Strongly Worded

Parking in Boston is a War

My lovely morning began with a $200 parking ticket for allegedly blocking a handicap ramp. The ticket was issued at 11:10 p.m., when all the handicapped people are usually out in full force (and lest anyone criticize me for insensitivity to people with disabilities--I am a HUGE proponent of barrier-free design, which is (sort of) a part of my job. This is my foster car I'm talking about (I don't own it, and it's registered in CA.) So I asked my friends on an online forum for a little advice.

Read on:

B: Were you blocking the ramp? If so, you should pay the fine. If not, challenge the ticket in court.

ME: Well, technically, a little bit of it was blocked.

HUGGER: Then you should pay the ticket. Take responsibility for your actions.

CRANK: I'm sorry, I know this is not the popular answer, but you were parked illegally. Pay the ticket and don't let the owner of the car pay for your stupid decision.

HAPPY: I agree - you don't know if a handicapped person was inconvenienced because of your car. It would be the right thing to do IMHO.

ME: It's the principle of the thing. The ticket was just mean-spirited. It was nighttime, the "blockage" was about a foot, and all this in a sleepy residential neighborhood. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS? I wouldn't have parked there if I thought I was creating a problem for anyone, and if the City were willing to issue a parking permit to an out-of-state vehicle, I could've parked in front of my house where there is no ramp of any kind.

SIGMA: What, disabled persons don't hold night jobs? I understand your rage, but it's clouding your logic.

NICE GIRL: $200 SUCKS! I'm sorry :( It's a waste of money.

CYST: People in wheelchairs don't go out at night? What if you were handicapped and inconvenienced because someone idiot blocked the ramp? You'd feel a little differently, wouldn't you? Ugh, you sound like a horrible, horrible individual.

B: I remember attempting to get my father down a ramp that had a car's rear bumper poking out just enough to block him from going down the ramp. He couldn’t lift his leg over the curb, and the owner was nowhere in sight (of course). His condition made it impossible for us to stand and wait, so up we went to wait for the person to move the car. While my father waited inside, I waited outside for the driver. He said "it's not really blocked ... and I was just here for a little while." What a jerk. But karma had a good look at him that day and I saw the same car a short time later blocking a handicap parking spot. I had him towed. Debt paid.

LITA: I personally think people that break rules with complete disregard for the others that follow them rack up lots of negative Karma points. I appreciate your beliefs. I just don't agree with your thought processes in this regard.

SMARTY: Re-park the car close to but not blocking the ramp and photograph it. Send in the photo with a letter explain that you have a career in barrier-free design, and this is preposterous. Seriously, you learned your lesson. It's not like the $200 actually helps handicapped people in Boston. Tickets are a form of revenue for the city. Sorry if my morality sounds hazy, but parking in Boston is a war.

Posted by Dori at 11:50 AM