2.21.2007

A tale of red zone parking

I forgot to write about our wait for a table at Louis' Diner. If you go there during the weekend, expect to wait about 30-40 minutes for a table! Anyway, while we huddled together in an attempt to shield ourselves from the crazy windy day (the wind is filled with sand, which ends up in your mouth and eyes – yuck), I noticed that a car was parked right in front in a red zone AND a bus zone. I kept saying, "No way! How can that person not have gotten ticket yet???!!! I get a ticket for parking illegally for 5 minutes!". But it was a Sunday, on a steep, heavily trafficked street, so I figured parking enforcement would not want to deal with possibly getting killed to give someone a ticket (although I imagine it would be a juicy one).

So the entire time we waited for our table, I was also waiting for the car to get a ticket. When our name was finally called, still no ticket, but we went inside and I moved on to thinking about food. When our friendly waitress arrived, we started talking about parking in the area. She then proceeds to tell us how she parks in the red zone out front until a close parking space opens up for her to move her car into. The reason is because her shift ends late, and it's scary to walk in that area at 9pm when she gets to leave. I then found myself hoping that she wouldn't get a ticket and felt kinda bad for wishing that she would. I'm just glad I didn't blurt out "There's a car out front that should be TOWED!!!".

Anyway, all this is just another reminder for me that having compassion and understanding is the better way to go through life. That being said, I still think some people deserve what they get >:)

ps. Is it just me, or has there been nothing to buy at Target lately?