Tickets

For a few of my semesters here at RU, I'd have a day where I only had one class, so there was no point of taking the train when I could just drive to school. The transportation for school is so much faster when I drive because there is no train that I need to catch. I would drop my mother off to work in Lodi, my father off to work in Clifton, and take the car to school. I mean, it did fucking suck that I had to pick them up at 5pm, but at least I could have the car for myself for a few hours....

My first semester I was stuck with a math class at 8:30am on Friday morning, (the last time I will ever take a class that early). I would drive every Friday, so I had to drive everybody to work for 8, and then rush to Newark and park before my class started. I received about 10 tickets in the mail in a matter of a month for "blowing red lights". Those fucking cameras are good; it was funny, because they give you a link where you could watch a video of yourself blowing the light. Every time I'd say to myself, "There is no way I blew this light that bad....", but trust me when I tell you, the light was red for at least 3-5 seconds.

Yeah, that was 45-60 dollars down the drain every letter, depending on the area in which I blew the light.

Well, anyways, once I got into Newark, I would be driving around in circles for fifteen minutes looking for a parking spot. Whether I parked on Bleeker, University Ave, or any other street, I probably got a ticket once a week. It took me a while to understand that some meters have an A,B,C,D parking range, some have just A and B, some are 2 hour limits and others are only 1 hour limits. I would remember walking to my car, seeing that ticket in the windshield underneath the wipers, and getting so pissed off. I specifically remember finding parking up past Essex County Community College, about a mile or so outside of campus. I was fed up with the tickets and figured I'd find free parking, no matter how far I would have to walk. After my classes ended, I was walking back to my car and actually watched the officer put the ticket on my windshield. I lost my shit. I told the officer this is bullshit, and that I do not deserve a ticket for parking here. There was no yellow curb, no fire hydrant, no meters, no residents only parking, NOTHING! The officer had me read the sign that was displayed a few cars in front of me. No exaggeration, it read "No Parking: Tuesdays 4pm-5pm". I looked at my phone to check the time, and it was about 5 minutes past 4, (my class finished at 3:50). I guess that's where they fuck you. Tuesday, from 4pm- 5pm. I thought I was on Punk'd for a second, looking for Ashton fucking Kutcher hidden in a bush somewhere, but then I realized I'm not a celebrity....

Here's some advice fellow bloggers: pay your fucking meters correctly and don't run red lights in Newark.