My Honor is Important

I had a friend get a parking ticket the other day. She posted it online and said something along the lines of thanks to our town. She had a friend post about how all government workers are corrupt and how horrible it was that he got a ticket once when he was fifteen minutes late for his paid meter. FIFTEEN MINUTES LATE and he was angry that he got a ticket. That is pretty black and white. We walk by, the meter is flashing zero, it is expired. We even have a five minute grace period on the meters so when we start the ticket, it has been expired AT LEAST five minutes. If it is a normal easy ticket, it takes me about 90 seconds to 2 minutes to write a ticket so that is SEVEN minutes. He went on to say how all parking officers pick and choose who they write tickets to and don’t write to their friends. I ended up engaging in conversation with him. He said that all people are corruptible and then admitted that he definitely is. I was glad to see that he could admit that he is that way but was really saddened that he thought that everyone was and that anyone in a job with any power at all doesn’t do things fairly.

My thoughts on the corruptible are this. My mother raised me to have honor. From Merriam Webster there are many definitions of honor but these are the ones I am talking about.

1a: good name or public esteem : REPUTATION

8a: a keen sense of ethical conduct : INTEGRITYa man of honor

b: one’s word given as a guarantee of performance

I told him that I had honor and he went on to ask what that had to do with anything? I guess he doesn’t understand that my honor is my value to myself. I need to be able to look myself in the mirror. If I tell someone that I am going to do something, I damn will do my best to do it. If I PROMISE, it will get done. I don’t make promises easily or often. I don’t break promises, which is why I stayed in an unhappy marriage for so many years. I have had jobs dealing with a LOT of money. For one year, I did the deposit for a local store every morning and would count thousands of dollars in CASH daily. It never crossed my mind to pocket any of it, though, realistically, it would have been easy to do on occasion. We were allowed to be off up to $5 a day. That could add up. I have worked in the medical field and know very personal information about a lot of local people. I have known secrets of many people I know, their spouses, their kids. I have never been tempted to tell them and currently, I write parking tickets for a living. I do not do any favoritism. Honestly, the majority of the time I have no idea whose car it is when I am writing a ticket but if I do know, I will watch for them to see if they are coming but when I am writing other tickets, I always am watching to see if anyone is coming. I must ask, “Is this your car?” at least a dozen times a day. If they say yes, I stop, if they say no, I continue. I have written a ticket to ex-bff/bff and almost completed a couple more. I definitely knew it was his car. I wrote I am sorry on his ticket but I still wrote it. I wrote a ticket to another friend and he texted me minutes later thanking me for not putting our friendship before my responsibility. R has a business here in town and has not only told me to give him tickets if he deserves them but to any of his employees, too. No one gets preferential treatment. If I walk by a car and do not give them a ticket and someone else sees the meter is at zero they may think I am playing favorites but there has to be a reason. My kid walked into her business after seeing me yesterday and told her co-workers that she hoped they were all paid because I was out there. The bartender told her that he doesn’t mess with meters anymore because I am ruthless. I adore this young man. I have booted people’s cars that I like. I don’t want to but I do. I had one young man came up just as I was finishing his boot. I told him I was upset that he made me do it as he hugged me. I waited with him while he had the police office come and write the summons for court to get the boot off instead of paying right away.

There are many reasons we don’t ticket an expired meter. We got a call the meter wasn’t working. Our equipment isn’t working. They have a handicap placard or plate. They have a pass for the area they are parked. There are even a few people in town high up that have a pass that they can park anywhere in town on business and not pay. Many of them pay anyway but not all. We don’t know if they are on business so we assume they are following the rules. We have no way of knowing. The last one that I can think of right now is if they have a government plate. They can park free almost anywhere. I have had people stop and ask me why I didn’t write a ticket and if asked politely, I have no problem stopping and talking to someone about the whys. There are times that I could write someone several tickets and stop at 2 so as to not be extra mean but I will not walk by an expired meter without writing a ticket without cause. The other tickets we write are mostly black and white either: If you are parked the wrong way, parked in a red, green, handicap, or loading zone, parked in a motorcycle spot and you are not driving a motorcycle, your vehicle registration is not displayed or not current. Even the out of space is pretty black and white but that is one ticket that we do have some officer discretion. Some of us are more strict than others. For me, it depends on where in town, how busy it is, if it looks like they tried, if it is a safety issue, if they are keeping others from parking legally and probably more. Honestly though, if you are on the line, you are out. We are supposed to look at the lines basically like a wall. You cannot be parked ON the wall. You are supposed to be INSIDE the space and that is not just the tires, it is the entire car, and the kayak on the top, or the bike on the back, of the wood sticking out the back, etc. If you need to take two spaces, take them and pay for both. We will NOT give you a ticket for that. We WANT you to be safe and make it so others can be safe, too.

It does sadden me that this man thought that everyone is corruptible. I know many are. I have seen it, we all have. We see about bad cops, bad government officials and others all the time but there are still people with honor and integrity in the world. We shouldn’t assume that someone doesn’t have honor just because of their job. There are good and bad everywhere and in every line of work. I personally have three friends locally that have had their businesses embezzled from. I cannot imagine doing that to anyone. My honor is worth much more than any money or power.

 

Parking advice- license plates

Occasionally, I will give out advice that really should not need to be given to my friends on Facebook. They all relate to my job in the parking world. I have decided to start sharing those here.

I am going to start with license plates. Most states in the US require s registration sticker on the vehicle AND for the plate to be readable. That applies even when you are NOT in your state. Unless you are from New Jersey or Pennsylvania, no matter where you are, you need to have visible proof of your registration on your vehicle. I don’t know if there are any other states that don’t require it at this time. That means if you are driving on our roads in Colorado, you can and may be pulled over by the police. They can run your plates to find out if you are registered and generally will just give a warning if you are registered. If you are PARKED, we can and I WILL give you a ticket in my town. Parking enforcement officers cannot run your plates to see if you’re registered and the law is that it has to be displayed. That means that even if you have it, you are breaking the law if it is not displayed. I will write a ticket if your year or month sticker are missing. You can prove your registration and maybe the ticket will be voided but I view these more as a warning to fix it before you get pulled over. If the police write you the ticket for registration, it is a much higher fine AND a moving citation so POINTS on your license.

The things I cannot write a ticket for but you can get pulled over for are things like a dirty plate that is unreadable or a worn out plate. I will politely tell you if I see you to replace your plate if needed. I will wash off a plate to read the registration. A police officer can give you a ticket for either. I have personally been pulled over for a temporary plate that was unreadable in the back window of a car.

My recommend that you look at your plates regularly. Every time you wash the windows, wash your plates and your lights. If you think about it, they are as dirty, if not worse, than your windows. You will also be keeping an eye on the plates wear and tear and if your stickers are valid. Many times, people that are expired say they never received the notice from the state but things get lost in the mail sometimes, it is put in the wrong box, you misplace it, etc. There are many reasons why we may not remember to register our cars but it is OUR responsibility. Take responsibility for yourself and your car and do what you can to avoid this ticket. Remember, we are just enforcing rules and all of the tickets I write are avoidable.