Punk’d by parking

I’m well aware that Public Safety has stepped up their parking violation stringency, and I’m also well aware that there’s been plenty of discussion about it. But, under the cloak of common sense, I was not aware that by parking in the visitor’s parking lot, a lot specifically designed for anyone with no parking pass of any sort, I would get a parking ticket because I have a Wesleyan sticker on my car.

Here are the details. I park in the admissions parking lot for an unexaggerated 5 minutes, allowing myself time to run inside and buy a notebook I need for class. When I come out, I see a P-Safe officer writing a ticket next to my car. After explaining the situation to him, all I get is a scratch of the head.

Bureaucratically prohibited to rip up the ticket, his response is a timid, “Well, I’m sorry, what you just told me should all be on your appeal.”

I paid Wesleyan for a parking pass, and because I paid, I got a ticket while parking for 5 minutes in the visitor lot to get a notebook from the University Store. Next time I park in that lot, I’ll be sure to take off my parking pass, and if I see a Public Safety officer anywhere near my car, I’ll make sure to ask if it’s true that everyone at Wesleyan lacks common sense. If the school is really this desperate for money, I’m happy to start a “Spare Change to Make Our Endowment Comparable to Williams and Amherst” club.