Parking Malaise

I borrowed my Dad's truck quite some time ago, and it has, for the most part, been parked in the spot behind the house. The parking spot is off the alley that runs between the houses on the east and west sides of my block.

I made a commitment to myself that I would never get another parking ticket for the rest of my life. My last parking ticket was 311 days ago.

I went to the grocery store yesterday and when I returned some idiot had parked in front of their garage and therefore blocked me from being able to get into my spot. Had I not been driving a pick-up I might have been able to squeeze in, but despite my vehicle's ability to drive over the Kia hatchback without my feeling a jostle, I couldn't park in my free spot. I didn't get upset, since there was parking on the street. As long as I moved the car before 2:00am I would be fine. By then the red car, I expected, would be gone. That's the kind of inconvenience that ruins a lot of people's days, but I think is just the way things are and I don't think that getting angry about it is worth the energy.

I got home from work, and had to take care of a plugged toilet, and then I wrote a long overdue DVD review, read for a bit, and went to sleep.

I woke up this morning, went to the bathroom, and wandered down for some cereal. I looked out the back window and noticed that the truck wasn't in its spot.

[insert long string of curse words here]

After getting that out of my system, I resolved not to get upset about getting a $35 ticket, but just to convince myself that it could be a lot worse. I didn't rush outside to move the truck since there was no doubt in my mind that there'd be a yellow piece of rain-soaked paper with a smudged-ink fine on it.

I enjoyed my breakfast and some Skype, and then showered and got dressed. As I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled my socks on, I thought about my plan to never get another parking ticket and realized just how intensely foolish that plan was. How could I conceivably go the next 50 years without a parking ticket? I guess that some people do, but living in the city and being absent-minded is not a good combination. I felt like an idiot for a while and tried, as Brian is always telling me to do, to feel as much shame and self-loathing as possible.

I built up all my courage and headed out to move the truck. It was parked right in front of my house and as I approached it, I expected to see the gleam of yellow like Merseault's sun glinting off the blade.

I was flabbergasted, stunned, and shocked to not see a ticket. How in a city with hundreds of parking ticket patrol cars, could I not have a ticket on my illegally parked overnight windshield? I couldn't believe my luck that I not only saved the $35, but, more importantly, that my ticket-free streak continues.