Parking in the city is about as enjoyable as going to the dentist. I try to avoid both of those things. I probably do need to go to the dentist soon, or the hockey player/hillbilly look may be in my future. The fact that my last dentist was cross-eyed did not help. A cross-eyed person standing over you and wearing a mask is unnerving.
My wife attended school at a university in Philly. Parking around the school was scarce, so whenever I would drop her off and pick her up, I would use the fifteen minute parking zones in an alley near the back of her building. I would sit and wait in those spots for an hour or more sometimes. Months went by and I got really comfortable using those spots whenever I needed to. I never had a problem leaving the car there, even when I stretched the time limit. So one Sunday my wife needed to make a quick trip into her lab. We drove in and parked the car in the alley. I got out of the car with my wife and she looked at me questioningly. “Don’t worry about the car”, I said. “It’s Sunday, and I never have any problems here.” We went into the building and came back out an hour later. And,,,,,,,,, the car was gone. That was not a fun feeling. Three things went through my mind quickly. (Hey, I thought I parked right there. Somebody stole my car. Oh, I guess they do tow cars from those spots.) I had to find the surly security guard who could tell me what magical place my car had disappeared to.
Security- “Where did you park?”
Me- “The fifteen minute zone.”
Security- “How long were you there?”
Me- “An hour.”
Security- “Didn’t you see the signs?”
Me- “Yes,,,,, yes, I did.”
Now that I felt like a complete idiot, I gave the towing company a call and was informed that I had to pay for the tow and the “storage” of my car. My wife, who was nine months pregnant and not the least bit happy with me, called a cab so we could get to the yard where the car was. It was one of those days when things just weren’t going to go my way. Our taxi driver kept looking at me in the mirror. Then this happened.
Driver- “You look like Corey Feldman.”
Me- (Not able to understand what he was saying) “What?”
Driver- You look like Corey Feldman.”
Me- “What?”
Driver- “You look like Corey Feldman.”
Me- “Oh…..”
Things really weren’t going my way.
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