I went to the Pearl District on my lunch today to pick up a couple of books from Powell’s that I have been wanting (one on candle making and one by Joyce Maynard called "At Home in the World"). After dropping the books off at my car I decided to duck into Peet’s for a small latte. Maybe ten minutes later I was sliding back into the driver seat, latte in hand. After making room for it in the cup holder, I started the engine, took the parking receipt off the window and proceeded to read a text message before I drove out on the street.
Halfway through the message I hear a knock on my passenger side window.
I look up and see a grumpy looking man with a hand held ticket generator signaling me to roll down my window.
Being the natural cynic I am, I look him up and down to make sure he isn't another bum begging for money, or someone from green peace asking me to save a child in Somalia or something. The sew-on semi-police looking badge on his jacket gave him a little credibility (but not much), so I opened the window a crack and asked him what the problem was.
He alerted me to who he was (a meter maid) and proceeded to write me a ticket.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm about to leave" I say while holding up the $0.80 sticker the auto-pay machine gave me for 30 minutes of time. According to my receipt there was still a good ten minutes left that I could park there without issue.
He gave me a look of disgust.
"For your information, since you failed to leave the curb I could give you a ticket in the amount of $40 for not displaying your parking ticket. $40".
"But I just got back to my car" I said. Holding up my phone I say "I was just reading a message before heading out".
"You are not allowed to simply sit at the curb for any amount of time no matter what you are doing" he says, haughtily.
It is my natural instinct to argue with idiots. Like the city would really rather me read a text on the street, or would give me a ticket right after I pull into the spot while I was rustling around the car for $0.75 to plug into the machine. Reaaaaally. But since he stopped writing the ticket I decided to just play along with his little power trip and said "I'm sorry, it won't happen again". What I really wanted to do was tell him how ridiculous he sounded and drive away, but since the smugness in the air was thick enough to choke a person I knew that going down that route would probably end with me in court fighting a now $160 ticket since by the time I would have actually gotten notice of payment due it would have been too late to pay the original amount. No, by then it would have quadrupled, because somehow the system justifies this. Best to just play nice, I think. I gave him my most sincere smile and he went away.
I realize that to the city, parking tickets are a major form of revenue. Meter maids, or whatever the politically correct term for them is nowadays, are like sharks, waiting to bite as soon as you get into the water without the proper protection. Is it really too much to ask for a little grace period? A little common sense?? It's one dollar and sixty cents an hour to park on the street in downtown Portland, yet I can get a ticket for 34 times that amount for not having the sticker on the window of a running car while I am sitting at the wheel? Maybe its just me, but this seems more than a little off. Its downright wrong.
Halfway through the message I hear a knock on my passenger side window.
I look up and see a grumpy looking man with a hand held ticket generator signaling me to roll down my window.
Being the natural cynic I am, I look him up and down to make sure he isn't another bum begging for money, or someone from green peace asking me to save a child in Somalia or something. The sew-on semi-police looking badge on his jacket gave him a little credibility (but not much), so I opened the window a crack and asked him what the problem was.
He alerted me to who he was (a meter maid) and proceeded to write me a ticket.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm about to leave" I say while holding up the $0.80 sticker the auto-pay machine gave me for 30 minutes of time. According to my receipt there was still a good ten minutes left that I could park there without issue.
He gave me a look of disgust.
"For your information, since you failed to leave the curb I could give you a ticket in the amount of $40 for not displaying your parking ticket. $40".
"But I just got back to my car" I said. Holding up my phone I say "I was just reading a message before heading out".
"You are not allowed to simply sit at the curb for any amount of time no matter what you are doing" he says, haughtily.
It is my natural instinct to argue with idiots. Like the city would really rather me read a text on the street, or would give me a ticket right after I pull into the spot while I was rustling around the car for $0.75 to plug into the machine. Reaaaaally. But since he stopped writing the ticket I decided to just play along with his little power trip and said "I'm sorry, it won't happen again". What I really wanted to do was tell him how ridiculous he sounded and drive away, but since the smugness in the air was thick enough to choke a person I knew that going down that route would probably end with me in court fighting a now $160 ticket since by the time I would have actually gotten notice of payment due it would have been too late to pay the original amount. No, by then it would have quadrupled, because somehow the system justifies this. Best to just play nice, I think. I gave him my most sincere smile and he went away.
I realize that to the city, parking tickets are a major form of revenue. Meter maids, or whatever the politically correct term for them is nowadays, are like sharks, waiting to bite as soon as you get into the water without the proper protection. Is it really too much to ask for a little grace period? A little common sense?? It's one dollar and sixty cents an hour to park on the street in downtown Portland, yet I can get a ticket for 34 times that amount for not having the sticker on the window of a running car while I am sitting at the wheel? Maybe its just me, but this seems more than a little off. Its downright wrong.
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