No one is excited when they see the white envelope waiting on the windshield. The dreaded parking ticket. One simple three-by-eight-inch slip of paper can elicit anger, frustration, regret.

But what about those who issue the tickets?

While being a “parking enforcement agent” isn’t romantic, and doesn’t come with perks like free parking anywhere, it’s a job a handful of people in each city love.

Cable TV channel A&E has decided to show the other side of the parking ticket, in a reality series on the Philadelphia Parking Authority. It should be a look at the ins and outs of a job filled with at least one verbal argument a day.

There are reports of the show a few places online, inlcuding here and here. I’m not sure when the show is slated to begin airing, or if there’s even a date yet.

I must say, I spent a few hours with one of our Parkwise parking enforcement officers one day here in Tucson, and it was interesting. While some people try to argue about the most obvious violations, others seemed to know they parked illegally and ran out to the street before we even got out of the vehicle to see if a ticket was warranted.

Others heckle. In the few hours I hung around, I heard several calls of “why don’t you get a real job?” and “don’t you have anything better to do?”

I also witnessed a few people who seemed physically threatening in their unwillingness to move the vehicle, even at the threat of a ticket.

It’s a tough job, mainly because very few people want to do it. Most of our local parking enforcement people have been doing it a few years, because either people start the job and can’t handle it for much more than a week, or they love it and stick with it for a while.

It’s not all bad though, sometimes people even apologize for parking illegally when they’re available to receive their ticket in person.

At the end of the day though, I was glad I didn’t have to get up and do the same thing five days a week.

If I hear more about the show, I’ll post it on this blog. If you have an update, feel free to post it below.