Houdini

I'll be here or a full four years on August 8th, and I've avoided getting my car towed and getting any semblance of a parking ticket thus far. Today was the closest brush with the law of the yellow cape-wearing scooter-riding parking meter maids. I got to my car, having mere seconds, and a multi-colored piece of paper was exiting the mechanical chute of the remote control hand-held device he was holding. I unlocked my car with the button, he saw the lights, and saw me. We locked eyes. I said, before I even asked a question, "Thanks a lot, man." And he replied, "No problem," and scooted off to plant some more ostentatiously fluorescent green tickets on other cars.

I know so many people who have gotten their cars towed multiple times. And have incurred numerous parking tickets. I'm lucky, but I've also put some effort into it. An extra minute surveying unfamiliar surroundings around an unfamiliar street. Scouting weird signs. New signs. Signs added yesterday. The extra time pays dividends, especially if you don't have a Fan Parking Pass, which I, of course, do not.

Richmond's bad with this. Folks need to have jobs, so I'm not knocking them. I understand it. Through all of it, however, I've dodged the bullet for almost four years. I hope I can make it five.