It was the first Monday of school. I had just left the building, walking out towards my car to leave for the day. I knew that there was no free parking anymore, but I assumed I would be good for the day since last year they had given out warnings. I felt like I had nothing to worry about and reasoned that I would just buy a parking pass tomorrow. I was wrong.

As I kept getting closer and closer to my car, I continued my conversation with my friend. He had warned me that I might have gotten a ticket, and silly me was trying to make the argument that today I can just get a warning. “It’ll be fine” was what I had said.

As I approached my beaten up yellow “teenager” car, I noticed something placed perfectly on my windshield. It was a light brown slip that was flapping back and forth in the wind as if to say “Hello” all mockingly.

“Nooooooo!!!” I yelled as I sprinted to make sure what it was. My friend beside me laughed at me in pure cruelty. The ticket read, “Parked without a Parking Pass” and in the bottom corner said “amount owed: $35.” A good number of inappropriate words escaped my mouth expressing how angry I was. Are you kidding me? Not only do I have to pay this $35-ticket out of my own pocket, but $300 just to be able to come to school every day.

I’m not usually one of those kids to complain about school. Okay, the food is better. Whatever, I won’t make a big deal that it’s a bit unorganized in the cafeteria because, hey, they’re still adjusting. And yeah we have new passwords, but we can get over it. And maybe it can get annoying with all the bookstore rules about not coming in during your study hall but whatever; I can manage.

But parking is one thing that I hate. I still haven’t been able to buy a parking pass for the year yet because I’m not about to demand my mother to just hand me $300 and expect her to be all happy about it. I’m easing into it, but today I had to buy a $3 pass again. And it was such a journey.

First, I had to search my house for 12 quarters because nobody seemed to have cash on them at my house. Then, after driving to school, I pulled into a spot that seemed to be the farthest away from the door.  I started my trudge all the way to security in the blazing heat, and my pants were too long, so they kept getting caught under my shoes, annoying me even more. This time, I was smart and left my backpack in the car, so I wouldn’t lug that thing back and forth. I don’t know why I used to bring it with me when I was coming right back to the car. After I payed my pass for the day, I turned right around and re-started my journey all the way back to the end of the lot. The same kids were sitting in the lobby that had seen me come in before, and after seeing my bright green pass in my hand, they knew why I had returned so fast. I even made eye contact with some, and they all seemed to be thinking “Sucks for you” knowing I  had to walk all the way back.

I finally made it to the car again, placed the pass over the rear view mirror, grabbed my stuff, and locked the car. Now, I had to walk into school again, practically baking from the obnoxious heat.  I had just done my hair too, straightened it and everything. Every girl knows that once you straighten your hair, you rarely want to mess it up.

This was just one of my mornings of buying a $3 parking pass. And I’m usually less dramatic about the adventure, but after getting that pricey ticket, I realized that parking here is just such a hassle. You might be sitting there thinking wow this chick is lazy or what not, but I know that many others just hate this process as much as I do. The fact that a yearly pass here costs $300 just sounds so ridiculous. That’s more than $1000 for four cars to park in that huge lot. A THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! I’m in high school. I want to collect money, not give it away.

I’m not sure what I’m asking of the school while I’m writing this column. I know it would be unrealistic for me to expect that there be a change in this whole system because one girl has a negative opinion about it, but maybe they could do something like decrease the prices or at least not make us have to walk all the way into the school to buy a pass. Maybe there could be some security guy standing outside in the morning in the lot so we don’t have to walk so far every morning to buy the pass. I know that I will inevitably end up spending that $300 on that pass, but I will not deny that the whole parking dilemma really gets me mad. And why shouldn’t I be mad? I mean I have to pay for my own gas too. And believe me, that’s a whole other issue you don’t want to get me started about.