The Golden Ticket

Given the events that transpired yesterday afternoon, I suppose it’s fitting that the picture I posted for the snow storm prominently features one of our solar-powered parking stations. Before I get into my tale of woe, I want to clarify that I do pay for parking more often than not. That said, when I know I’m only going to be 5 minutes in a store, I usually take my chances, roll the dice and hope to hell the parking attendant isn’t making his way towards my vehicle. And so, on the 29th day of the 11th month in the year 2008, my 27 and a half year streak of being parking ticket free came to a glorious, fiery end. Will life ever be the same?

In all honesty, although I was extremely disappointed that the parking ticket ended up on my spotless windshield, I was also a bit excited about the whole ordeal. My partner is no stranger to parking tickets, and she is always bragging to me about how she’s paid them online and been able to save a few bucks for early settlement. So instantly all I could think about was how I could reduce my ticket from $15 to $10 for paying it immediately. In my driving career, I have easily dodged at least $10 worth of unpaid parking meters, so I’ll consider this as back pay to the City of Kingston for services rendered from 1996 to 1999.

The ticket itself was pretty easy to understand, listing info such as my license plate number, vehicle make, and even the infraction, which is appeared as a lengthy by-law number I will never check. For all I know, I could have received the ticket for not wearing a turnip on my belt, or having a 4′ spoiler on the back of my car. On the back side of the ticket, my options were clearly outlined, as I could either pay or protest the ticket in a court. The latter seemed to be a pretty extreme measure for someone to go to for such a pittance. I think you’d have to be pretty dedicated to your innocence, or devoted to maintaining a spotless record.

I then visited the parking ticket website listed on the reverse side. It was extremely easy to navigate, enter in my ticket, credit card and personal information. The entire experience lasted less than 2 minutes, and an Email was sent immediately to my personal address confirming receipt of payment. What more can you ask for? If only all the City services were this efficient.