am I hurting honest people who now may have to pay more on a private lot because I took a street spot? Possibly. Maybe that makes it unethical.

I haven't renewed my vehicle registration in YEARS, and I feel perfectly OK with this. I've been pulled over once and given a warning. At this point, I'd rather pay for a ticket than renewal costs. I keep the other vehicle up to date for interstate/city driving.

How does civil disobedience fit into all this? Is it ethical to scoff a law in protest for a greater good? Nothing in this thread comes to mind, but it's an interesting question.

I've met some people in life who are rabidly against stealing for any reason to an almost comical degree.

I can admire it to some extent, but wish they'd be a little more consequentialist about it.

tree_ wrote:I haven't renewed my vehicle registration in YEARS, and I feel perfectly OK with this. I've been pulled over once and given a warning. At this point, I'd rather pay for a ticket than renewal costs. I keep the other vehicle up to date for interstate/city driving.

This will end well

tree_ wrote:I haven't renewed my vehicle registration in YEARS, and I feel perfectly OK with this. I've been pulled over once and given a warning. At this point, I'd rather pay for a ticket than renewal costs. I keep the other vehicle up to date for interstate/city driving.

How are the roads in your area?

spike wrote:

tree_ wrote:I haven't renewed my vehicle registration in YEARS, and I feel perfectly OK with this. I've been pulled over once and given a warning. At this point, I'd rather pay for a ticket than renewal costs. I keep the other vehicle up to date for interstate/city driving.

How are the roads in your area?

very windy, dangerous through the woods, hills, then very straight, boring through small towns, across farm land.. the car is on its last legs.. just waiting for something to happen to level up