::the parking ticket lady::

I had a bit of an emotional day yesterday. And here is why.

The day before I registered for classes I looked on my USU banner account and saw that I had a hold on my transcripts. Wanting to find out more information about this mystery hold, I scrolled down to see what the hold was for. There at the bottom of the page was a hold for a $60 parking ticket. Hold put on February 18, 2009.

???

I never received a parking ticket. I thought to myself.

Indeed it was a mystery. I don't remember ever getting a parking ticket on my windshield. Of course this means nothing as it could have easily blown away, or someone could have maliciously stolen it. Then I figured it was probably for parking at the Wellness Center. I don't have a parking pass for when I work, because I'm only there for an hour or so. I just figured I would go in and get it fixed and the Wellness Center would confirm that I work there.

Yesterday, I went in to tell them about the misunderstanding with my parking ticket. And here's a little snippet of how it went.

Register lady: Can I help you?

Me: Yeah, My account says that I have a parking ticket, but I've never received one.

Register lady: Well let's look....
....
Register lady: It looks like you have two parking tickets posted for January 19 and 23, 2006 in the R4 parking lot.
....(long surprised pause from me)

Me: TWO??? But I had a parking pass for R4 and I never got any ticket on my windshied, or any indication that I had one in the past two years. Is there any way that I can prove that I had the parking pass and get that taken off.

Register lady: Well, if you have the parking pass, we could probably do something.

Me: Fine. Let me go look in my car.

Alright, so the parking ticket was issued TWO YEARS AGO. What are the odds that I still have the parking pass somewhere? Like, none. But I was determined to at least try. There was a small chance I had just put my old parking passes in the dashboard...I rummaged through there for a minute, and sure enough I had put them in there. And there was the Parking Pass for R4. Thank heavens I am a pack rat!!!

I ran back in.

Me: Here. I found my parking pass from two years ago that the odds were I had thrown away. (Okay, I really only said "here," but that is what I wanted to say.)

Register lady: Oh...well, we can only take the ticket off with the parking pass if you come in a week after it's issued.

Me: But I didn't know I even had the ticket a week later, I just found out on Monday.

Register lady: Sorry, there's nothing I can do.

Me: Okay, well is there someone else I can talk to about this?

Register lady: Yes. Please have a seat.

So take a seat I did. I was not going to pay $60 for ticket from two years ago that I didn't even know I had.

So then another lady came out. "Krista?" she yelled into the lobby.

Feeling like I was in a doctor's office I followed her back behind the counter. We will call her the Parking ticket lady for anonymity...and I don't really know her name.

Parking ticket lady: What seems to be the problem, Krista?

I quickly explained the situation to her, quite irked that she had used my name again and I had yet to learn hers.

Parking ticket lady: Well, if you had come in a week later with your parking pass I could have taken this off your record. As it is, how do I know that you just haven't been avoiding paying this because you didn't think you needed to come in.

Me: Uh, did you catch the part about me not even knowing I had them until Monday??? (Well, I said something to that effect.)

Parking ticket lady: ...I'm sorry...there's nothing I can do. And really I think that there needs to be some responsibility on your part, your parking pass was not in your windshield...and I think that you need to take responsibility for that.

Me: Well why did I not even know about the parking tickets until Monday...why was a hold put on my account in February instead of right after I got the tickets?

Parking ticket lady: That's just how we do things. If you haven't paid a ticket for a while, we think you never will so we put on a hold after what we feel is a fair amount of time...but I'll tell you what I'm going to do for you. I will lower the tickets down to $14 a ticket.

I do not think that this is fair. This is why I hate USU Parking and Transportation. They are dumb. Why should I pay for a parking ticket for a parking spot that I had gotten a parking pass for?

They want me to prove that I did have my parking pass in my windshield. I want them to prove that I didn't. Why would I pay for a parking pass that I didn't put in my windshield?

This makes me angry. I guess I will just pay it, but I do not feel right about it.