Parking Tickets

Squeaks and I were outside playing with our neighbors when Mav got home from work.  He got out of his car, grabbed his stuff from the back seat, glared at me and then slammed the car door.  He went straight into the house without saying a single word to me.

Scary, huh?  Honestly, my first thought was, "What did I do?"  I was terrified.  My neighbor and I just looked at each other.  I tried to make a lame excuse but ultimately told her I'd better grab Squeaks and get inside to find out what that was all about.  I ran to the backyard and grabbed Squeaks from the swing set.

As we walk back to the house, I hear Mav raving about the stupid city we live in.  He got another parking ticket.  The second one in a month.  He thinks the city is out to get him.  I almost believe him now.

He's a third year.  He has basically parked in the same spot every day for the last three years.

So the first ticket was given in his usual spot.  The reason: because he parked on the grass.  Really?  He had one tire on the grass.  It wasn't even all the way on the grass.  He tried to get off the road as far as possible.  I thought it was  courtesy to other drivers.  And a protection to make sure no one takes off your mirror on accident.  $25.  Whatever.  Mav just makes sure not to park on the grass again.  Maybe he'll just park in the middle of the road from now on.  People really do that in this city.  There will be four lanes of traffic and two of them will have parked cars in them.  Weird, I know.  I'll be driving in the right lane and have to move over because there is a car parked there.

Now, this ticket really makes Mav peeved.  He checked the signs.  One says, "No Parking the 2nd Thursday of the Month."  No striped curb.  There is a sign that says "No Parking - Bus Zone" but it's a good 20 feet from his car.  He can park.  He parked.  He comes out and there's a ticket plastered to his windshield.  They claim he was parked in a bus zone.  Really?  Another $25?

I'm a little upset myself.  You can count; that's $50 in one month.  First thing I ask Mav is if he took pictures.  "NO!" he says.  Then there's a light bulb.  He knows should've taken a picture.  His cell takes them.

We're debating on fighting this.  They've gotten at least $100-150 in parking tickets from us since we've lived here.  But is it really worth it to go and sit for half the day over 25 bucks?  I'm surely not going to do it.  There's no way I'm going to sit there with Squeaks.  I'm trying to convince Mav that we're fine paying the stupid ticket.  We've saved $1200 by not buying a parking garage pass from the school. 

Ugh...  Isn't there bigger things to worry about here than parking tickets?  Perhaps the fact that this city is number one in violence and homicides in the nation?