On the evening of January
27th, I switched cars with my brother – he took the Toyota Camry I
usually drive, and I took the ’86 Nissan pick-up he usually drives – so he
could have a respectable car to go to an interview and then on a date. I parked the truck outside my residence, and he drove off with the Camry.
I completely forgot that the Camry had a parking permit sticker, and the
truck did not.
The next morning,
I left my apartment to go to work. I
hopped in the truck, turned the key in the ignition, and …. nothing. The car wouldn’t start; instead there was
just an ominous clicking sound. I was
going to be late for work, so I arranged a ride and resolved to deal with the
broken truck later. I finished my shift
at work, went straight to class, and later that night when I finally
finished everything I needed to do on campus, returned home. Before going inside I decided to check on the
truck to see if the battery had somehow miraculously recharged itself. And that is when I found the boot.
The moment I saw
it I realized my folly: the magic little parking sticker on the Camry flashed
into my memory, the total absence of such a sticker on the truck suddenly so
obvious. I called the number on the
warning taped to my driver’s side window, and the really nice guy who answered
walked me through the process of getting it taken off and submitting an
appeal. He even told me it was likely
that the agent who removed the boot would have jumper cables and could help me
get the truck started (which did in fact happen, the next day – Thank you, Ta’an).
So, here I
am. I moved the car to a legal parking
area until I can switch back with my brother, then came to campus to make
copies of my receipts, write this note, and work on the necessary paperwork for
this appeal. I’ve learned my lesson –
that Nissan truck will never again grace the pavement of the residence parking
lot, at least not without its own parking permit – but I would really
appreciate as many of the sixty-three dollars back as possible, seeing as next
week I have to pay rent.
Please be
merciful and generous.
Thank you,
Annie
