Me.
I'm still so &%**@ pissed off I can't see straight.
Rewind to about 15 minutes ago:
Test driving a customer's car, I drive through grocery store parking lot to run over some speed bumps to see how the suspension feels, and I see a woman about 80 years old, struggling with a full grocery cart and a smaller pull cart behind her, right in front of the store. I pulled over, put the flashers on, car parked in front of the store (technically a loading/unloading zone, no red curb), hopped out and went over to see if she needed some help. She was trying to get back into the store to call a cab, so I helped her in with the big cart and found an out of the way area in the front of the store where she could set aside for a few minutes while calling a taxi. I bid my farewells and walked back out.
When I got outside, I see the vehicle I was driving, being ticketed for parking there. I explained what I did, and why I did it, and that I had been there perhaps 2 minutes at the most, and I may as well have been talking to the brick wall. It was explained that because technically no one was in the vehicle, it was parked, and there's no parking in the loading zone.
For shit's sake. WTF is wrong with people?
Livid is a mild term for how I felt, and yet given a choice, I would have done it all over again. I wanted to choke the living crap out of that "for-hire parking lot official".
The tickets written by the Rent-A-Cops are as legal as if the Police Chief himself wrote it. There is a co-operative between them.
I am going to go back to the store, speak to the manager and find out the particulars and see if they want the wonderful publicity for who they have hired on their behalf to monitor and keep their parking lot safe and secure from thugs like me. ROFL
Sounds like one of those stories that the media would love to run. "Good Samaratin gets ticket while helping 80 year-old women in need". Shopping center security guard says "I'm just doing my job". Our calls to XYZ Corp., that owns the shopping center, have yet to be returned...get the details tonight on the 6 O'Clock news..."
Hey Brad, sorry to hear about the ticket. As fast as it happened makes me wonder if the security guy was watching you.
And thanks for being such a great human being to stop and help the lady. Not many people do that kind of stuff anymore. So to calm yourself down, think of how you made that lady feel.
Hey Brad, did you tell Mr. Rent-a-cop Hanneke's screen name?
No, but I did make give Dr. Phil a run for his money, as I was able to make a nearly instantaneous personality assessment, and give him his results on-the-spot. Told him he must hate his Mother and Grandmother and had no compassion for human nature.
Was not one reaction from the stone-faced man.
I think he was an outtake from the Sci-Fi Challenge myself - a total Android.
Me.
I'm still so &%**@ pissed off I can't see straight.
Rewind to about 15 minutes ago:
Test driving a customer's car, I drive through grocery store parking lot to run over some speed bumps to see how the suspension feels, and I see a woman about 80 years old, struggling with a full grocery cart and a smaller pull cart behind her, right in front of the store. I pulled over, put the flashers on, car parked in front of the store (technically a loading/unloading zone, no red curb), hopped out and went over to see if she needed some help. She was trying to get back into the store to call a cab, so I helped her in with the big cart and found an out of the way area in the front of the store where she could set aside for a few minutes while calling a taxi. I bid my farewells and walked back out.
When I got outside, I see the vehicle I was driving, being ticketed for parking there. I explained what I did, and why I did it, and that I had been there perhaps 2 minutes at the most, and I may as well have been talking to the brick wall. It was explained that because technically no one was in the vehicle, it was parked, and there's no parking in the loading zone.
For shit's sake. WTF is wrong with people?
Livid is a mild term for how I felt, and yet given a choice, I would have done it all over again. I wanted to choke the living crap out of that "for-hire parking lot official".
This is one ticket I am going to contest.
What I found hilarious, is that you can say that "technically a loading / unloading zone" but oh what the heck, "I can park here because I am here to help that struggling older woman with her groceries because damn, it's the right thing to do!" Why not do the right thing, park in a proper spot... help the woman out, jump back in the vehicle that you were test driving and be on your merry way?
Because by the time he drove around to find a regular space, then walked back, the old lady may have already had time to have an accident?
He could have also said, "Ah well, nowhere to stop, she's on her own."
What I found hilarious, is that you can say that "technically a loading / unloading zone" ...
Wasn't he helping this woman in her effort to "load/unload" -- i.e., transport her purchases between the checkstand and motorized transportation?
What if he'd purchased a few cases of canned goods, and went to move the car close to the store to they would be easier to "load" -- wouldn't you have to "park" the car first? How is it even possible to "load/unload" one's groceries while sitting in the driver's seat?
Because by the time he drove around to find a regular space, then walked back, the old lady may have already had time to have an accident?
He could have also said, "Ah well, nowhere to stop, she's on her own."
Right and legal aren't always the same thing.
Exactly.
On a upbeat note, I call a call back from the store manager today and went over to meet him. They had called in the security guard from his off-time and the three of us had a meeting. I was prepared to roll up my sleeves and open up a case of whoop-ass, but was met with sincere apologies from both of them. I let them know I harbored no ill-feelings and mentioned the security guard would probably be rich if he got a dime for every time someone fed him a line. They asked for the ticket back, and I in turn asked to make a copy of it and have them sign that they were taking it, just in case it fell through the cracks and I ended up with an unpaid parking ticket.
All's well that ends well.
Now to go get my Boy Scout Uniform out of the cleaners...
