What do I look like to you?

Since Patrick injured his foot while at an Ultimate tournament in New Mexico on Nov. 10, he has been riding to school with me quite frequently. And since David started working at the U of U, even more frequently.

So this morning, Patrick, Rosie and I got in the car at about 7:15, dropped Rosie off at school at 7:30 and drove up to park in the JKB parking lot.  If you time it right, you can get one of the closest spots when the early morning janitors leave--but I was just a bit behind Peggy R. who also works in the library and who also drops kids at Provo High before coming to work. So, I nabbed a spot in the second row, near the 30 minute police business parking zone. 2nd car after the sign that pointed to A parking, actually. Patrick and I got out of the car--did I mention that I was driving?--and walked into the JKB.

Well, Big Brother was watching, and Big Brother decided that we were both students, and so my car was ticketed, with the note "Student in A Parking."

I would not have realized it until 3:30, when Rosie gets out of school, except that Bruce somehow had no house key. Our Sunfire has been leaking copious amounts of oil, so he took it in--again--after work this morning. The garage gave him a ride home, but he was standing outside with no way to get in. I knew that all the doors and windows were locked (and since we have new screen doors, the outside key is no longer there) so I just offered to run home and let him into the house.

I thought about sending Patrick, but A) his right foot is in a boot B) it is the last week of classes, and he has a huge project to finish and C) it was just easier to do it myself.  And I am glad that I did it, because as I walked up to my car (this was around 12:30 pm or so) there was a nice, big ticket on my car. What? Seriously? Why?  That is what went through my head.

So I took the ticket and marched right in to complain about it--remember, I was parked right by their door, practically. I had to wait while two other people went first. The girl directly in front of me was no longer a BYU student and had not parked in visitor parking. "But I can waive one parking violation a year," the student employee said. Done and done.

Then it was my turn. I explained that I was in fact an administrative employee, that I was driving my own car, that I had parked it in A parking, where I am authorized to park, and that if you look out the window right here, there is my car, parked exactly in A parking like it should be.

The girl said, "Well, the ticketing officer thought he saw a student parking this car." I said, "Well, he didn't. Because he saw me, and I am not a student. My son was WITH me, and he IS a student, but he was not driving; I was." [And if he had been driving, but I was in the car going to work, could I still not park there?]

So...I am running out of time, so here is what I wrote to my neighbor Cyndi, who works in that office:

"Hey Cyndi,

Imagine my surprise when I had to rush home because Bruce had locked himself out of the house—to see a ticket on my car. Here I am, an administrative employee, and I was parked in A parking, just where I usually park.

And the ticket says “Student using A parking”. Thanks for the compliment, but this seriously bothers me. If an officer just saw me get out of the car, with Patrick who is a student, and just assumes that I am a student and so gives me a ticket, this could happen every day! That seems like a lot of wasted time for me and for your office.

And then I thought, what if I had sent Patrick to rush home and back in my place? Since his foot is in a boot, so driving is awkward for him, I wouldn’t have done that. But if the circumstances were different, I easily could have done so.  If we are carpooling, and Patrick needs to run an errand, and if he came to my office and said, “Hey, mom, can I use the car to go and do X?” And then he would bring the car back and park it so that it was there for us both to go home at the end of the day—is that seriously not allowed? Because I would think, if I am in campus on my office, that I am allowed to have my car parked in an A lot whether I did the driving or my son did the driving.

I can understand that a student parking in A parking when their parent isn’t even on campus would be a violation of the parent’s parking pass—but seriously, if I give my son a ride, isn’t that allowed?

The student assured me that the ticket would be “waived” but that is not the point—I don’t think there should have been a ticket at all. I am an employee; I do have the right to park there; I was not in the wrong. I sort of resent having a ticket “waived” that should not have been issued in the first place. I feel like I am owed an apology, not the other way around.

End of rant."

And what I wrote on Facebook  about it, which so far has 12 likes and 13 comments:

Thanks, BYU Police, for thinking that I look like a student. No thanks for having to waste my time fighting a ticket for "student parking in A lot" after working here for more than a decade. Not thrilled about having a ticket waived, when I should be hearing "I am so sorry. Our mistake."

So...we will see what happens tomorrow...