Letter to Editor by Drew Littrell

If there is one thing that unites us as students at UK, other than the high regard we place on our athletic teams, it is the utter disgust we have for the atrocity that is parking on UK’s campus. My hatred for the university’s parking system began freshman year and being relegated to the infamous K-Lot.

K-Lot, for those who have not had the “privilege” of parking there for a semester, is on the complete opposite side of UK’s academic facilities, which garners a 25-minute walk for its patrons when attending class.

My latest quarrel with the UK parking organization isn’t directly related to K-Lot, but the individuals that take it upon themselves to enforce parking regulations with unequivocal gusto when it isn’t their job to do so.

I recently fell victim to one of these people when “using” the Baptist Campus Ministry’s parking lot for a quick trip to Ovid’s. I chose to park in BCM’s parking lot under the advice received from my roommate who regularly attends the organization’s functions.

I do not make it a habit (or encourage) to make illegitimate use of parking lots, but I made an exception in this case because of the brevity of my business. At the same time I had pulled into a spot at the BCM, a woman was walking out to her car in the lot.

I had remembered her face from a previous BCM gathering I attended, so I knew she was a student. Shortly after walking out of Ovid’s, I found out that the same girl had made a call to Bluegrass Towing Service, and they were able to extract my vehicle from the parking lot within the 10 minutes I spent getting food.

What surprised me most, other than the absence of my car, was the fact that this girl was not part of the BCM staff. There was no compensation involved in this ordeal for her. She simply felt the need to go out of her way to do somebody else’s job; when getting paid to care about something is one of the most American of traditions.

It is what separates us from the communists, so this lady’s logic was quite perplexing. To call her a vigilante would be a crime that she would therein take upon herself to report as well.

This BCM “representative,” I believe, was sending a contradictory message to what her Christian organization would promote. So, I ask, where was the compassion in this ordeal? What happened to the Christian principle to “turn the other cheek”? And where would Jesus park if he attended UK?

Drew Littrell

mechanical engineering junior