Long day in theatre today, lots of fun but I’m tired. Also, normal transmission has resumed vis à vis the weather over here i.e. it’s cold and rainy. Hence, time to raid the back catalogue (don’t look too hard for the logic there).
Wilson parking
Cc vice chancellor of Victoria University
To whom it may concern,
RE breach number 757660523 (that’s a very large number – how many of these things have you given out??)
I am writing to protest the outrageously expensive parking ticket my poor daughter received last Wednesday. My husband thinks we should just pay the fine and move on with our lives, as you are a notoriously unscrupulous corporation who put profit over all other considerations, and don’t have a good track record for ethical behaviour or considerations of fairness. Maybe he’s right, and it’s akin to negotiating with terrorists, writing to you in this way. However. I’ve brought my daughters up to believe in the importance of trying to stand up for what’s right, and to protest against bullies, and so I am writing to you today.
My daughter attended an open day at Victoria University last Wednesday, and travelled there on her teeny tiny 50 cc scooter. She was told that it would be OK to park on the University grounds, at the spot that she did, away from public roads. She also looked carefully to see if there were any signs saying anything about what sort of parking restrictions there might be, and found nothing. However, when she returned some hours later, your parking ticket for $65 was affixed to the bike. This represents about 10% of the value of the scooter, but that’s not really relevant and you won’t care about that, so I won’t mention it. Another boy, who was also attending the open day, also got a ticket for the same amount, as he had also been given the apparently erroneous information that it was OK to park his bike there too. However, he goes to a private school, and I suspect his parents will do anything for the quiet life, and will be just rolling over and paying it rather than complaining.
The ticket states that no valid window pass was displayed on the vehicle. I’m not sure even if we knew what this was, where it would be possible to attach it to a scooter but I suppose considerations of that sort will also not be of interest to you.
I do agree that parking is a privilege and not a right, but I also think that these sort of excessive fines give all parking services a bad name. The council parking wardens do a terrific job under difficult circumstances. Surely a $12:50 fine, such as charged by the council, would be much more appropriate in these circumstances.
However, every cloud has a silver lining – my daughter has now sworn never to enrol at Victoria University and will be attending Otago University as her parents did.
Yours in disgust,
Dr Kirsty Jordan MBChB (Otago)
(First draft)
Yay!