Smooth Talk Eases Way for Meter Maids

So you think your job has more hassles than rewards? Consider the perilous life of the big-city meter maid.

Like the postalman, she makes her daily rounds in spite of snow, sleet and hail, but the postman is less likely to get punched in the nose along the way.

Like the police officer, she wears a uniform and a badge, but doesn’t have the .38 special to back her up when things get hairy. And while cops are highly unpopular with criminal types, meter maids are hated by just about everyone.

Meter maids are reminded of this hatred almost daily--usually with insults and obscene gestures, but occasionally with blows. In Philadelphia, however, attacks of all varieties are decreasing thanks to a program that teaches officers (just under 70% of them women) how to talk their way out of sticky situations.

The success of the training program--part of a campaign to improve the image of the Philadelphia Parking Authority--can be measured in the number of casualties reported by the agency each year.

21 Assaults on Officers

“In 1984, there were 21 assaults of parking enforcement officers. Since January, 1986, there have been just three,” said authority spokeswoman Linda Miller.

Miller said the training program was “definitely the main reason” for the decline in physical attacks. Luvenia Wingfield, a supervisor in Philadelphia’s staff of 115 parking enforcement officers, said the key to success was teaching meter maids to be good diplomats.

“It’s like a form of public relations,” Wingfield said. “First of all, you have to realize that when a person gets a ticket he’s going to be upset. But if you can sensibly explain to the person why they got the ticket and maybe offer an alternative for next time, they will end up thanking you.”

That, in a nutshell, is the text of the three-week training course all meter officers must take before writing their first ticket. But there is more to it than memorizing hypothetical scenarios from a book.

All job candidates also must undergo on-the-job training in which they are judged for their ability to defuse confrontations, Wingfield said.

“We don’t push them out into the streets,” she said. “It’s only those officers that we feel are ready that get to go out and write tickets. You have to have the right attitude.”

For a meter maid, having the right attitude means three things:

-- Trying to put a positive slant on a negative situation.

-- Learning to “roll with the punches” (including highly personal insults from irate motorists).

-- Knowing when to walk away.

The first component has its basis in the proverb, “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” Wingfield said her meter officers try to head off potential conflicts by explaining gently the way to avoid getting a ticket in the future.

Try to Turn Anger Around

“Nobody likes getting a ticket. They’re already angry. So you have to be trying to turn that anger around by telling them something positive,” she said.

Learning to ignore insults and racial epithets is a more difficult skill to master. Wingfield recalled how she handled one particularly stinging tirade from an angry businessman.

“This man came out and called me every name you could think of. He called me so many names that, after I left, I had to laugh to myself,” she said. “I knew that if I called him names it wasn’t going to help matters. It’s just a name.”

Finally, being a smart meter maid means knowing when to walk away, and knowing when to run. Wingfield said there is simply no room for heroics or mule-headedness in the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

“If someone says, ‘You’d better not put that ticket on my car,’ you don’t have to put it on the car. You just walk away,” she said. “Rather than having a confrontation you just leave it alone. We’ll mail it to them.”

For all the training, insults and risks, the rewards for the meter maid are meager, at best. Salaries in Philadelphia start at $16,000 a year, and there is little room for advancement.

But there is some consolation, Wingfield said, in knowing that you are performing a valuable service. Meter officers ease traffic congestion and promote safety by removing obstructive vehicles. They make business districts more accessible to shoppers. And they use their two-way radios to summon police, firefighters and ambulances in times of emergency.

“Some people may think we’re just out there to get them, but it’s just not true,” she said. “It really would be a lot worse if we weren’t there.”