Hi Steemians,
So I am going to have a little bit of a grumble as recently I have acquired not one, not two, but three...three fines!!! Why me?!?! The last two fines I suppose could really count as one and I will explain to you why that is.
The first of these instances took place when I was going to meet up with a friend to have a girly catch up (as you do) and we have a usual meet up spot, I know where to park, which is great as this saves me from driving around pulling my hair out trying to figure it out or worse get stuck in traffic. I have a tendency to run a little bit late so I just went ahead and parked in the supermarket car park I made sure my car was locked and all the lights were off and then proceeded to get the elevator up to the cafe. I met my friend there, we had a really nice chat and catch up and everything seemed great. Now I have been told that I can talk (meaning sometimes waffle) but as my friend loves it too we are two peas in a pod and before we knew it time was flying! I knew there was a restriction of three hours so I hurried on down and left the car park just in time thinking phew that was lucky. However to my dismay a few days later I received the dreaded DO NOT IGNORE letter through the post. What could this possibly be I thought, with a puzzled look on my face? And there it was my first fine!!! Naturally there was a picture of my car and my number plate as well as the large parking notice stating "Two Hours Parking ONLY"! Oops!!! Within the last year the rules had changed and the parking had changed from three to two hours I think, and for that they would have charged me £80!!! Although if you pay within the first two weeks the fine is reduced to £50 (sounds like they are doing some sort of fine sale or something). And there you go here was the first of the painful £50 fine experience!!!
Moving on I told myself I must be vigilant and double check whenever I go anywhere I was stressed and alert at all times as if I was wired on a few cups of coffee. Nevertheless a few weeks passed and I forgot the pain of the first incident and life was peachy again. I was going to another city to visit some friends and I have done this journey many times and never had any problems at all. Now as this was a big gathering with a few of us coming from different places. I made a trip to the train station when I got there to pick up another friend of ours who had also travelled down for this meet up. We all had a great evening together ate and laughed, however she had to leave the next day and of course it was raining heavily so I dropped her off at the train station and we said our goodbyes until next time. I stayed an extra day and then departed myself. What is the relevance of this you may ask? Well yet again I get home and the following day I receive the dreaded DO NOT IGNORE letter, I suddenly thought to myself oh no what now, and flashbacks started appearing of my trip! Where could I have gone wrong I was careful? (I told myself out loud with a few more swearwords in there) This time I had not made the same mistake (thankfully I guess I can say), oh no this time my fine was for driving in a bus lane. Yet again there was the awful picture of my car with my number plate and the details of how to pay the fine. Now this fine was slightly less, this fine was only £60 and going at their "if you pay this within the first two weeks" rate it would only cost me £30. There was a lump in my throat and I started to feel sorry for myself I went online and read up that unlike me many others had not seem the sign and in general it is a very confusing area so others had also been burned by the system.
(I do enjoy a little FINE Rhyme)
I wish I could say it was over, but like a bad dream the following day I received a second fine, it was identical to the first however just the next day, I felt like Bill Murray reliving a very expensive groundhog day! All of a sudden I realised this must have been when going to the train station and I started to panic, did I make the same mistake and somehow take that route the third day meaning I would have three fines....my heart started to beat faster and my hands were sweating. Luckily I reminded myself that it didn't happen, but unfortunately I still had another £30 fine to pay. I tried to make myself feel better by saying to myself well at least it is like I have only paid one full fine due to their "two week discounted period" (I wish I could say this was as pleasant as a clothes shop discount).
So there you have it my friends I have acquired a total of £110 of fines, it could have been worse I suppose, I know I will live this down and life will be back to normal again. This incident made me soooo angry at first I felt like the hulk wanting to rip things up to pieces. Although now I have vented off some steem (see what I did there) I do feel slightly better! It was still a good trip and we had a great time so that is the memory I will remember :)!
I hope your day is going better guys!
Links to Images:
Image 1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Joke-Fake-Parking-Ticket/dp/B004K1DQBA
Image 2: http://www.bedford.gov.uk/transport_and_streets/parking/bus_lane_enforcement.aspx
Thanks for reading and catch you soon!
Love Margo
xoxo
