Here's a warning to all: If you want to PLAY in Lubbock, you got to PAY Lubbock. It looks like this means, "Bye Bye Birdie."

It seemed like Bird Scooters had a good thing going in Lubbock. The idea was being embraced, and I even had a friend or two making some bucks charging them up. The problem is, they didn't ask for permission to be here, and that gives our city leaders a serious case of the butthurt.

It appears that the Bird Scooters will be replaced with Lime Scooters, who claim to have been negotiating with the city for months. They are apparently gung-ho about a city permitting process that also requires them to have a formal agreement with a university. This will also most likely lock other scooter companies out amidst ridiculous fears of scooters being dumped all over the place (seriously).

Once this new ordinance the city has been working on goes into effect next Thursday, Bird will have to hit the road, and any scooters left in the Hub City will be impounded at a rate of $175 a piece (all of this goes to potential bike-sharing services, too).

I guess our city leaders have never heard of spirited competition. I really doubt we were going to hit some kind of critical mass of scooters lying around.

Go get that permit money, Lubbock...it's what makes you tick.