If You're Going to Park Illegally...

[EvilEmpryss]

Don't do so in a big, shiny, new ticket-me-red pickup truck!

BG: The VA hospital has valet parking. To get to it you pull into a little roundabout, stop at the hospital entrance, and the guys run up to take your car. You aren't allowed to park in the roundabout, and plenty of signs (and a red curb) let you know this. /BG

So I come out of the hospital today to get my car and find a police cruiser parked behind a big, newer model, freshly washed and waxed bright red pickup truck. The guy who took my claim ticket was chuckling. Apparently the owner of the truck was constantly parking in the turnabout, blocking other patients from getting to the front of the hospital. Usually they catch people like that and turn them away before they get in. This driver, though, would wait until everyone was away parking cars before sneaking in and out. This time, though, an officer had to stop by the hospital for a call and while he was there the guys flagged the officer down to ticket the illegally parked vehicle.

That was when the valets got their best surprise: the pickup's tags were expired. The officer waited until the driver came out of the hospital, trying to sneak past the valets again, and was in the process of getting at least two tickets when I left. I *think* I even heard something about a tow.

[Mr Hero]

Don't do so in a big, shiny, new ticket-me-red pickup truck!

BG: The VA hospital has valet parking

This whole time I was convinced hospitals don't have valet parking.

[EvilEmpryss]

We're veterans... we're speshul.

I used to go to the same hospital before they got the valets, and it was a bitch to find a parking space within walking distance for someone with mobility issues. Hell, some of the spaces are far enough away from the clinics that even if you don't have a mobility issue you'll still be breathing hard by the time you get there.

The thing is, the guys are nice enough that if you tell them you're only running in to pick up a prescription or travel pay or something quick, they'll let you pull your car to a spot further up in the roundabout where it's out of the way so you can run in and out. All you have to do is ask them. It's when people leave their cars blocking the entrance or exit that they get ticked.

[Amina516]

Sorry, EE...my hosp also has valet parking, but we're not vets, just totally spechul in another way.. Lol.

[protege]

Sorry, EE...my hosp also has valet parking, but we're not vets, just totally spechul in another way.. Lol.

Uh, you have cookies?

Locally, quite a few hospitals have valet parking. Especially if they're in Oakland--it's a pain in the ass to park to begin with. I've always seen it as one less thing to worry about, especially if you're picking up a less-than-coherent someone who just had surgery

[EvilEmpryss]

Drat, I thought we were *really* speshul here.

Actually, it's nice to hear that other hospitals have the valets, too. None of the other hospitals in this state have them (as far as I know), and it makes ti so much easier to get to my appointment when I haven't already had to walk a quarter of a mile just to get to the front door.

[Shalom]

St Joseph's in Paterson, NJ, has valet parking as well. There have been occasions where I've used it, either because I was about to be late for my son's appointment, or because the parking garage was full (they park the valet cars in the unused back end of the doctors' lot) and there's no street parking due to the ongoing construction. It's not terrible, just $8 flat rate (plus tip)... if you're there for a long time it's actually cheaper than the garage, which is $3/hour.

Only thing is, it's a little embarrassing when you pull up in a rustbucket of a 22 year old SUV and ask them to park it for you, and they take the ticket where it has the picture of a car to mark down existing damage, and just scribble all over it....

(Edit: I just found out that the garage also tops out at 8$ per day no matter how many hours you park, so it's really no savings to use the valet. More convenient though.)

[Kogarashi]

Yale-New Haven has valet parking for the children's hospital wing, and probably the regular wing as well (never had to go to that side of the building), most likely because the parking garage is at least two blocks away and parking in this town is awful. One nice bonus for the children's hospital side is that the valet parking is free for parents in labor. Downside to that is that the valets start work at 8am and get off around 7pm. Nothing like being stuck in the car waiting in the roundabout entrance because there's nowhere to pull up, and suffering through rather sore contractions to boot.

Funny semi-related story. When I went into labor with my second child, we got to the hospital at about 6am after dropping off Oldest Daughter with our arranged babysitter. Hubby had to drop me off at the emergency room entrance (night entrance for the hospital) so he could find somewhere to stash the car, so I hobbled into the emergency room between contractions that felt like a knife in the gut (thanks to the C-section scar from Oldest). I hobbled up to the check-in desk and leaned against it for a good 10-15 minutes, waiting for someone to come check me in and find me a wheelchair. When someone finally did, she asked why I was there just as another contraction hit. I managed to explain that I was in labor, only for her to give me a rather disbelieving look. She left me standing there while asking questions until someone much nicer showed up and volunteered a wheelchair for me, at which point Hubby finally got back from stashing the car and we headed up to the maternity ward.

Back on topic, there are seriously so many cars in that roundabout in the middle of the night that they need to employ a night valet or two to try to keep things uncluttered, so us poor laboring moms aren't stuck waiting or walking.

Only thing is, it's a little embarrassing when you pull up in a rustbucket of a 22 year old SUV and ask them to park it for you, and they take the ticket where it has the picture of a car to mark down existing damage, and just scribble all over it....