subject: Avoiding School Parking Permit Hassles [print this page] One of the biggest joys throughout all of my high school years was when I finally got my license in the beginning of my junior year. Finally, I was able to drive to school and not have to deal with taking the buss. While there were obviously a lot of benefits to driving myself to school, there were also a few complications that arose, primarily around my school parking permits.
The benefits were amazing, especially for my 16 year-old-self - I got to sleep in later, get to school earlier, and the best part, be the envy of many of my friends who still had to ride the buss or get dropped off by mommy and daddy. However, one frustrating hassle I did not expect was the actual parking permit itself. My school, like many others in the country, issues to its students the hangtag permits and requires that they be clearly visible within the students cars. While that sounds easy enough, some hidden hassles made the whole driving to school process more frustrating that it should have.
Like most high school students, my car had a tendency to accumulate clutter and trash in nearly ridiculous proportions. This made it surprisingly difficult to keep track of my parking permit. For about a week, I simply left the permit hanging from my rear view mirror, but quickly stopped after I learned that it was illegal and I could be ticketed for it. On at least three separate occasions during my Junior year I needed to get a replacement permit because I simply could not find it, no matter how long and hard I looked for it. It was becoming more and more tempting to just stop parking on school grounds all together and just use the shopping center parking lot down the street when my aunt suggested I try her residential parking permit holder.
Why hadn't I heard of these sooner? It was perfect - the permit fit perfectly and the holder itself easily clipped onto my sun visor, so there was no worry about me losing the permits again. I managed to go my entire senior year without losing or misplacing my parking permit once, and never had a problem with any of the staff who patrolled the parking lot - unlike many of my friends. Long story short; if you want to avoid the hassles that come along with school parking permits, use a student parking permit holder.
