fearlesstemp (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fearlesstemp) wrote2004-09-28 04:58 pm
fearlesstemp) wrote2004-09-28 04:58 pm
Entry tags:
fighting the man
You know what I did today? I fought The Man (better known as the Treasurer's Office, which handles all parking ticket-related disputes in my hometown – but isn't The Man catchier?) I went down to City Hall this morning totally lacking mercy! Prepared to be brutal! Supported by plentiful documentation!
A brief retelling of this morning's ruthless, brutal, take-no-prisoners takedown:
Self: Hi, I'm here about a ticket?
Parking Ticket Guy: [Super-friendly] Hi! What's the problem?
Self: [Whips out Green Folder of Obsessive Documentation] I received this notice in the mail saying I was late on a fine, but I never received a ticket, blah blah blah, Tale of Woe --
PTG: [Looks at receipt] Yeah, that's something different. Well, it looks like you've had to pay enough already, so let's just dismiss the ticket altogether, all right?
Self: Uh, okay.
PTG: [Filling out form] How do you spell your last name again?
And that was it! I had two reactions: (1) The urge to do a silly dance right there in the office, and (2) Frustration that I didn't get to launch into my already-prepared rant on how completely messed up the city's procedures are. Only handling protests in person on Tuesdays between 9 and 11AM? That is so messed up! What a messed up system!
But that messed up system had dismissed my ticket, and so I just walked away. I feel like there's a deeper lesson about complicity in unjust systems in there, and I should probably feel worse about this, but – I got my ticket dismissed! Yay! Yay for warped, messed up systems that mean I don't owe the city $70.00!
And now it's time to go! I had other things I meant to ramble on about, including the fact that I spent last night having dinner with Kristen the Republican Bride, who came to the outing accessorized by the one of the cutest babies I've ever seen and a Bush/Cheney 2004 diaper bag. I am not joking. There was a bib too. It was so very hard not to react by, say, flinging the offending items across the room.
I kid, I kid, I would never do such a thing. First of all: How rude! And second of all: I've never had a good arm.
A brief retelling of this morning's ruthless, brutal, take-no-prisoners takedown:
Self: Hi, I'm here about a ticket?
Parking Ticket Guy: [Super-friendly] Hi! What's the problem?
Self: [Whips out Green Folder of Obsessive Documentation] I received this notice in the mail saying I was late on a fine, but I never received a ticket, blah blah blah, Tale of Woe --
PTG: [Looks at receipt] Yeah, that's something different. Well, it looks like you've had to pay enough already, so let's just dismiss the ticket altogether, all right?
Self: Uh, okay.
PTG: [Filling out form] How do you spell your last name again?
And that was it! I had two reactions: (1) The urge to do a silly dance right there in the office, and (2) Frustration that I didn't get to launch into my already-prepared rant on how completely messed up the city's procedures are. Only handling protests in person on Tuesdays between 9 and 11AM? That is so messed up! What a messed up system!
But that messed up system had dismissed my ticket, and so I just walked away. I feel like there's a deeper lesson about complicity in unjust systems in there, and I should probably feel worse about this, but – I got my ticket dismissed! Yay! Yay for warped, messed up systems that mean I don't owe the city $70.00!
And now it's time to go! I had other things I meant to ramble on about, including the fact that I spent last night having dinner with Kristen the Republican Bride, who came to the outing accessorized by the one of the cutest babies I've ever seen and a Bush/Cheney 2004 diaper bag. I am not joking. There was a bib too. It was so very hard not to react by, say, flinging the offending items across the room.
I kid, I kid, I would never do such a thing. First of all: How rude! And second of all: I've never had a good arm.
no subject
It's so sad when cute babies have to grow up Republican. As Giles said on Buffy today, "the tiny, tiny babies!"
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rock on, fellow silly dancer!