Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
This picture may make PCA Gail Andrews-Hewey look mean, but she is really just a fun-loving person who enjoys the occasional squirrel race and a good joke, even at her own expense.Few things infuriate more students and professors on the OU campus than the sight of one of those little yellow envelopes placed snuggly underneath their windshield wipers.
It may de difficult to separate these annoying citations from the person who issued them, but these Parking Control Assistants (PCA) deserve a closer look.
One in particular is Gail Hewey-Andrews, who is happy to be called a PCA.
She begins her day by getting dressed, much like everyone else, but there are some major differences between her uniform and jeans and a t-shirt.
“We have special pants with huge pockets and heavy-duty belts to help distribute your weight evenly,” Hewey-Andrews said.
The belts are, in fact, quite necessary as Andrews carries stacks of yellow envelopes, a water bottle and anything else she might need during the day in her huge side pockets.
“These things can get pretty heavy,” she said.
After Hewey-Andrews is suited up, she must grab arguably the most important part of her outfit.
“These are just little computers and they download new information to them every day,” Hewey-Andrews said.
These computers have access to information from license plates, on the cars themselves and anything else Andrews needs to know about a vehicle.
“They are quite handy,” she said.
As Hewey-Andrews leaves the parking office on the third floor of Robertson Hall, she is happy to begin her day, not because she enjoys giving tickets, but because she likes her job.
“I have lots of friends around campus. There are just a lot of awesome, really well educated people that you would never expect,” she said.
As much as she loves the people she works with, Hewey- Andrews does have the unfortunate task of handing out tickets for about eight hours a day.
“We don’t do it because we don’t like you, we’re just trying to eat,” she said.
Whether she wants to or not, Hewey-Andrews distributes many of these citations.
“My number of tickets can be anywhere from 50 to 80 on an average day,” she said. “Between all of us, we average about 400 a day.”
The reasons Hewey-Andrews must give these tickets vary from place to place, but many lots or garages attract repeat offenders.
“People are always getting tickets on meters, especially when it’s cold or raining,” she said.
Many individuals believe this may be partly due to broken meters.
“The meter ate my 50 cents [and] it’s taken quarters from me before,” senior Jessica Mills said.
Whether for faulty equipment or for faulty parking abilities, citations Hewey-Andrews give also range from small amounts less than $20 all the way past $100 depending on the offense.
“Parking in handicapped spaces is $100 [and] students getting visitors passes is a $120 ticket,” she said.
With this much money at stake, students and professors have been known to project their anger onto Hewey-Andrews.
“Some guy threw his helmet and yelled at me while a poor, innocent girl was in the middle of us,” she said. “He could’ve gotten his motorcycle ticket waived but he wouldn’t stop yelling.”
This is not the only time Hewey-Andrews has been assaulted either verbally or physically.
“I could see this older gentleman coming toward me so I tried to weave between cars but he actually cut across the parking lot to yell at me,” she said. “He then got in his car and followed me to yell some more.”
Even some professionals seem to take their frustration out on Hewey-Andrews.
“There was a professor who parked alot in the North Oval even though he knew he couldn’t, he would still yell,” she said.
Others may not take such a drastic approach to express their discontent, but they still disagree with the current parking arrangement.
“I think there definitely needs to be more parking, especially for commuting students,” sociology sophomore Devin Luxner said. “…It’s kind of ridiculous that students have to pay nearby churches for parking.”
There is not much Hewey-Andrews or any PCA can do about this, however.
“The problem is not that there is not enough space, it’s just not where everything is,” she said.
Despite some of the more upsetting aspects of her job that she can’t change, Hewey-Andrews maintains her sense of humor and never misses the opportunity to joke around with her fellow PCAs.
“One of our favorites is ‘get a real job,’” she said. “We yell this at each other all the time.”
Overall, Hewey-Andrews is not someone who gives out tickets for fun: she is just a person who likes to laugh and enjoy the little things, who happens to be a PCA.
“I love watching the squirrels,” she said. “They’re just hilarious.”