THIRD TIME WITH THE LAW IS NOT A CHARM!

 

I must be on a rolling streak because this is the third time I’ve ran into problems with the law in one form or another this month.  To make a really aggravated story short, I got a ticket for an expired meter; that still has minutes in it!  Busy is an understatement to describe this week.  I have a close friend who is getting married and I’m the camera man, for both outdoor shootings and for the actual wedding.  It is my mid term week, I’m catching up with all my classes, doing mid term tests and also the wedding.

 

The wedding is this weekend and I’m getting my hair cut yesterday.  It was raining and very cold.  I parked and put enough quarters to cover 1 hour and 40 minutes.  It just happens that my barber stepped out for a while.  I was afraid that my meter would expire so I walked back to my car in the rain and put in another 40 minutes, over killing my time.  My barber got back and I got my hair cut.  Took longer than I thought but when I got to my car, I still have 7 minutes in the meter.  Surprise!  I also got a damn ticket for an expired meter,  questions anyone?

 

I was very angry and frustrated.  Took me a while to calm down and when I did, I started thinking maybe it was my fault after all, maybe I put quarters in the wrong meter or took up two spots or what not.  I check the ID numbers on the meter and then the ID numbers on the ticket.  Not surprisingly, they got me down for expired meter on the one with the 7 minutes left on it.  I thought it was meter 64 (in front of me) but no, it was meter 65, where my car is parked.

 

My friend recently encountered a similar problem, receiving a ticket for expired meter even though he had put quarters in it.  He went through the whole process, with the hearings in court and everything that came attached with it, and won the case.  Unfortunately, don’t have that luxury.  I have work up to my neck and no time!  I’m pretty sure I will win this case, I even drove around and asked another officer to be my witness.  However, why do I have to go through all this in the first place?  I obeyed the law, spent my money on a meter so that I won’t have a ticket.  I get a ticket anyway even though I put in quarters, and now I will lose more time to debate this in court?  Who’s paying for my time, my gas, my frustration?  God Bless America and their Law Officers!