Thursday, January 24, 2013

On illegal parking...



A great source of entertainment and amusement for me has always been simple human behavior.

Have you ever noticed the antics of those who park their cars illegally…? There is a compulsion to turn on their four-way flashers before they dash off to do whatever it is they need to. Let’s face it, nobody parked legally has their four-ways on. Now I suppose they do so to impart to the parking control Nazis that they will only be there for a brief moment. They are acknowledging that they have parked illegally, but will only be there for a short while. It’s kind of like an apologetic move on their part. But as we all know, there exists this chasm between perception and reality.

So… this is how this type of scenario normally plays out:

Perception: Their message: “Please don’t ticket me… I will only be here for a second!”

Reality: What the parking Nazis read: “HEY… HERE I AM…!!!! THE CAR WITH THE FLASHING LIGHTS TO GRAB YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION…!!! YEAH, THAT’S ME…!!! I NEED A PARKING TICKET…!! I DEMAND TO HAVE A PARKING TICKET…!!! ANY OF YOU METER ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WITH EXTRA PARKING TICKETS, STEP RIGHT UP…!!!”

Poor you… had you not engaged your four-ways, the parking enforcement officer would have carried on his/her usual route, arriving upon your car in due time. Maybe even buying you a few extra minutes, enough to get back to your car and make your getaway. But, no… You had to alert him/her to the fact that you are indeed parked illegally and he/she will make a beeline for your car in particular, like you were a bleeding tuna amidst a pack of sharks. You are the limping Thompson’s Gazelle at the Serengeti watering hole…

People are just funny…

No comments: