Point of View
The IPI Show, the TSA, Buy an EV and Park Free
By John Van Horn
There are always things someone on the outside looking in would change, but from my point of view, the 2011 IPI
Conference & Expo in Pittsburgh was a win for everyone con- cerned. There was a lot of talk about having the show in “Pitts- burgh,” but frankly, it’s a beautiful city and its convention center is a great venue. All exhibitions have a “last day drop-off,” and if you can fig-
ure out a way to stop that (except having the exhibition on only one day), you should bottle it. This year was no different. It’s just as it is. Even the usual whining
about booth traffic seemed mut- ed. I know the IPI has put the numbers at 2,500 (that includes exhibitor
personnel), so
exhibitors should be happy. I didn’t attend any of the
educational sessions, aswewere very busy in meetings most of the time. Good job, IPI. See you next year, June 9-
12, in the land of sun and sand, Phoenix.
*** We at Parking Today were fortunate enough to be asked to
play “Family Feud” in the PayLock booth at the 2011 IPI show. It was the last day, and for some reason (probably some kind of Texas sly move), IPI Chair-Elect Liliana Rambo of Houston’s ParkingManagement Division and her “Texas Family” threw the game, and the Parking Today Familywon. I was singularly unsuccessful, but my team (Andy, Marcy
and Tamara, a ringer fromtheACS) held up their end.We won! But what does any of this have to do with the TSA (Trans-
portation SecurityAdministration)? Read on. Wewere given great prizes by the PayLock crew– Cory, Bart,
Matt and the others. The one I will cherish is a “Starship Enter- prise” pizza cutter. It’s really “AbFab.”Andywon awine opener, and since I amthe heavy drinker in the family, he graciously gave it tome.Whatta boy!And therein turns the tale. I was running late, so I tossed everything in my bag and
made it to the airport with barely 45 minutes to spare. The lines were long, and when I got through the scanner, I noticed that the TSAperson at the monitor was calling everyone over to look at the X-ray of my bag. Then they asked nicely if I would mind if they searched my luggage. The plot thickens. I was sure they were after the pizza cutter. They spread my unmentionables all over the place, and
then asked: “Do you have a set of brass knuckles in your bag?” Whoops – the corkscrew was in the shape of a great pair of brass knuckles. Oh yeah, said I; it was a prize I won playing “Family Feud.”
I rummaged around and came up with the offending item. I fig- ured I would simply toss it and that would be the end – ha! At
6
that point, the TSA people went into SlowMotion – Iwas cursing Cory. They spent five minutes looking for the proper paperwork
and began filling it out. I asked if I couldn’t simply throw the corkscrew away. Nope – gotta fill out two pages of data with everything aboutme. Iwas cursing Bart. Then it got interesting. The police arrived. I looked confused;
Is the government going to come to a private business and demand that they give away their product to someone just because they purchase an EV?
they didn’t. A big strapping patrol officer told me that he was now trying to decide whether to arrestme for a felony – bringing aweapon through security (that, of course, is not allowed even in Pennsylvania) and trying to sneak it on an airplane. I was nowcursingMatt. He was actually reading
the fine print on the blister pack that held the offending item.He looked at me. “I am running you. Is there anything youwant to tell me?” I was cursing Cory’s parents. I have this minor problem.
There are two of me. Same name, same birth date, both of
us live in
LA.My doppelganger is a felon. I told himand he said, “Oh, that’s OK.We run into that all the time. Usually DNAtests can get you out of prison.” I was cursing even the concept of booting and enforcement. He finished reading the fine print and decided that I’mprob-
ably not a felon and said that, yes, it’s a “curio.”Hewould letme off with a strong warning. He said it’s legal to sell the item as a “curio,” but it’s illegal to own one. I looked at him, and he just smiled. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “Makes no sense.” Things were starting to look up. The TSAnow reappeared in
the form of a non-uniformed woman whose job it was to make me understand that they were only doing their jobs, and that if I thought about it, I was really the one in the wrong here. She did not succeed, but I keptmymouth shut. First time for everything. The TSAuniformreturned with the paperwork andmy tick-
ets and ID. The cop returned with a form that I should sign. He said he would fill it in later – all routine, nothing to see here. I signed and hurried to my plane. I was able to walk on board just as the door closed. Thinking back on it, all’s well that ends well. So thanks to
Cory,Matt, Bart, and the rest of the PayLock team and their vari- ous relatives and parents, this is a story Iwill be able to tell forev- er. But because of the TSA, I won’t have the pleasure of wearing brass knuckleswhen I open a fine vintage red.
*** According to a survey by Accenture, people can be induced
to purchase an electric vehicle (EV) – nowget this – if free parking goes along with it. Oh,
please.Not that old sawagain. First, itwas high-mileage vehicles, then hybrids, and now EVs. This is ludi- crous on its face.
Continued on Page 8 Parking Today
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