Is That Honda Yours?

One thing I forgot to mention that happened on Saturday was while I was paying for parking, a meter attendant walked up to us and asked, “Is that Honda yours?” It’s a good to know that the Seattle meter attendants are at least reasonable. Turns out the term “meter maid” is actually derogatory.

Why bring up this story? I had recently read this letter on Digg: Australians Are Good At Disputing Parking Tickets and found the situation rather amusing.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to dispute the above-mentioned “infringement” notice, which was presented to me at 8:26am on March 11th 2010, approximately 30-40 seconds after I pulled into the car space in La Trobe Street.

Firstly, allow me to congratulate the officer involved, who’s application to his job is something we can all learn from. How’s this for dedication: I park my car at approximately 8:25am. I get out of my car & walk around to the boot, where my briefcase is. I dig into my briefcase & come up with the $8.00 required to pay for my 2 hours of parking. I close the boot & start walking towards the ticket machine (which is right next to my car), when at precisely 8:26am old mate gives me a puzzled look, asks me “where did you come from?” and proceeds to tell me I’ve been written up & given a ticket.

Seriously, I’ve gotta hand it to him – this guy’s a genius. Somehow he knew I fully intended to comply with the regulations and pay for my parking, so he did what any good parking officer would do – he wrote me a ticket before I even had the chance to walk the 8 steps to the machine to & pay for one. Officer 355 must get a raise, no questions asked. If the City of Melbourne had more officers that demonstrated this type of innovation, imagine the revenue that could be raised! We might even be able to afford – I don’t know, some police? Another giant wheel near Docklands? More parking officers!?

I accept full responsibility for not getting from my car to the ticket machine in time. The 30-40 seconds I let lapse between parking and finding my $8.00 was clearly my fault. Can you please advise me what the threshold is for time lapsed before purchasing a ticket? In the interim, I will commence winding down my window as I pull in and throwing my coins at the ticket machine in the hope that some find their way into the coin slot – if I can then get a passer-by to hit the button for me, this should enable me to have the ticket before I get out of my car.

Or you could waive the ticket. Please check the officer’s notes & do so – this is bullshit.

Yours in disbelief etc,

(name deleted)

(Text copied from Pantless Ponderings)

Speaking of which, has anyone figured out where all the free parking days come from?

• Third Monday of January: Martin Luther King Jr.?
• Third Monday of February?
• Last Monday of May: Memorial Day?
• First Monday of September: Labor Day?
• November 11?