traffic officers are just doing their job, but we hate them for it

today i was watching the new a&e show parking wars. what i found most interesting was how people react. not their actual reaction (although it's still funny to watch people get written up and flip out), but the subject of it. the anger comes from now having to pay an extra $20 bucks or so to the city but it's who it's direct toward. of course not upon themselves for either blatantly overlooking the laws, ignorance to them, or simple tardiness but rather on the person (or department when the actual officer isn't immediately available) issuing the ticket.

it's preposterous to blame someone else for your own error, but everyone does it. admit it, it's okay. it's never our fault. one malcontent likened them to the gestapo, while others berated the meter maids as they passed tossing out potty-mouthed tirades at them. but our displeasure remains constant. as if we're entitled to park wherever the hell we want. that it's our god-given (insert whatever higher being you blindly devote yourself to) right to leave our car in whatever empty space we want, at whatever time without regard to posted statutes.

i bet if you asked 100 people, each and every one of them would list parking officers in their top 5 of most hated occupations. right up there with telemarketers, door-to-door salesmen, tax auditors (or anyone in the irs/cra for that matter) and politicians. is the system perfect? no. are the officers perfect? no. they're still assholes, but by the same token so are we for getting irate at them. i'm fairly certain, way more often than not, we are at fault.