Brian (Parking Enforcement Officer)

How did you come to join the PPA?
I was in the papermaking business for 22 years, and everything kept shutting down. I was laid off. When you start getting into your 40s, you gotta look for a little security, so I found my way here. I never dreamed at any point in my life that I'd be doing this to earn a living. Nobody aspires to do this as a kid, "Oh I wanna grow up to be a ticket writer." Yeah right! It's not something I aspired to do as a young man. But some days you gotta thank God you got a job to complain about, you know?

Why do you work for the PPA?
I'd be fired if I had to sit behind a desk- too many ants in my pants. You get to be your own guy, do your own thing. There isn't anything worse than sitting in one of those stinking cubicles, you feel like you're cattle in the chute. But out here I'm like a free-range chicken, man - just walk, walk, walk.

What traits do you need to do this job well?
You gotta be kind of cold. Feels like you're a two-legged bloodsucker sometimes. But seriously... you gotta be a little different out here. You never know who's gonna run up on you so your survival instinct kinda kicks in. But you give everybody a chance to get out and if they choose not to then you gotta do what you gotta do. I always try to give 'em the benefit of a doubt. The way I look at it - its not just my job to ticket, its my job to educate.

Roberta (Parking Enforcement Officer)

Why did you join the PPA?
There's worse jobs in this world than writing people tickets. There's people that clean out toilets. People that scrub floors. And yet everyday they get up and they do the same job and they smile. There is nothing wrong with writing tickets. I enjoy my job. I get to walk outside. I work with numerous amounts of people. I get to talk to people that just had babies. I get to see everybody at their best, at their worst. That doesn't mean it changes you. We're not mean, we're not evil. We don't go heh heh heh here's another ticket. We're people doing our jobs. I see neighbours everyday. They know I'm still gonna give them a ticket if they deserve it, cause it's my job, but it doesn't change who I am.

What traits do you need to do this job well?
If you don't like the weather, don't bother. You don't like to walk? Don't bother. If you can't handle getting yelled at, don't bother. You're gonna get yelled at, you're gonna be in the weather, it's not always peaches and cream. It's not always gonna be smiles and sunshine.

Danielle (Parking Enforcement Officer)

How did you become involved with the PPA?
My father and my mother recommended that I join the parking authority. She's in Lot Six. My father used to be a ticket writer. He's a supervisor of the pole crew that puts out the poles and the signs. And he fixes meters. He fixes my meters for me. He told me I could work for the parking authority I just have to control my mouth.

Why did you join the PPA?
I had a lot of crappy jobs, so my father recommended for me to get this job. He thought that it would be a good job for me with the benefits and everything like that. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be here.

What traits do you need to do this job well?
It seems very weird because you got people screaming and yelling they don't want it, then you got people asking me how they get it. It's a good job and people know it's a good job so people want it. They just don't want aggravation. But you don't get aggravation as long as you know how to treat somebody. If you know how to treat people then you won't be aggravated.