Parking Ticket Woes

Yesterday I parked in the faculty/staff parking lot at about 10 minutes before 5:00pm. Non faculty/staff are not supposed to park there until after 5:00pm. I received a ticket marked 16:53. That's right....I got dinged $40 for parking 7 minutes early. I was not happy. There were plenty of empty parking spaces around me. I was not keeping a staff or faculty member from parking in their designated lot. Most are on their way out - not in. I confess to violating the letter of the rule, but not the spirit. I actually believed that there was a grace period this time of night as several of us park 10-15 minutes before 5:00 and have never been ticketed. I think the school should be looking towards supporting the entire community, enforcing rules with the flexibility the situation calls for, and not issuing citations for actions that have caused no harm. I submitted my appeal. We'll see.

Incidentally, I now have to figure out how to delay my arrival at the school until 5:00, but not much later, because the lot fills fast after 5:00 with many of us evening student getting off work at 4:30 or 5:00. Perhaps I could go to the park down the street, waste gas, increase carbon emissions, and read magazines about fiber optic cables, or maybe even something law related. I suspect I will stay at work 5-10 minutes later, get caught in and add to the congestion that worsens every minute after 4:00 (or earlier), all in an effort to ensure I am not in the parking lot prior to 5:00 just in case 10 faculty members suddenly need to park.