Ticketed Valentine Seeks Parking Justice

Comments

"Justice?" No, that's not what that word means. He's a fucking whiny crybaby seeking special treatment. "Justice" is a different thing entirely.

Fifty-Two-Eighty on February 15, 2012 at 6:27 AM

My step mom and dad parked in the diamond lot behind my apartment. I watched them stuff a 10$ bill into the slot, but an hour later, they got a ticket for not paying the fee. They paid the fee because they live in Wisconsin and didnt want any trouble renting a car.

Parking has become such a prize, that owners or enforcement are overly aggressive to the point that innocent drivers are getting stung with these fees for not paying when they clearly have.

Pay or dont pay, you still run the risk of getting a ticket.

Kinison on February 15, 2012 at 6:37 AM

I agree with 5280. You're not looking for justice. He already got justice: he did not return to his car buy the expired time, he received a ticket.

You're looking for leniency. And leniency is a good thing at times and in this case leniency might be warranted. But let's not confuse justice for leniency.

Allyn on February 15, 2012 at 6:39 AM

This just in: Cops are total pricks.

Gurldoggie on February 15, 2012 at 6:54 AM

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. The time was expired. End of story.

David from Chicago on February 15, 2012 at 7:07 AM

@1 and @3 have confused the actual meaning of "justice" with "strict adherence to the letter of the law."

You guys would get along just peachy with Clarence Thomas.

balderdash on February 15, 2012 at 7:26 AM

I thought Justice was treating equals equally and unequals unequally?

DannyG on February 15, 2012 at 7:33 AM

My question is when did he actually return to his car? If his parking was already expired anyway (even by a minute), why would he not expect some sort of ticket if he was 10 minutes late?

on February 15, 2012 at 7:35 AM

@6

jus·tice [juhs-tis] noun
1. the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause.
2. rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim or title; justness of ground or reason: to complain with justice.
3. the moral principle determining just conduct.
4. conformity to this principle, as manifested in conduct; just conduct, dealing, or treatment.
5. the administering of deserved punishment or reward.

le·ni·ent [lee-nee-uhnt, leen-yuhnt]
adjective
1. agreeably tolerant; permissive; indulgent: He tended to be lenient toward the children. More lenient laws encouraged greater freedom of expression.
2. Archaic . softening, soothing, or alleviative.

Allyn on February 15, 2012 at 7:40 AM

@6: Oh, I get it. Fuck what the law says—everybody should be allowed to do what they think is "reasonable." Sure, that will work out real well.

Fifty-Two-Eighty on February 15, 2012 at 7:46 AM

Well, one thing to take from this story is that parking times (and costs) have changed in this city.

I never get tickets (parking, moving, nada) but I have receive two parking tickets in the last two months because I thought I understood the parking time.

It now varies dramatically throughout the city with some cut-off at 6 pm, 7 pm or 8 pm. You really DO need to check the signs or the parking meter so you don't make the wrong assumption.

westello on February 15, 2012 at 7:47 AM

@8 nails it. If the ticket was sitting on his windshield, he was more than one minute late.

DOUG. on February 15, 2012 at 7:48 AM

Boo fucking hoo.

"First the city subsidizes my driving, then I have to pay a parking ticket! THE HUMANITY"

Asparagus! on February 15, 2012 at 7:58 AM

Also, what kind of fucking baby gets a parking ticket, and then rushes home to alert the internet about the injustice?

Asparagus! on February 15, 2012 at 8:05 AM

Writing tickets the minute the clock runs out may violate the director's suggested philosophy, but until he or the CIty Council changes actual policy overtime parkers mustn't prretend they don't know they're running a risk. If the hope is to get away with a few minutes of unpaid parking, maybe the unstaffed private self-pay lot offers better odds - their ticket writers don't come by as often. If you want to avoid keeping an eye on the clock altogether, park in a garage where you pay as you leave. The Market garage has very good prices, I hear.

gloomy gus on February 15, 2012 at 8:08 AM

Neither you or he mention what time it was when he came back to his car, not that it really matters all that much.
Expired is expired, end of story.

Daniel J on February 15, 2012 at 8:15 AM

So I wonder when they actually got back to their car? A fact conspicuously missing from the story.

Either way, though, they need to stop whining. Every so often most of us buck the parking laws a bit here and there. And when we get ticketed, well, think of all the times we didn't get ticketed when we should have.

Reader/Poster on February 15, 2012 at 8:15 AM

If only the county would pay for more buses, we could throw more people under them.

MacCrocodile on February 15, 2012 at 8:18 AM

This is why I always tell people to pay for more time than they expect to be out. I'd rather pay too much for parking than have to whine to the Stranger to get my ticket refunded.

suddenlyorcas on February 15, 2012 at 8:40 AM

Eli, who cares if it's 1 minute or 30? I don't think denying the city its revenue is a very noble mission for you.

Expired is expired, pay the fucking $35 ticket and get on with your life.

seandr on February 15, 2012 at 8:44 AM

If we redefine the meaning of "expired"' -- something that has existed throughout history -- to mean "expired plus one minute", what's next? Expired plus two minutes? Plus three minutes? Plus boys or dogs?

Mason on February 15, 2012 at 8:51 AM

Eli, I have a real parking ticket story for you but I can't access the link (not using outlook).

ScreenName on February 15, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Subtle, Mason. XD

rob! on February 15, 2012 at 9:00 AM

The city probably just got a lifetime enemy and negative feelings from others.

But hey, at least they got an additional 35 bucks in their pocket! Totally worth it, right?

Urgutha Forka on February 15, 2012 at 9:13 AM

In other news: not a single bicycle got a parking ticket that day. Or that year. Or this century. Stay tuned for more updates.

Gurldoggie on February 15, 2012 at 9:16 AM

Exactly how many minutes of free parking on public right-of-way does this whiner expect?

shabadoo on February 15, 2012 at 9:19 AM

I looked, and glory be! The parking permit had an expiration time on it. That feller might want to read it over good next time.

Daddy Love on February 15, 2012 at 9:27 AM

Jesus. Fuck these people. First world problems x 100.

Cappelletti on February 15, 2012 at 9:36 AM

Notice that the parking sticker gave him two minute's grace already: paid at 4:54, expired at 6:56. The news flash here is that downtown parking meters expire when they say they do.

Fnarf on February 15, 2012 at 10:05 AM

When you pay for parking you already get a couple extra minutes for free (I've noticed, like 5 I assume for the hassle of having to use the machine that takes forever). I see no reason that someone should expect to be one minute over and not have a ticket. That's just asinine.

milleribsen on February 15, 2012 at 10:05 AM

Funny, but the hooker he was with wanted to do the same thing once he went over the 60 minute limit.

Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on February 15, 2012 at 10:11 AM

Hey, Eli, while your at it can ask what the hell is up with the "taxi parking only" in front of Soul Repair? (At the SE corner of 10th & Pike, on 10th ave)

I work nights across the street and, in total, over the last 3 years I've seen less than a half dozen taxis ever use that spot. (Not surprising; it's a horrible, useless place for cabs to line up and wait for fares -- so they don't!)

Now, a couple months ago, the city made a big f-ing deal about putting in a bright shinny new taxi stand... ON THAT VERY SAME CORNER! (But this one they put on the SW corner of 10th & Pike, on Pike)

Can you get someone in the city to pull their head outta their ass and realize THEY DON'T NEED BOTH! Maybe they could, you know, remove the one no one has ever, EVER used to park a taxi at and return that area to regular evening parking.

(Funnest part to me is that if any cabbies ever DID use the old taxi parking on 10th to wait, it would totally fuck-over the cabs in line at that new taxi spot on Pike! Way to think it all the way through City of Seattle!)

Timrrr on February 15, 2012 at 10:20 AM

What a baby

Democrat1234 on February 15, 2012 at 10:20 AM

@ 25, shouldn't you be out organizing a defense fund for Christopher Monfort?

Matt from Denver on February 15, 2012 at 10:22 AM

Er!!! "while you're at it" that is...

Timrrr on February 15, 2012 at 10:22 AM

Just to put in my two cents worth. In order for the ticket to print out at 6:57 wouldn't the enforcement officer have come up prior to that point and initiated it before it actually expired?

nomadmonk29 on February 15, 2012 at 10:28 AM

People get their cars *towed* for being parked on Cherry *one second* past 3pm. I see fleets of tow trucks lined up there every day. A ticket for being a whole minute late? That's nothing.

Welcome to no-income-tax land. Cities have to soak people every chance they get. Consider this a $35 tax, and get on with life.

also on February 15, 2012 at 10:58 AM

Jesus, what's the big deal? Select the option to explain the circumstances, send it back with a written apology pointing out that it was only one lousy minute past expiration, and there is a 99.9% chance the city will dismiss it. Will take you 10 minutes.

Crybaby.

schmacky on February 15, 2012 at 11:28 AM

Yeah, well, the other month I received a parking ticket while legally parked (with valid zone permit) IN FRONT OF MY OWN HOUSE. The parking enforcement officer apparently did not see my valid permit displayed prominently in my non-tinted window. I've been parking in the exact same spot since 2009. I had to go to court to have it taken away, and not surprisingly, there is no way to seek reimbursement for time lost going downtown. If I was paid hourly, I'd have been way more pissed.

ZeGerman on February 15, 2012 at 11:42 AM

And at what time did they return to their car and purchase additional parking time, hum? Yeah probably like a half hour after that shit expired. STFU and pay your ticket.

Westlake, son! on February 15, 2012 at 12:24 PM

When Eli posted Edwards' remarks, it was obvious that he's totally full of shit.

Yeah, if you park overtime in Ballard, parking enforcement will go around the block and come back later. Park one second past time in Belltown, Downtown, Pioneer Square, or Capitol Hill and you're getting a ticket.

This would annoy me less if the Director of Parking Enforcement weren't baldly lying.

keshmeshi on February 15, 2012 at 1:08 PM

in the last few years I've spent thousands on petty fines and fees that didnt exist 10 years ago; yet the average person is much poorer now than they were 10 yrs ago.

porchedge on February 15, 2012 at 2:25 PM

Further proof that to be a parking control parasite it is a requirement to be a zealous misanthrope.

Rhizome on February 15, 2012 at 2:49 PM

Ticketed Valentine Seeks Parking Justice

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