Fascism in America

The other day, Anuj, Gabe, and I went to the Avalon to crash a birthday party for this guy we knew in college. We watched the Laker game at my house, headed over there, knowing we were supposed to be there by 11pm. We arrived at 11:04 and the sternly homosexual bouncer would not let us in. A Laker girl arrived at the same time in a Lexus SUV and was not admitted either, which made us feel a little better.

We were astounded by the lack of flexibility, but not entirely used to the phenomenon of not being let in, being that we're all familiar with LA and other hip cities.

Ultimately, we did the only thing three guys kicking it together on a Saturday night could do, we snuck in the back door. But what arose out of this incident was Gabe making the point that the Federal Government is not the one that takes away our rights and our freedoms. It is local governments and city ordinances that state "The Avalon" cannot have patrons enter after 11pm.

I noticed the same thing today in the UV parking lot (I work part time during the school year and right now at the UV) - they are super rigid with parking time limits and bring in uniformed security and towing companies to tow cars at the stroke of 3 hours, or when they suspect students are parking for classes at USC instead patronizing the UV.

Because of that, I moved my car to a meter on the street after parking 2.75 hours in the UV lot. I put in a quarter and noticed the meter blinking "fail." I call the number to report it, hoping I get a free spot and she warns me that I must move my car to a working meter, lest I run the risk of getting a ticket. She did admit that I could contest the ticket, but is saving $0.50 really worth it? So I moved my car and drop in the extra $0.50 on top of the $0.25 I wasted.

This is not all. The reason I need to even do such is that I parked in my parking space the other day from the school year and got a $35 ticket for doing so. Apparently, my permit time was over, but my card still allowed me to get into the lot. Why not shut of the card reader for those not working permits, rather than allow people to park in the spaces and then ticket them? I'm guessing because that way it's a source of revenue. I dunno? And certainly in the first few days after school, shouldn't it be a fix-it ticket, as opposed to a fine? Further, the price of the fine is equal to what it costs to park in the lot for the entire month during the summer. Isn't that completely disproportionate?

Another example - I spent 3 hours on the phone last weekend with ATT Wireless over charges I did not agree to. I tried to switch over to the GSM network a couple months ago and the service worked considerably worse than my ditigal service. So I switched back. Then my bills came and they exceeded their regular rates, including a $60 charge for the GSM phone itself, for which I had gotten for free for signing a new 2 year contract and a $15 set up fee. The set up fee was reasonable, a little cost to switch to GSM, get a new contract, get a new phone. Everyone's happy. But then, the service doesn't work...so I still need to pay the set up fee? Apparently, I did. After 1 hour, the agreed to give me a $15 credit, not for the set up fee, but because I'm entitled to such for being a customer for such a long time. Fine.

But what about the phone itself? It was supposed to be free, but then it came, didn't work, and then they charged me for it? What? I talked to a guy who insisted the phone wasn't under promotion when I got it and therefore was legitimately charged for it. Second, I missed the 30 day return period and therefore was ineligible to return the phone. In short - you owe us $60 for a phone that doesn't work.

I argued why would I order a phone that costs money, when you give them away free every month. The only reason I called your stinking outfit in the first place was to see if I could get a new phone. He said, there are no notes from the representative, blah, blah, blah.

He then proceeded to tell me that ATT Wireless merged with Cingular and the service was much better and tried to urge me to switch back. Why? I said, so you can tack on another $15 charge for a service I was unhappy with? I guarantee it will be better, he said. Make sure you put that in your notes, I said.

After another hour, I got forwarded to (by the way there are different people to talk to about the $15 fee and the equipment, because one person apparently can't do all that, and each of them is super busy and requires a wait) another person, someone higher up on the chain to state my case. I waited a good 10 minutes on hold, finally got through, and she drops my call. What the FUCK! I thought. I was so incenced at this point, I had no choice but to call back, redescribe my entire story to another guy, told him I wanted this higher up to call me back cause I don't have all day for this shit.

And so it goes.....the point IS after all this, is the annoying limitation of human freedom and justice and fairness and decency are more a result of a) Local Government and b) Unethical business practices.

The government agencies, especially the parking folks in LA preside like the gestapo over where cars are parked. When people move to LA they literally need to budget parking tickets, because you will inevitably get them. There are so many residential areas in LA, especially on the west side, where you are literally not allowed to park without a proper permit at all. And the way they go about it is so insidious and devious, the delight with which they give out tickets (I'm sure they get bonuses for issuing tickets). My friend even got a ticket five minutes early on a street cleaning day, because the parking person wanted to make his/her rounds quickly.

And the business practices, especially phone and software companies....I mean, ATT literally stole 3 hours of my time for no reason other than their mistake. I finally got most of the money back, although they insisted I pay for the tax on the phone - $10 or so, which to me was so odd, because it was as if they were making a big compromise. But the point was, it isn't a compromise, it's a correction of a wrong doing. To compromise misses the point entirely, but I just didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

This is where we see fascism creeping up these days in America - because we all know the human tendancy to bully and boss one another around, if left unchecked. We all worry about the Feds, but when have they ever raided any of our houses or done anything illegitimate? To me, it's the asshole cops who liked busting teenager and making us do pushups or the parking attendent who greedily gives tickets to any all all perps of minor infractions. It's the ATT operative who somehow thinks it's the burden of the customer to prove they were misbilled or the car insurance company that ridiculously overcharges students in Los Angeles. These are the things that mess with our freedoms and liberty on a day to day basis. And these are the things we should get outraged over, because they affect us.