Parking

Sticky-Noted Door

The other day, my roommate put sticky notes all over the door to the dorm room of one of her friends. Her friend vowed to "get her back," so for the remainder of the week, she was walking on eggshells, worried about what her retaliation might be. She slipped into town one night, and Friday morning, she remembered that she may have forgotten to hang her parking pass back on her rearview mirror. Unfortunately for her, the friend down the hall optimized on her situation: she crafted a fake parking ticket and left it on the windshield of the car as a nasty suprise for my roommate to find. My roommate was rather flustered that she recieved a $150 fine for not hanging up her parking pass, and as she pondered how to break the news to her parents, we finally told her that it was all a joke...She wasn't too pleased.

Fake Parking Ticket

Lessons learned: (1) Always make sure to hang your parking pass up before you leave your car. (2) Don't sticky-note a friend's door, you never know what they'll do in return.
How to make sure you don't get a parking ticket (or don't believe you deserve a fake one):
1. As stated above, make sure to hang your parking pass up before you leave your car. Make it a habit to check for your parking pass before you lock your car and leave the parking lot.
2. Know where you can and cannot park, and when you need to move your car. If you've paid for a parking pass, know how to use it so that you don't have to pay additional fines.

3. Make a mental note of where you park. Walking around a parking lot for 20 minutes just to find your car isn't a productive use of time. If the space has a number, jot it down as soon as you can so you don't forget it. Don't try and remember what you parked beside, because it may not be there when you return.