The Tow Files: Welcome to My Nightmare

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

He did it on blue paper, didn't he?

Nope, green.

[Minflick]

Nosy Parkers, I love it!!! Besides the ones who want to have that whole conversation about why my placard is red, I also get the ones who have to ask me on a regular basis why I am parking out in the back of the lot instead of using the disabled places up by the door. I am NOT flipping disabled, I just have trouble getting into or out of my car if I can't open the door all the way. I also don't like to sit down on regular chairs because it hurts so much to stand up.

However, I do have a wonderful co-worker who has my back. When we have meetings or training sessions with out of office lecturers, she always says something to me about moving things around so I can sit down. When I thank her and say that I want to hide in the corner, she says something about how she always forgets that I like to stand.

That stops me from having to have that whole boring conversation with a bigwig stranger in front of everyone.

I was at Target the other day, and a minivan was straddling the line in the lane next to me, and I didn't think much of it other than "shit parking job, idiot!" I happened to arrive back at my car at the same time they did. Wife is massively pregnant, and obviously not going to fit in the door if parked properly in one spot. Also too pregnant to walk comfortably to the back end of the lot. So, still a terrible parking job, but they had their reasons for it.

[earl colby pottinger]

Pregnant

I was at Target the other day, and a minivan was straddling the line in the lane next to me, and I didn't think much of it other than "shit parking job, idiot!" I happened to arrive back at my car at the same time they did. Wife is massively pregnant, and obviously not going to fit in the door if parked properly in one spot. Also too pregnant to walk comfortably to the back end of the lot. So, still a terrible parking job, but they had their reasons for it.

Some of the stores/malls around here have both handicap and separate pregnant parking spaces. But I notice only some have the pregnant parking spaces, while because of the law all the places with a number of parking spaces have the handicap spaces. I wonder what it takes to get places think of adding pregnant spaces.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Some of the stores/malls around here have both handicap and separate pregnant parking spaces. But I notice only some have the pregnant parking spaces, while because of the law all the places with a number of parking spaces have the handicap spaces. I wonder what it takes to get places think of adding pregnant spaces.

Good question . . . I suppose that would depend on the retailer and/or local ordinances.

I do recall my BFF telling me that she had a temporary disabled placard for her van to use (her doctor had no problem getting one for her while she was pregnant both times) while she was out of work on short term disability (two high risk pregnancies) and I don't recall her complaining about anyone giving her and Hubs grief over using a disabled spot (believe me, if someone had, I'd bee hearing about that over the phone for an HOUR.)

[Slave to the Phone]

For the record, nobody has ever challenged my right/need to have a disabled plate or to park in a disabled spot. They are "worried" that my car might get towed because I don't have a real disabled placard or they are "concerned" that I might hurt myself by walking when its obvious that I need parking accommodations.

The whole thing is both boring and annoying.

I don't think I'd be having that conversation nearly so often if I wasn't a government worker parking in a government owned parking lot to go to work in a government building.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

You ever come across one that said: "Parking Purmit"?

I'm looking for one that says it's good through February 31st, or some such thing.

[Argabarga]

That's been done too.

You get a lot of people who make "1"s into "2s" without checking a calendar.

or "7" into "8" or "6" into "8" with the same result when they fail to notice that their permit also has a day of the week on it, and the new dates are impossible.

i.e. - Friday, Oct. 10th, 2017...

[Argabarga]

So another budding Mensa member tried it last night....

Props to him, 8 years and this was the first anyone ever tried to fake a permit in this particular property's lot.

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0c&oe=5A40827A

On the left, the genuine article. A window sticker, with a serial number.

On the right, his attempt. Shown at actual size compared to the real one. It's too small by 15% in all directions, lacks a serial number. And is clearly made of paper and printed from a computer, and, those two big, black lines? Those aren't part of the defroster grid for the window of his car, it doesn't HAVE one. Yes, he took a picture of the permit in someone else's car, like the one on the left, with his phone, and the real lines on THEIR car came along for the ride......

[Chanlin]

Glad to see after 3ish years of being away that your towing stories are still around. I've always gotten a kick out of them.

[dendawg]

That'd be for a Cougar.

Wouldn't that be a Purrmit?

[taxguykarl]

Well cougars are the biggest cat that purrs.

[Argabarga]

Another night... another bad fake.

How many errors can you spot? There were 9 total.

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...aa&oe=5A7D4F42






ANSWER KEY:

1. Obviously made of paper, not sticker material.
2. "Stuck" on window with tape. Real ones are self-sticking.
3. Out-of-focus "washed out" feel to all the lettering. That happens when you start with a too-tiny scan of the permit image (or cellphone picture as this most likely is) and then increase its dimensions without upping the sharpness.
4. The serial number is clearly been glued over whatever the original was.
5. The serial number appears in the wrong font.
6. The serial number appears in a range that does not make sense. The current permits in that lot range from a low of about #185 to a high of about #240.... #98 is suspiciously out-of-sequence. If it HAD been issued, that would've been a spring semester permit, and those ran out in May.
7. Scissor "mouse bites" around the corners.
8. This car is a known illegal parker, I've towed it twice for no permit already so every time it shows up, it gets my full attention.
9. The guy came out to argue with us that it was a legit permit. When informed it wasn't and he owed us $150 , he argued that he should be able to pay $100 because "of all I (sic) spend for parking" When we pointed out that it's a FAKE and therefore he spent NOTHING on parking, less the cost of his materials, he called us Mother *bleeping* *bleep*holes.... so we drove off with the car and the cost just went up.


And as a bonus, you all now know the true secret identity of Global Domination Reality , but keep it hush-hush.... less the villains find out!!!

[Argabarga]

Heh, this guy still hasn't picked the car up, he keeps calling the office and hoping to get someone who doesn't know it's a fake to convince them he was towed by mistake. But we've all seen it and laughed at it already, so, he's out of luck, and the price keeps going up due to daily borough storage rates.

This could be an ongoing saga.... because Spitz and I had an interesting run in with him last night.

His buddy came over and they parked the car right outside their window and took the screen out, so when we naturally tried to tow the car for having no permit (at least it was lacking one, not a fake) they'd jump out the window and stand in the way, giving us nasty names and middle fingers akimbo.

We COULD have called the cops, but that wouldn't have been as satisfying as what we did.

Waited until 2am, parked the truck in the street, snuck the dollys and other equipment into the lot, set it up, then, at the last second, backed the truck in with no lights, grabbed it, and left.

We were turning onto the street when they bailed from the window.

Chased us 3 blocks before they gave up.

[Ironclad Alibi]

That is one video I would love to see.

[Slave to the Phone]

The awesomeness just never stops!