In many respects, we seem to be witnessing a time in the U.S. in which laws are broken almost as often as they are observed. No better evidence of this is the fact that millions of people have illegally crossed into the United States over the past few years, and most will never be identified and deported despite efforts of the administration in power to do so.
That shift in observance can be found all through the country, even down to the observance of local laws. Here’s an example: my wife and I have eaten at several small, good restaurants fairly close to our home but, in some respects, they couldn’t be more different. At one of them, the clientele of the restaurant and of neighboring businesses regularly park in handicap parking zones even though they are unable to display a placard identifying the occupant as one who is severely mobility impaired, as required by Florida law to possess such a placard. At the other restaurant just a few blocks away, the handicap parking zones remain unoccupied until someone displaying the required placard occupies the space.
So here you have two similar businesses in basically the same geographic area where visitors to the sites have extremely different philosophies about parking zones for the handicapped. In one case, those pulling in to visit one of the businesses could care less about taking advantage of an empty parking space notwithstanding it’s clearly identified as being available only to handicapped drivers. In the other case, the visitors possess the mentality of protecting such spaces for those who require parking in close proximity to their destination. Quite a difference in mentalities. Undoubtedly, these are the same drivers who regularly run stop signs and red lights, among other transgressions.
Okay so we recognize this puzzle about how different people in the same community react to abiding by our laws, but where is the enforcement? That’s a whole different story!