I parked my scooter outside yoga the other night. ( Is it a dojo? Sounds pretentious, as well as reminding me too much of Ken’s “Mojo Dojo Casa House.”)
You have to get in to the scooter/ bike park via a carpark driveway. Recently a number of cameras have sprung up around this area, which those of us who’ve had their means of transport stolen in the past hoped meant that the council would be keeping a watchful eye on our vehicles. No such luck. Got this in the mail last week.
So, even though I was parked where no car could be, they still wanted me to pay for a car park. I’ve appealed but they’ve turned it down. (On a side note, don’t I look cool?)
I’ve got a colleague who has a form letter for arguing against parking tickets, so I’ll get that from him to continue my fight. It’s probably more trouble than it’s worth but it’s the principle of the thing. I’ve struggled trying to apply stoicism techniques to such minor irritations but clearly I’m not a master yet.
Update: I replied to their initial response (“I refuse to accept your refusal”), just to clarify that if I was parked next to the other motorbikes in a separate area, did we all have to pay for parking? And lo and behold, they’ve waived my fine.
I’m not sure if they’ve been swayed by my eloquence or if – more likely – they have a policy of just caving to any troublemakers. I’m not going to test my theory, though. I’ll just going take it with gratitude.