Madison has horrendous parking regulations.  Considering you pay a whopping $21 per year for street parking, I generally don’t mind playing a ticket once or twice a year.  The main regulation during the summer months to worry about is street cleaning.  The East/West streets are cleaned Thursday mornings from 8-12, and the North/South streets are cleaning Friday mornings from 8-12.  Now that the rules are laid out, my story of my parking ticket comes in.

My best friend Jessi came to visit for a few days, which was a blast!  (See more on her trip together tomorrow.)  We went to Summerfest Thursday evening, so we got back to Madison around two a.m. Friday morning.  My car was parked on a North/South street, so I knew I would have to move my car by eight a.m.  Although we were tired, I set my alarm four times and went to bed.

Friday morning, I woke up with the birds, but dozed off for a few minutes.  I looked at my phone and saw it was 8:09, meaning I needed to hustle outside to move my car.  Typically, the parking enforcement comes around 8:20, so I had a few minutes to move my Nissan.  I head outside and see the parking enforcement jeep driving my way.  There is a bit of a glare coming off from my car, so I cannot quite tell if I got a ticket.  When I was a half-block away, I sighed heavily; I got a parking ticket.

While the ticket itself is $35, it is $35 that could go to groceries instead of a ticket.  I was sad.  I grabbed the ticket, moved my car to a place where it couldn’t get ticketed further, then went back to sleep.  Jessi left, I showered, then packed for a weekend with family and friends.

I head out to my car around two p.m. with three duffel bags in tow.  I head to my car and see another tell-tale sign of another parking ticket.  I stopped in my tracks, trying not to cry.  One ticket is bad enough, but two? Two tickets?  Now that is something to ruin your day.  I hustle to the front of my car and see that although it is the ticket paper, there is handwriting on the ticket.  I set down what was in my hands and read the note.

I honestly cried.  She must have seen me look dejected and helped me out.  I am trying to get into contact with her, since she did leave her officer number with me.  This absolutely made my day.  I’m digging up one of the many picture frames in my apartment and putting this little piece of paper in there to remind myself that a bad day can change in the matter of minutes and that kindness makes an impact.