Unpopular though it is, somebody's got to do it, and Mrs. Marion Medeiros loves her job. A born "people person," and blessed with an outgoing personality, she sees herself as more than "just a traffic warden".

"I am also an ambassador for Bermuda, because the first thing a visitor sees when they are lost is a traffic warden," she says. "They ask you everything - where to go, where to have lunch...it's a very good job."

A former professional chef who worked at the Southampton Princess hotel for 12 years, Mrs. Medeiros took five years off to have her children and spend time with them. On returning to the work force, since the long hours required of a chef were no longer viable, she chose to become a traffic warden instead.

Now she knows Hamilton backwards and, it seems, everybody who walks its streets. Today, she's working Beat 2, an area that includes City Hall car park.

Her eyes are everywhere. Nothing and no-one escapes her notice. The dialogue is continuous, most of it laced with charm. Or at the very least, courtesy.

"Hi sweetie, you had your baby. What did you have? A boy. That's nice."

A man parked sitting on his bike on a pedestrian crossing is causing an obstruction. Very politely, Mrs. Medeiros asks him to move.

"If I was a foreigner would you say something?" is the sullen response.

"Yes, uh-huh," she answers. "And you need air in your tyres."

The man doesn't move.

"Come on, sir" she urges, waiting until he finally goes.

"I know him," she says. "He hangs around Court Street."

Down the street she spots an elegant vehicle.

"That's the commissioner's old car," she notes.

Around the corner she bumps into Arnold Allen, who was the first male traffic warden in 30 years, but left after two years for various reasons.

"I always loved the job and I miss it," he says. "I always stop to talk to the wardens to find out how things are going. The ladies don't miss a trick."

Recalling his own career, he remembers that "old ladies gave me the most trouble They would try to sweeten me up, but I'd say, `Ma'am, you've been driving longer than anybody else'."

When it comes to issuing tickets the two agree that not even friends are immune, even if some stop speaking to them as a result.

Before moving on, I learn that Mr. Allen is a Warrant Officer who has been with the Bermuda Regiment for 27 years, and Mrs. Medeiros, a former Lance Corporal, was the first female in the cooks department.

Next she greets a young man standing in a doorway. He smiles and says `Hello'.

"He was one of the first people I gave a ticket to," she says afterwards. No grudges there.

"Hi, how are you?" she sings out to someone across the street. "What did you get your mamma for her birthday?"

His negative answer brings the response: "What, you're still living home and you didn't buy her anything? You're worthless!"

"Hey girl, I see you got your new car."

An S-registered car catches her eye.

"Now look at this. No special permit, no parking voucher." It is ticketed, as is the next car along, where the voucher is partially obscured by the manufacturer's windscreen tint - something she says catches a lot of people out.

In City Hall car park, Mrs. Medeiros quickly spots an expired voucher.

"Time's up," she declares. "I give them five minutes' grace and then that's it."

Her sparkling manicure moves swiftly over the Autocite keys.

The owner returns, is "so sorry", and asks for a break.

"Ma'am, you were literally 39 minutes late and I can't give you a break, the ticket is issued," she explains.

Along comes someone whom the warden knows is handicapped, but who doesn't have a special sticker. She leaves with full instructions on how to get one.

Two men are discovered enjoying lunch parked in a handicapped bay.

"Excuse me, are you handicapped" she asks each of them in turn.

Surprised, they answer `No'.

"Then I'm sorry, you'll have to move, this is a handicapped bay," the friendly warden says. "Go down to Albuoys Point. You get a nice breeze, water view, girls...You also get girls going on the ferry and taking their lunch. Take a girl with you. You'll be surprised. You might get some points with her."

Like bees to honey they leave, smiling.

Back on Church Street, Mrs. Medeiros sees a man in a car and jokes that she'll give him a ticket "just for the hell of it".

Unfortunately, it's a case of mistaken identity, and she apologises, concluding with, "Enjoy your day."

"Sweetie, come off the sidewalk," she tells a man sitting on his bike. He moves without a word.

"Good afternoon my good man," she greets an illegally-parked taxi driver. "Could you please move."

Told he's waiting for his daughter, the warden responds: "Yes, well by the time you go around the block she'll be here. Come on sweetie," and she helps him to get into the line of traffic.

A man in a van is advised he's only half parked in a loading zone.

"Okay darlin'," he answers, moving off.

After hours pounding the hot street, it's time to visit The Spot for her daily glass of ice water with lemon.

"You need to get your eight glasses of water a day, you know," Mrs. Medeiros says.

I also learn that she knows where the best private rest rooms in town are, where she is apparently a welcome "guest".

Back on the beat, it's more of the same: business tinged with pleasure. Service with a smile.

She greets a dapper gentleman with steel grey hair and a wonderful smile.

"He's a judge," she says, introducing me. Their banter ends with, "How's your wife and kids?" as he moves off.

"Excuse me," a truck driver, stuck in traffic, hollers. "Could you give me some tickets?"

"Boy, go home and mend something," he's told.

To a woman parked illegally with no voucher, it's "Lady, you should be ashamed of yourself. No voucher and on double yellow lines."

The offender zooms away.

"We are here to educate the public," the warden says in her wake.