Walking down the street this morning my eyes were especially focused on the windshields. Little pink and white slips everywhere today. Something must have been in the air last night, drawing out the reckless parker in this neighborhoods’s residents. So much illegal parking behavior - a traffic cop had a field day.  The main infarctions fall under three basic categories.

1. Fire Hydrants: What is the legal amount of space one is supposed to leave? 30 feet, right? I’ve never been a good judge of distances, but I can sure tell a distance that is as long as me [5 feet] versus one that is much much longer. Just lie down on the curb if you are skeptical.

2. Blocking the Sidewalks: I once got a ticket for this, though I didn’t understand why. I saw a cop ticket a car the next day in the same spot that I had been in and I asked her to explain. She helped me visualize how hard it is for cars to make turns onto the street with the illegal parking job - the closer the car is to the intersection, the harder it is to see if cars are coming. It didn’t take long for me to understand - I have this problem all the time in Seattle’s residential ‘hoods. I thanked her for her time and paid my ticket accordingly.

3. Blocking a Driveway: Need I explain more? This is just dumb.

I was home free this morning, me and my legal tendencies. However, I am grateful for the experience I had this past weekend, which involved a Portland parking garage, a misused parking permit, and a “courtesy” ticket with a $0 fine. I now see the error of my ways. But there are bound to be a lot of frustrated neighbors this morning.