EARLIER TODAY I went out to lunch with a friend from Connecticut who is here in Maine on business. We drove separately and met at the restaurant, which is located in Portland’s busy Old Port district. A little bistro tucked on a side street, it does not have a parking lot but there is plenty of on-street parking available right out front, with meters. The fee is a quarter for fifteen minutes; this comes to about two dollars if you have a long lunch, or less if you don’t.
After we each had found a parking spot, my friend expressed outrage that there was no free parking for the restaurant’s patrons. “People in Connecticut would never stand for this,” she exclaimed. “Nobody in Connecticut would ever pay for parking just to go out for lunch!”
This got me wondering several things. First, would people who live in Connecticut pay for parking to go out for dinner? Next, what are the people living there called? Connecticutites? Connecticuters? Connecticutonians? And lastly, could my friend possibly be correct? I simply don’t believe that every restaurant in the state of Connecticut that serves lunch also provides free parking for its patrons, or that all the residents of that state demand it.
If anyone knows the answers to any of these questions, please tell me. The only thing I know for sure is that most people, no matter where they live, will say just about anything, especially when they are hungry.
–Andrea Rouda
Andrea Rouda blogs at The Daily Droid.