This morning I pull into the parking lot, hoping for a good spot. Unfortunately, I am out of luck and can’t find one.

   Then while I gather my things and get out of my car, I notice something.

   A car in one of the front row spots is occupied by a parent. The spot is right in front of the gate and the closest space possible to the school.

   As I am looking at this car, a girl gets out of the front seat. She had her dad park and wait in that spot until the bell rang for her to start heading to class.

   The parent then pulled out of the spot and left the parking lot.

   I almost changed spots to take it, but when I looked at the line of cars behind me dropping their kids off, I thought better of it and stayed where I was.

   Thinking back, this is something I’d actually seen often, but until now I hadn’t realized what was going on.

   I routinely see parents parked in the parking lot, but before today, I hadn’t realized why they were there.

   I thought maybe they were PAWS parents or had some kind of business at the school, but no, they’re just taking up space.

   Instead of leaving room for a junior or senior to park, they occupy the spot simply so their kid doesn’t have to wait out in the quad like everyone else.

   That’s completely ridiculous. I now have to park farther from the school because some spoiled kid doesn’t want to wait outside.

   When I was a freshman and sophomore, my parents dropped me off in the front of the school, and I waited outside like every one else.

   Why do these kids think they should get this privilege? It’s outrageous for me to lose a great spot because this parent has decided to go ahead and wait ten minutes with their kid in the car just so they don’t look uncool or whatever it is they are worried about.

   Parents should not be allowed to park in student parking. It’s called student parking for a reason. It’s completely unfair to those of us that drive to school and no longer have a spot because a parent is parked there instead.

   I just don’t understand why a parent would say okay to that. So their kid doesn’t have to stand out in the quad with the rest of the students – for what reason?

   Underclassmen need to learn to get over it and realize that we’ve all been there and these kids need to get over it.

   In a year or two, when they start driving, they can park in the parking lot.

   Until then, they need to learn to like getting dropped off and being outside because it’s completely outrageous that you are taking up a spot because you won’t just wait in the quad for class to start.