Letter: Unhappy with parking ticket

Thursday, May 8, my sister, mother and I came to Hudson for an afternoon of shopping. They were visiting from Colorado, and when they are here we like to head out to the popular small-town stores.

It had been a stressful week, as my grandfather had died and we had spent several days at the funeral proceedings and cleaning out his house. We decided we needed some down time, so we headed to your charming main street shopping area. We arrived in Hudson at approximately 1:05, put two hours on the meter and headed out to the shops. We kept an eye on our watches, planning to reload the meter after our two hours was up.

In one of the shops, I discovered a working an acquaintance I hadn’t seen for several years, and we spent a few minutes chatting and catching up. My sister reminded me of the time, and I promptly raced back to put my next two quarters in the meter. As I was walking down the street I saw the “meter maid” tucking a ticket under my windshield wiper. I called out to her that I was here, and she offered to void my ticket. She said she had been watching my car all morning. I replied that it was impossible, since we had arrived in Hudson at one o’clock. She checked her watch, and apparently decided that for my argument about the time I deserved a ticket, and she walked away. By my time recollection, she must have been waiting for those last few seconds to be ticking down, and written the ticket immediately.

I commend you for the efficient operation of your civil servants. I have just written my check to pay this ticket. I do not dispute that I was about two minutes late getting back to the meter.

But I thought you might like to know that the next time I have out-of-town company, and we need a day away from the husbands, children, etc., Hudson will NOT be our shopping choice.

Tags: opinion, hudson, letter, parking, ticket