[2895] in Depressing_Thoughts
where not to park (a tale of woe and intrigue)
zeno@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (zeno@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Wed Apr 8 13:38:58 1992
You know that big old abandoned dirt parking lot on Moore St., between Harvard
St. and Broadway? About a block west of the Broadway/Hampshire St. fork? For
well over a year people have been parking there, in spite of the huge ruts and
broken glass. There aren't any "keep out" signs, and the lot has filled to
overflowing practically every work day for a long time ... I've used it several
times, sometimes leaving the car till late at night, with no problems.
Until yesterday. It turns out that the lot's owner doesn't have a permit to
let people park there. Cambridge finally caught up to him and is fining him
heavily. Yesterday I parked there even though only a few cars were in it. I
should have been suspicious, but there were still no signs or barricades. Back
in the evening ... no car. Phone calls. Cambridge police. The second I say
"Moore St.," they tell me "Oh, that old lot ... those are all towed to JD
Autobody in Brighton." They can't find the number, but it's listed; I reach an
answering machine. So, wait till morning. This morning, JD tells me "We don't
do towing." Back to Cambridge police, blah blah blah. Turns out I needed JD
*Towing* in Brighton, not JD *Autobody*. A bus ride and way too much wandering
around on foot later (my maps were all in the car), I finally find it--a real
fly-by-night little operation, cheesy little office-trailer next to a puny lot
that holds about 10 cars at most. My car is right there not even behind a
locked fence. I *seriously* thought about just getting in quickly and taking
off, but they probably would have caught up with me via the license number (is
that right? could I have been fined extra for doing something like that?)
Instead I go into this filthy cramped little office van, where a clumsily
hand-written sign on the wall says (quoting verbatim, note the punctuation):
ABSOLUETLY NO CHECK'S
ACCEPTED
S T R I C K L Y C A S H
M-G-M-T
By the way, the lot owner is from NJ--this somehow figures. Well, now
$85-worth wiser, I will carry my map *with* me, and srupulously use
only *strickly* legal parking space's in the future.
