a story of a parking ticket

what can i say
these days
my life seems to revolve around swimming
around the pool
in the pool and revolving in the pool
(swimming underwater with fins on
spiralling around like a lunatic
is
lots
of
FUN
...
yup
*nod self*)

the other day
i got a parking ticket
and it was for the funniest reason
i'd arrived at the pool early
so that i could swim a bit on my own
and then help some of the kids with basic techniques
(i'd offered
and they'd accepted
to come early and swim and play!)
and as i pulled up
to this funky island behind the college
i noticed one entire side of it was empty
(it's triangular in shape)
now usually
every edge of this island
is parked full of cars
with the exception of the small sections
where they have distinct no parking signs
so i thought to myself
how lucky! so much space to park
and i won't even have to walk far today
not that i mind walking...
so i pulled up to the side of the island
and there is just enough room for 2 cars
IF and only IF one parks right up to the point of the triangle
now,
there's a stop sign on this corner
and in the back of my mind
i remember reading somewhere or learning at some time
that one should park 15 feet from a stop sign or fire hydrant
but if i parked exactly 15 feet away
no one would be able to park behind me
(small island eh?)
so i edged up a little closer
and left just enough room
for another car to park behind me
needless to say
i was 9 feet away from the stop sign
but i thought
heck,
everyone always parks here
it's in a low traffic area
behind a school
with alot of industrial buildings around
and it's after hours
so no one is working there
why not?
and so off i went
and had an amazing swim
and an even more amazing practice
because my kids are so amazing
even when they're slacking
(and i'm not just saying this...
i've had a professional swim coach assessor
say what an amazing group of enthusiastic kids i have)
finishing the night off
with a nice chat with some of the parents
who'd come to pick up their kids
and then off i went
to my happily parked car
only to notice
that some rent-a-cop
had given me a $50 ticket
for being 2.40 metres away from the stop sign
(ok, so i thought it was 9 feet and
it was really only 7.92 feet...)
no name, just a hastily scribbled rentacop id
and a very poorly written
description of my vehicle (colour, make and model, etc)
-poorly written as in the handwriting looked as if
someone just learning how to write
was trying to form letters
(ok,
i shouldn't be such a snob
but if you're going to be writing tickets on back streets
at least send someone educated beyond elementary school PLEASE!
*pause*
ok,
i apologize to all the elementary school kids out there
y'all are nowhere close to this level of crappiness)
of course,
the amount i got ticketed
was a few nights' coaching wages
*mutter*
and i drove home
a little quicker than normal
because i wasn't too happy
and i kept wondering to myself
as good as it is
to be considerate of other people
i guess i really shouldn't break the law
even a stupid one like this
(i should take a photo of the "intersection with the island"
it's really quite funny)
because in the end
there are people out there
whose lives and jobs depend on
writing tickets to make other people sad
mind you,
i'm sure it's nothing personal
it's just a job to them after all
and i WAS breaking the law
but what i really wondered was
what if the ticket writer knew
that the only reason i'd parked
that little bit closer
was so that 2 people could park
(and parking is scarce there quite often)
and maybe i'd make someone's day
(you know, it always sucks to see
when some inconsiderate person
double parks, eh?)
would this ticket writer
have given me a break?
i'd like to think so
after all
what goes around, comes around
and so,
the next day
i found out one could pay parking tickets at a bank
(they call it a "financial institution" on the city website...
i was there checking about the 15 foot rule)
so off i went
across the street
to my lovely little bank
with really really great staff!
(i love those guys!)
and wrote a cheque for my ticket with a smile
saying,
i was here to pay my tuition
on learning to be careful not to break the law

the biggest thing i took away
from this whole experience is
the realization
that if this had happened
maybe 5 or 10 years ago
i think i would have just gotten angry
and been a real jerk the next time i parked
just to "get even" y'know?
and now,
today,
i think i'll still be as considerate as the situation allows
but i'm going to be like at least 15.1 feet away from
any freaking stop signs...
*grin*
it's good to know
that one can let things go
and just go on
with stuff that's fun
:)
after all,
i've finally realized
happiness is seriously
just
a state of mind