Free Keene

A few things that bug me to start….

Filed under: Rant — Caleb at 1:55 pm on Monday, January 8, 2007

First, allow me to say I’m very excited to be part of FreeKeene, and to start with please allow me to ask some rhetorical questions.

1. Why don’t people read? I recently was perusing the Dell customer forums to get an answer to a minor technical problem, and came across an interesting thread. There were many people upset that they didn’t get the 0% financing they were “promised”. A quick skim of the terms said clearly that it was available only to well-qualifed buyers, and not all accounts would qualify. Further, the terms stated the interest rates would be based on credit score and could range up to 29.9%. I then read with amazement that people were complaining about the interest rates! I have a Dell account, and the rate was clearly disclosed before I bought anything. If they don’t like the terms, why did they use the account?
2. What is it about people and road signs? I see at least 3 people a week parked in handicapped spaces who don’t belong there. One of my simple pleasures in life is to call the police and watch them write the offender a very expensive ticket. A recent letter to the editor of the Keene Sentinel snottily (is that a word?) mentioned that parking enforcement was “anti-business”. Ridiculous. The parking meters are clearly marked with a 2 hour limit. If you stay after that, you get a ticket. After mentioning this on my talk show, I had a downtown businessman and a city councilman tell me that (and I agree) that the time limits are better for businesses as they promote turnover. If there were no limits, employees and residents would take up a large number of spots meant for shoppers…isn’t THAT anti-business? We don’t always like the rules but that doesn’t mean they don’t apply to us. I hate speed limits, but hardly feel singled out if I get a ticket. Don’t even get me started on the thick-headed morons who hog the left lane at 20 miles under the limit, yield signs, compulsive brake pedal hitters etc. One last thing, why do some people signal when merging onto a highway? It’s not like we don’t know which way you’re going…

6 Comments »

Comment by jitgos

January 8, 2007 @ 2:37 pm

The parking spots should be private property so that the owners could set whatever prices or policies they want. My tax dollars should not go toward policing of parking for a private business. Sounds like business welfare to me.

It’s very possible and probable that the forced revitalization plans that cities are putting together have artificially put businesses downtown when in a free market the businesses would be outside of downtown with more room and a private parking lot.

Comment by Eric Scott

January 8, 2007 @ 3:03 pm

In theory, the parking revenue goes toward policing of parking areas. However, it seems to me most of these schemes operate at a loss. I like the idea of private parking spots where business owners can choose whether or not to charge a fee to offset the property tax and upkeep expense of the spaces.
As far as business artficially placed downtown, I would think small businesses locate there because they can rent space relatively cheaply.

Comment by jitgos

January 8, 2007 @ 3:54 pm

From what I understand most downtowns around the country were becoming ghost towns before all these socialist revitalization plans started.

What irks me is, for instance, in Elkhart, IN where I am the city has used tax dollars to buy up buildings and businesses and then demolished them to put parking lots in so that businesses in the area have more parking. It seems that the businesses should have had to do that themselves.

So could we start a campaign to privatize Keene parking areas? Not sure how it would work…just thinking of how to free Keene. If it was linked to a specific property tax reduction maybe businesses would support it.

Comment by Julia

January 8, 2007 @ 11:31 pm

Why don’t you like yield signs? I see them as a nice replacement to stop signs.

Comment by jitgos

January 9, 2007 @ 1:11 am

We could just get rid of all signs. http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,448747,00.html

Comment by toby

January 9, 2007 @ 5:16 pm

There have been times when I didn’t read the fine print and wished I had. I purchased a new laptop from Staples, and the friendly salesperson talked me into buying the expensive warranty plan. He told me that it would take away all the hassles of sending out my laptop if it broke because the store would fix it in-house if I purchased the warranty. When the computer broke I found that the salesperson had lied to me. Staples forced me to go through the manufacturer’s warranty. I had to send my laptop out and go for months without it. Was this my fault? Yes. I didn’t read the fine print, but I still feel that Staples should instruct their employees to tell the truth. This is why I simply no longer shop at Staples, a place which I used to give a lot of business. I think that people often donâ€™t read the fine print because itâ€™s pages long and the sometimes less than honest salespeople assure them they donâ€™t need to.

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