As the last paper carrier left the building of the newspaper depot at 5:00 this morning, I grabbed a bin of newspapers and was about to deliver a portion of a vacated route. I then exited the building to find.....NOTHING!
My car was gone!
I called the police to tell them that it was either towed or stolen and they said that a squad car would come out to me. I looked around the lot where I had parked the car to see if there was a name of a towing company, but I could not find any. What I did see is a sign I had never seen before in the back of the lot that mentioned something about Customers Only and the possibility of towing.
I then called one of the carriers, Danny, to see if he noticed my car there when he left the building around 3:30. I chose Danny because he is a) accessible, b) caring, and c) observant. I chose the right person to call! Danny said that yes, my car was still there around 3:30, but that he did notice a tow truck frequenting our vicinity lately - and he was able to tell me the name of the company.
I called that company immediately and sure enough, they were in possession of my vehicle. However, in order for me to retrieve my vehicle, I would have to pay $200!
Now, here's the deal with the lot I was parked in. Typically on Mondays I park in that lot - it is directly across the street from the newspaper depot. I park there on Mondays not for my own convenience, but because the papers are usually later on Mondays and I like to make sure there is enough space in our lot for all of the carriers to fit. I feel like they should have spaces closest to the door since they are hauling papers out of there. We have a very small lot that is already occupied by 2 large trucks from a company that is attached to our building. In addition, parking is prohibited on one side of the street, and the other side usually has another large vehicle occupying it. In other words, parking options are very minimal. (and sorry, I am too tired right now to supply diagrams!)
I have been at that depot for over a year now, and I have parked in the lot across the street from the depot quite often. When I pull in at 1 a.m., the lot is generally empty. When I pull out at 5 a.m., the lot is still generally empty. There are no other businesses in our vicinity that are open during those hours, so my car is not impeding anyone else's ability to find a parking spot.
More than that, though, I have never noticed any signage prohibiting anyone from parking there. I have never seen a sign upon entrancing or near the spot I park in that tells me that I cannot park there. I did just notice the aforementioned "Customers Only" sign today as I was looking around, but that sign was in the rear of the parking lot so I had never before encountered that sign. I will say, however, that I wasn't looking for a sign because I never thought to look for a no parking sign - because why would parking be restricted during hours when nobody else would need that lot? Perhaps such a sign does exist and I just never saw it. I am planning on looking around the lot tonight for signage, and I will take pictures if I feel like the signage is not sufficient.
But fine, okay, let's assume that I did park illegally (since I apparently did).
#1 - So what? As mentioned before, the car is in nobody's way.
#2 - How about somebody sending local businesses a memo stating that their employees are not allowed to park there AT ANY TIME, and those who do park there are at risk of being towed? Clearly, the owner of the lot has a problem with people parking there because they have instructed this towing company to patrol the area - and they have only begun to patrol it to a great extent recently. So common courtesy would be to first warn people not to park there! Maybe even put a little note on my car if my car's presence specifically has been a problem.
#3 - $200? What the shit is that? I am now down $200 for parking in a spot that did not even give me an advantage. Like I am so rebelious that I just parked there for the sake of parking illegally and trying to get away with it? Haha, look at my premium spot - it is further away from the building from everyone else's and now I must walk even further in the freezing cold while often toting several newspapers! The tow truck driver then was also telling me how lucky I am because if he would have towed my car to a different lot, it would have been even more expensive AND I would not have been able to retrieve it right away - I would have had to wait until 8 a.m. to get my car back......so he actually said that I was lucky!! Thanks so much for doing me all of these great favors, Joe Dirt.
Once I found out that the towing company had my car, the tow truck driver said he was back in the neighborhood and he could give me a lift to go to an ATM and to take me back to my car. Just as he was there, the cop showed up as well and realized that the tow truck driver did call it in - thanks so much to the police for telling me that they knew it was towed and not stolen!
I am, I suppose, relieved that the car was not stolen, although perhaps I would be in better shape if it was!?! I will try to recoup some of that $200 from the lot's owner, but I really don't expect to get anywhere with that. My only chance of winning that fight is if there really is insufficient signage, and I really don't know because I am the most unobservant human being on the planet.
By the way, I will no longer be parking in that lot.
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