Guest columnist for the online edition

I have followed every rule. I waited in line politely at school registration.  I presented my completed green form and ID (maroon, not gray, of course). I even forked over my 30 well-earned dollars. Yet somehow I find myself circling the North parking lot 3 to 4 times each morning in search of an empty space or a McKenzie student exiting his space. As much as I love repeatedly viewing the showcase of dinged, oddly-colored and bumper-less cars that is the LC student parking lot, I find myself beyond frustrated when I am forced to sprint to G1 and fling my body through the classroom door just as the tardy bell sounds, all because the parking space I was guaranteed when I exchanged my $30 for that neon pink pass is non-existent.

So my question is, to where did my parking space disappear?  Maybe it was among those spaces removed to provide a place for a new baseball shed. Or perhaps an enormous forest-green trailer is sitting atop my parking space. It may be occupied by a teacher forced to park in the North lot due to further construction in the East lot. There’s even a possibility that my parking space is blocked by a sign designed to direct drivers.

The number of available student parking spaces is decreasing daily, seemingly due to attempts at bettering LC. In other words, the effort to solve one problem is simply creating another.  I don’t ask for anything fancy or elaborate, no new pavement or sheds, I just want my parking space back.