NEW TIMES: How many parking tickets do you issue daily?
MARSHA: It really depends on the day, but the average is about 40 to 50 tickets.
NEW TIMES: What’s the lamest excuse you’ve ever gotten in the middle of printing a ticket?
MARSHA: There are so many of them, but “my mom had to pee” was probably the worst. And, that’s true. Somebody actually said that.
NEW TIMES: Do you enjoy driving your vehicle around SLO?
MARSHA: Oh, I love my scooter. It’s a fun little thing to drive around.
NEW TIMES: How many people do you think get away with expired meters?
MARSHA: Oh, that’s hard to judge, but I would say at least half. There’s no way to for us to tell if a meter has expired. We just come upon it and if it’s blinking, we write a ticket.
NEW TIMES: What was the most outrageous thing that was ever said to you?
MARSHA: “Don’t you have a heart!” and I said back, “Yes sir, I do have a heart, but I also have a job.”
NEW TIMES: What do you want people to know about the person behind the uniform?
MARSHA: I just want people to know that meter maids are cool people. Unfortunately, our job includes giving out tickets, but that doesn’t mean we’re not nice people.
This article appears in Mar 5-12, 2009.
