SUPER BOWL LII: No Parking for Minnesota’s Veterans

When it comes to parking at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis, veterans have been losing out to Super Bowl fanatics.

Let me put that another way. If you’re a veteran — unwell, diseased, disabled, traumatized, or otherwise suffering from poor health — and need to come to the Minneapolis VAMC for any medical care, good luck in finding a place to park. Why? Because the Super Bowl has come to town, baby!

And the people who live in this state know what that means. Bye, Bye, “Minnesota Nice.” Hello to fawning over and favoring the Football Gods & their inconsiderate fans. In this case, the Boosters for the Bold North have decided to use parking places at the VAMC designated for veterans (and their accompanying family members) as their personal park n’ ride lot.

And the veterans who must use these medical facilities know what that means. Not only have there been difficulties in finding places to park, there’s no info about it from the VA itself. So I’m not blaming Super Bowl mania entirely for this parking problem. Are you listening, VAMC?

That sprawling bureaucracy otherwise known as the Minneapolis VAMC, along with Veteran’s Administration in general, only exist to create confusion, not clarity. The management and police at the Minneapolis VAMC have dealt with this issue by resorting to their usual M.O. That is, the people in charge have remained so secretive that no information about the parking problem was conveyed to patients. And many of the doctors, nurses, and medical staff at the Minneapolis VAMC didn’t know what was going on, either.

Uh-oh. Get ready for another critical op-ed about how the powers-that-be have royally screwed up — again.

Does that sound too harsh? Remember, we still have freedom of speech in this country. Before you get all defensive, gentle readers, and start slamming me for criticizing the government’s treatment of its veterans, here’s the backstory.

Complications with patient parking at the Minneapolis VAMC actually started a few years earlier when the light rail (supposedly Minnesota’s state-of-the-art public transportation) got going. Because the light rail started running and making stops on the street right next to the medical facility, the unofficial park n’ ride began. Parking at the VAMC was never intended as such, but that didn’t stop the light rail riders from parking there.

How strange. Here we are in 21st Century America, engulfed in this state of heightened security because of both foreign and domestic terrorism…And yet, anyone and everyone can park at this government healthcare facility? And you don’t have to be an employee? Or patient? Or accompanying family member of the patient? That’s nuts. That’s crazy. The only noticeable thing the VAMC has done about this lot is to close the gate on the West side so pedestrians and drivers can’t go in or out of the parking lot as often or as easily. Remember, kids, it’s not the government, it’s the people IN the government who are screwing things up.

But I digress. Back to the backstory.

Light rail riders would park their vehicles, then ride to downtown Minneapolis — usually to work, but often to attend special events like concerts or baseball games or football games. Then they’d ride the rail back to the VAMC lot, get in their cars or SUV’s and leave.

Needless to say, parking problems began occurring when the light rail riders started staying too long at the lot. Or when too many of them began parking in spots intended for patients coming to this VAMC. Veterans and their families did complain about it. Managers in charge of such concerns at the VAMC heard about it and knew about it. But the VAMC never adequately discussed, researched, or resolved this problem.

Meanwhile, the Minneapolis VAMC expanded, building a new clinic for traumatic brain and head injuries. More parking spaces were lost. But then, more room for parking was made available with a new four-level parking ramp…And yet, parking problems for patients continued, thanks to the light rail-turned-VAMC-interlopers.

Just how, you might wonder, can I tell the difference between patients taking up more spaces VS park n’ riders taking over more parking spaces?

Easy. If there’s no big thing going on at the VAMC — like massive flu shot inoculations or any feel-good commemorative ceremonies — then it’s pretty obvious the park n’ riders have taken over.

Then too, when BFF (one of those pro-active vets who isn’t intimidated by The Man) contacted the VAMC about it, his suspicions were confirmed.

“Why was it so hard to find a parking place?” he asked a woman at the VAMC Call Center. “What’s going on?”

She actually told him, “It’s Super Bowl parking.”

Now that’s a direct quote. That’s exactly what she said. Really. So she knew about it. Aha! He thanked her, then hung up to process what she’d just told him.

But when he phoned back minutes later to further inquire why the VAMC or VA Police had done nothing to warn or prepare patients about this parking problem, he got nowhere. Another woman at the Call Center answered the phone, and she had no idea what he was talking about. So he explained to her what had happened.

She said she didn’t know why it happened.

Then he asked her to ask the VA Police why they hadn’t done anything about it. She put him on hold. When she came back on the line, she said, “I asked them, but they wouldn’t tell me.”

Not they didn’t know but they refused to tell me.

Then she added, “They said there was parking in Lots 1 and 2.”

WRONG! There were NO available places to park in either lot. In fact, they were both full — so crowded that cars were illegally parked in traffic lanes.

I should know. I was there.

On Thursday, February 1st, I drove BFF to the VAMC for his two morning appointments and searched in vain for someplace, any place, to park our compact car. But nothing was available. Not in Lot 1. Not in Lot 2. Not on any level of the parking ramp. Not in the “overflow” lots. Not even in the designated Employee Lots. Nothing. Nil. Nada.

So he missed both medical appointments that day because there was no way to get him to the VAMC.

Of course, I tried to get him inside the building. I foolishly asked BFF if he wanted me to drop him off, then continue the search for a parking spot alone. No, he said. He wanted me to be with him, to help him. He didn’t us to be separated. Last time we did a drop-off, he went into the VAMC by himself, exactly where he told me he’d go. But when I finally arrived at the same place, less than 15 minutes later, I got trapped in a surrealistic Hitchcock film.

Not only was I told he wasn’t there, but I was also told they didn’t have his name in their files, they had no idea where he was, and they’d never seen anyone who looked like him, either. True story. It really did happen, and I wouldn’t recommend that awful feeling of panicked helplessness to anyone. Ever.

So any drop-off, especially with older veterans who have numerous and integrated health problems, is never a good idea at the VAMC.

I wish that little snot who castigated me when I phoned the Call Center that day would have understood why I didn’t do drop-offs anymore. She didn’t.

Her tone was too derisive to even sound somewhat understanding or professional. When I explained my predicament, she shot back with “You came down here and left because you couldn’t find anywhere to park? Why didn’t you drop him off!”

Because, I answered, he didn’t want me to. “I asked him, but he didn’t want me to. He wanted me to stay with him.”

Besides, I left my dog sled at home, and my huskies were still in the shop.

Besides, should any veteran or family or friend ever be put on the defensive like that? Should anyone ever be interrogated like that? Should anyone ever have to be in such an absurd situation like the one we were in?

No, to all of the above.

Veterans who must go to a VAMC for their healthcare should always have top priority when it comes to parking at any VA/government facility. They (and their drivers) should never be forced to park a quarter or half-mile away in a region of ice during sub-zero temperatures.

If veterans and their sidekicks were well enough to make this arctic trek from slippery side streets to VAMC, they wouldn’t need to go to the doctor in the first place. They’d be out ice fishing and kissing eel pouts all winter long.

Just once I’d like to see the management at the local VA level effectively address the concerns and complaints of veterans. Just once I’d like to see them actually DO SOMETHING to correct or alleviate some problem. Unfortunately, their way of handling any elephant in the room is to pretend the elephant isn’t there. Or else, promote the elephant to the rank of Sergeant Major.