They found me...
... I don’t know how, but they found me.
(OK, perhaps my license plate was a bit of a hint.)
While I was in Boston this past September, I stayed in an area with “permit-only” street parking. Not a problem, I had a guest permit to use and I placed it lovingly in my front window. The next morning I went out to my car to find a $40 orange parking ticket glowing from beneath my windshield wiper.
Son of a bitch! I looked all around and yes, I was parked legally. I looked at the ticket, “Guest Abuse.” Guest Abuse? Are you kidding me? THE PERMIT IS IN MY WINDOW! A ticket for “your car was giving me the stink eye” would have been less ridiculous!
After some advisement from peers, I decided to ignore the ticket. Why would the state of Massachusetts want to waste the time tracking someone over in New York? It made sense at the time.
The plan was working well up until yesterday - when I received the following hello from the town of violation.
Dear Kirsten,
You can run, but you cannot hide. You are a terrible person because you own a car that gave one of our officers the stink eye you abused your right to park here. Therefore, your ticket has now increased to $45. Failure to appear or pay violations will subject your vehicle to seizures. Your near perfect driving record will be forever tarnished by your unfortunate decision to abuse our sacred parking permits.
Cheers,
"town of violation"
Not verbatim… but you get the idea. Normally I would pay the stupid ticket and forget about it - but I did no wrong! There is the option to fight it, but the travel expenses exceed the fine. Oh heavens, what should I do: swallow my pride and pay the $45 that I really cannot afford to loose right now - or continue down the path of “there’s nobody home!”
Your wisdom is appreciated.
Comments
Pay it! otherwise it will go down on your permanent record! :-)
Posted by: Clare | November 8, 2006 7:33 AM
Uh oh... Chris has about 12 of those tickets. They haven't sent HIM any letters yet! His lawyer friend said MA has a completely separate system from anywhere else and they can't track it- this is making me nervous. Very nervous.
Posted by: shelley | November 8, 2006 8:28 AM
c: i wonder if they will file it next to my poor math grades... the same poor math grades that my course 3 high school math teacher said would impact whether I get a job or not, later in life.
s: there is probably a warrant out for his arrest - somewhere in a pile at scott's house.
Posted by: kir | November 8, 2006 10:26 AM
You had better pay it because it is similar to a late book at the library. One day, 123 years from now, your great great great great grandson will have a $56, 972.07 ticket to pay. The good news is that by then, that amount will be pocket change.
Posted by: PMH | November 8, 2006 11:42 AM
My confusion could be due to a majority of my brain being on power save...
But you somehow got a letter from Massachusetts while parked in NY? Confused :-/
Either way, I'd call them up and inform them that they are idiots - you have photographic proof!
PS: like the new look/feel of the site
Posted by: Dan | November 8, 2006 1:19 PM
Kirsten, rather than pay it or drive to Mass, maybe you could write a letter explaining what happened. I have done that twice with parking tickets I've gotten and the tickets were dropped. It might be worth it to write the letter so you don't admit wrongdoing, and maybe you won't have to pay anything.
Oh, both times I was in the wrong, but pleaded "good behavior" in the past. I owe my persuasive writing skills to my Rhetoric I and Rhetoric II courses I took in college. : )
Posted by: Fran | November 8, 2006 1:20 PM
PMH: hey that amount is pretty close to my student loan debt!
D: I was parked in Boston, Ma. They found me in NY.
F: I actually thought of doing that. I've talked my way out of 3 speeding tickets, so I am certainly skilled at the powers of persuasion myself... it just seems to work better when I am actually guilty and more money/damage is involved ;)
Posted by: kir | November 8, 2006 1:57 PM
Well... at least it's not the Libyans looking for their plutonium?
Posted by: shelley | November 8, 2006 5:14 PM
NICE.WORK.SHELLEY!
Posted by: kir | November 8, 2006 5:37 PM
There's a spot in Manhattan where I parked my car every night for two months. Then on December 28 (end of the month AND the year, Happy Effing Holidays!) they gave me two tickets within 5 hours and towed the car before sunrise. Trust me, when you've shelled out upwards of $300 to free your car that was 3 feet to close to a hydrant, $45 is but pittance for the New Yorker. Pay it and get it overwith, but don't expect the pain to go away any time soon.
Posted by: Noelle | November 8, 2006 7:45 PM
N: oh i've been towed before, FROM A CHURCH PARKING LOT. still does not hinder my will to fight :)
Posted by: kir | November 8, 2006 11:16 PM