On the date of November 29th 2007 I picked my sister up from the airport. As I was approaching the airport the skies opened up and doused the ground and everything else with heavy, sticky snow. The point? I pulled into one of the spots at the Arrival terminal and waited for my sister. As I was slightly late and I had yet to see her, I dashed inside to see if her plane had arrived. Just then she came out of the gate, picked up her luggage and we were on our way. And awaiting our return was a parking ticket because I had inadvertently parked in a handicap spot. This is something I don't usually do, and I would never intentionally do. I find it tacky and lazy. That and I was shocked that with the stigma of the ticket was a $300 fine.
***Fast forward to June 4th 2008, the day I am to go to court and plead guilty with an explanation. I was fairly confident - I had a copy from the weather archives for that day as well as photographs taken immediately upon discovery of the ticket, the pictures revealing the sign was indeed covered with snow. My intentions were to plead to the judge that it was a horrible mistake and not something I would ever do nor would I ever do again. Surely justice would note that I was sincere and not one that parks in spots designated for others. There wouldn't be any hostility or resentment.
Unless of course one of the clerks in the courtroom is confined to a wheelchair and does not have use of his legs. During others' explanations of their parking situations, he remained quiet, as most of the other infractions dealt with overnight parking. And when it was my turn - he certainly became vocal - questioning the validity of my reasoning, his voice dripping with disgust and cynicism.
