NORWALK, Conn. – Some people are just too sensitive about having their picture taken.
OK, I run into that a lot with members of the public. But when you work for the city, you sort of have to expect that people might take your picture.
This particular city employee seemed to take exception.
Seems I had the audacity to take a photograph of a Norwalk Parking Authority officer after he had given me a ticket.
“You can’t do that,” he said, standing in the public parking lot at the corner of Washington and North Water. “Yes, I can,” I said, handling my camera in the manner that unintentionally annoys some Norwalk politicians – click-click-click from the motor drive.
“No, you can’t,” he said, and began dialing on his cell phone.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
I said, “Yes, I can. I know the law,” and he gave up dialing.
When I left a few minutes later, he followed me up Washington Street, writing on a notepad that was perched on his steering wheel – while driving, I might add. I concluded that he was writing down my license plate number, but he already had that from writing the ticket. So what was his deal?
OMG.
So what happened was I was driving over the Stroffolino Bridge at about 5 p.m. Wednesday when I spied something eminently noteworthy – they had taken the wrapping paper off Ironworks SoNo. The plastic was no longer covering the building and we could all see the final results of the attempt to emulate the façade of that old building that had been there.
Yes, by the way, it replicates the shapes of the old Norwalk Compressor Company.
Anyway, I was on the bridge and I could see the heads turning in the cars in front of me. They were noticing it, too. It was a newsworthy event. I figured, what could it harm, I will park at the Maritime Aquarium for a minute – just a minute – and take a picture. Didn’t know what I’d do with it for sure, but I was (at that point) planning another SoNo story and you all know I am an addict when it comes to shooting photos.
I got a few. I should have stopped, gotten back in the car and driven away. But…
My head got turned by one of the first nice days of the spring. The photo addict in me – expensive hobby I guess – thought, “Hey, I was looking for a picture of the railroad bridge yesterday and there it is. Maybe I’ll replace the one I posted.” Then, “Hey, there are rowers. If only I could get a photo of the rowers coming under the bridge while a train is going over the bridge.” And, “Gee, it’s finally nice out, the sun is shining, it’s warm and the sound of that woman’s voice is neat, with her thick accent (is she Russian?). The way she is handling that little boat is interesting, and look how young those rowers are. I guess that must be their last run of the day.”
Then I thought, “Wait a minute…”
Sure enough, there was a Parking Authority guy at my car. He seemed puzzled by the open windows of the vehicle – I wasn’t going to be gone long, remember?
I have no idea of why he was looking inside.
So I thought if I caught him, maybe he would cut me a break, and I headed over there. No such luck – the little slip had already printed out from the little machine in his hand by the time I got there.
I was angry. Oh, well. I protested. He didn’t like that, but what did I have to lose? There was a little back and forth, and he said “Do you think the rules don’t apply to you?”
Didn’t take him long to get to that line. I’m thinking he’s used it before.
So has my husband. (By the way, if you want proof my husband edits my stories, here it is. I did not write that line.)
I think I said something about only being there for a minute, and he said, “Once I write a ticket I can’t do anything about it.”
OK, I backed off. My reaction was rather like a cat licking itself after having done something stupid.
So my parking was paid for, I figured I might as well get more photos of the big new building. Then: Hey, what an opportunity, a chance to get the perfect photograph for the next (inevitable) story about SoNo parking.
That led to the photo you see above. He was checking out the New York plates on an SUV, when the woman inside said, “I’m here!” So I took the photo. We — the parking guy and I — had our little discussion about the photo. I am sure the whole thing made a great impression on the woman in the car.
How ironic that this all took place in the lot the SoNo Task Force is thinking about making free for half an hour. And I am rather happy that I finally got the chance to help the Parking Authority pay the bonds on the Maritime Garage.
Someone at our latest fundraiser said she missed my little first-person attempts at humor. I should do another one, she said. So here we go: Ha, ha, ha, I got a parking ticket, a $25 act of stupidity. I had my back turned for two minutes — literally; the time stamps on the photos show that. Doesn’t take long to screw up in SoNo, I guess.
The ticket is paid, by the way. Or at least I think it is.
We mailed them a check. We wanted to pay it online but, two days after the ticket had been issued, there was no record of it in the system yet. Apparently it can take up to a week to show up. We suppose that if the ticket were not paid on time, that would not be an acceptable excuse. I am a little nervous about the check in the mail. What if it gets lost? How do we prove we sent it?
I suggest a public art project to spruce up South Norwalk: Let’s decorate the Parking Authority trucks. You know those pesticide mobiles with the rat’s ears? I suggest something like a cat’s tail for the back of the truck and cat’s whiskers for its sides. Cat’s ears on the roof. Not a friendly little housecat, though. Let’s make it a tiger – a true predator. Orange fur and stripes.
The color on the streets will be nice!
So here’s a question: Do predatory parking enforcement practices produce profitable businesses?
OK, let’s rewrite that in honor of one of our faithful commenters. “Do predatory parking enforcement officers issuing punitive penalties produce profitable businesses or do they help continue the cycle of stagnant property values in a city with the fifth-highest paid teachers and only the 19th-highest average income?”
I did it. I got eight “p’s” into the sentence. Insiders know that it’s really nine”p’s,” given who the commenter is.
Anyway, I don’t know the answer to the question. I just know I’ll go back to parking where it’s free and walking the distance to get to SoNo. If there’s no snow on the sidewalks, it’s not a problem.
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