After speaking at a conference in Atlantic City tonight, I drove to Margate for dinner. I parked my car, looked around for signs, saw none, so left and enjoyed a lovely meal.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I went back to my parking spot, and my car was gone. I called the police, and they said that I parked in a clearly marked "NO PARKING" zone - clearly to them means "behind trees with leaves that just bloomed," I guess. The woman on the phone was incredibly mean to me, even mocking at how stupid I could be to miss the signs - that were blocked by just bloomed trees, of course.
Congrats, Margate. You generated $115 of revenue tonight - a dead night I might add. It's not too busy in Margate on a Thursday in April. My car was one of the few I saw.
In exchange for that $115, you've made sure that I won't be visiting again any time soon, nor writing about your town in the near future, which is great timing since I'm currently revising my book and deciding who makes the cut and who doesn't. I did just write a lovely piece about Margate that will run soon. If I could, I'd take it back, but I really need that money to pay for the ticket and towing I endured tonight.
I hear people complain a lot about over zealous ticketing and towing down the shore, and how it turns them off from visiting again. I can see why now. If I didn't cover the shore, why would I come back if I knew that, after paying $6 in tolls just on the AC Expressway, I could face another hundred dollars in fines? I have no desire to go back to Margate - at least not until they put NO PARKING signs in places where visitors can see them.
P.S. Yes, I could fight the ticket - if I had nothing better to do on April 26 than drive to Margate and back and sit in court for a 1pm appointment. Disgusting, Margate. Really disgusting.
1 comment:
Sorry to hear it, Jen. Ignorant people on the phone only make matters worse. How did the speech go? Were you satisfied with it?
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