With all the running around we’ve had to do with the new house, there’s been little time to write up SPOTD reports although we’ve found more than a few.

I was headed home a little early from work because I was owed some time off and I wanted to go to the shops before they closed. I took the tram up Sydney Rd and got off the stop after the one I wanted (thanks to some guy on the tram who wanted to be SPOTD and would have on any other day) and began to walk back to the shop I wanted to go into.

As I walked down the footpath, I noticed a parking inspector giving a ticket to a parked car. I glanced at my watch and realised it was 4:15pm, so it was parked in a clearway zone (4pm-6pm) and was going to have a hefty fine. I absolutely detest people who park in the clearway zone since it completely destroys the traffic flow, so as I walked up equal with the inspector, I gave him a friendly nod and thanked him for booking the car.

He’d parked behind the car he was booking (the traffic flow was already disrupted, so it did not present a problem in itself), and as I kept walking, another car pulled up about 5m (15ft) behind the parking inspector’s car. Obviously this soon-to-be SPOTD had just seen the two cars parked together and figured that he would not get a ticket as a result. He got out of the car and walked around to the postboxes by the road where he was intending to deposit a letter.

As he got out of the car, I called over to him in a warning tone:

Me: “That’s a clearway there, mate!”.

SPOTD (sarcastically): “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for telling me that.”

T (warning tone): “You don’t want to park there.”

SPOTD: “F*** you! Want to make something of it?”

By this time, I had decided to not point out the parking inspector down the road, and the SPOTD had not seen him. Because the inspector was standing in front of the car two cars away, the SPOTD had not looked that far down the footpath to notice him. I decided that since I could see the inspector affixing the ticket to the first illegally-parked car, he was going to return to his vehicle. At that time, he’d see the SPOTDs vehicle, so long as I could keep him there. All I had to do was keep the SPOTD facing south, while the inspector approached from the north.

Me: “Sure. Why not? I’ve got a bit of time on my hands. Come on over here and let’s have a conversation.”

The SPOTD stalked over in an ire, accusing me of many things including interfering where my input was not required, having lower than average intelligence and being born out of wedlock. I let him rant for about 30-40 seconds while I covertly looked over his shoulder until I saw the parking inspector begin the process of issuing the ticket. I knew that once the registration number was entered in the machine, there was no way to stop the process and the ticket would be issued irrespective of the argument provided at the time, so once about 10 keystrokes had been entered into the inspector’s ticket machine, I halted the SPOTD tirade.

Me: ”Okay. Fair enough. I agree. It is none of my business where you park. I told you it was a clearway, and you did not ask for that. You’re right. It’s a free country and it does not affect me at all. I do not care about where you park. However, he does.” (nodding over the SPOTD’s shoulder).

The SPOTD turned around, presumably thinking there was some large friend of mine come to pummel him for arguing with me, so took a couple of seconds to realise his car was being booked for illegal parking. Once he realised, his jaw dropped open, his head snapped back toward me, then back to the inspector, clearly unsure who to abuse first.

Me: ”I hope that letter was going a long way, because that ticket’s a hundred dollars and you probably could have driven it there personally for that cost. Have a great weekend!”

As I strolled off to continue my business, the SPOTD was left arguing with the inspector about why he should not get the ticket, but the inspector was pointing out that the process was underway and he was going to get it issued, even if he left immediately. Yes, I could have given more direct warning about the inspector’s presence, but then, he could have chosen a less aggressive response to me, so I let him have the ticket he so richly deserved.

It’s nice when a SPOTD encounter leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Categories: SPOTD
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