Friday, December 13, 2013

Day 199, Missoula Rabble, Cyndie

Cyndie doesn't mind being called a meter maid. "That's what I called them before I started doing this," she said. She's been doing this for 25 years. "It's my private method of torture," she laughed. "We call it parking enforcement because we are enforcing laws even though people want to choke us." I asked Cyndie what she will miss about this job once she retires in a few years. "It is going to be hard," she said. "I've developed many friendships. I've been doing this long enough to know someone as a child who now has children of their own." I asked her how she deals with the angry people. "They start out angry, but then they find out I am a human being and I have a sense of humor. And I'm nice. We usually become friends," she said. "You'll decay from the inside out if you don't forget the negative. If you want to get to me, be nice. If you're poison, I'm gonna forget about you."