Monday, July 27, 2009

I Owe The City of Chicago Approx. $1,680 in Parking Tickets

This might come as a shock, but I can sometimes live in a state of denial. 


Here's a current example: Every July 1, the city issues a new parking permit sticker and a resident has a 2-week window - until July 15th - to purchase the new permit and stick it to his/her car windshield before the cops start passing out tickets. 

Then there's me, who thinks that because I'm leaving Chicago in mid-August I won't bother buying the new permit. I mean, why pay the $75 for an annual sticker that I'll only need for 4 weeks? 

So like clockwork, July 15th rolls around and I go out to my car and lo & behold there's a ticket - a $120 ticket - on my windshield. I curse, put the ticket in my glove compartment and go about my day. The next day, I go out to my car and lo & behold there's a $120 ticket on my windshield. You see where this is going.

Damn, I think. Maybe my strategy for flying under the radar and quietly slipping out of the city with neither a '09-'10 sticker nor tickets should be re-thought.

"Well duh," a friend of mine told me that day. "How do you think the city makes its money? Off the fines from idiots like you who are too lazy to get their stickers on time." 

But before I had the chance to buy a new sticker - you know, because these days I am so busy - I racked up a crapload of these bitches. Last Tuesday, in fact - I got three - three! - because I'd been driving around and parking in different parts of the city. That's $360 worth of ticket fines on one day alone. 

At the City Clerk Office I told the woman I was moving in a month and because of this, was there some kind of temporary or prorated sticker I could buy instead? "Nuh-uh" she said. "We don't do that here."

Law-abiding citizens would pay their tickets. 

I may not be one of those people. 

Instead, I'm thinking of making cute little origami swans out of them, then passing them out as party favors at my going away party next month.

5 comments:

Gregg said...

The problem here is that you seem to have left your old city sticker on your car which is a GLARING and OBVIOUS indicator that your car is not up to date. Get that old sticker off of there and I bet you wont get hassled as much. I lived in chicago for 5 years and NEVER ONCE got a city sticker. The problem that I ran into was this: I was getting parking tickets for parking violations, and I couldnt pay them until I got a city sticker. So I ended up doing what I think everybody else does when they amass giant fines and penalties. I sold the car and moved away.

Anonymous said...

Not to be a party pooper - I'm all for trying to sneak under the radar, but the city may eventually send your unpaid tickets to a collection agency which will be a hit on your credit score.

Kritkrat said...

Why didn't I think of origami?!?!That's exactly what I tried to do when I left DC. I was like, 'Screw you guys, I'm not paying this shit' and just took off. Taxes really, really sucked this year because of that...

JulieGong said...

i'll visit you in jail.

ReckenRoll said...

Hey I'm blogging again (yes, completely ignoring your post and promoting myself) and apparently you are too.

Yaaay for blogging!