| My diminutive, white haired, 88 year old | | | | with the amount she needed for the new |
| mother-in-law drives a red sports car and is | | | | permit. She was now armed and ready to pay |
| now being threatened with prison time. Well, | | | | her ticket! |
| maybe not prison, because no one in their | | | | |
| right mind wants to envision a little old | | | | After finding the municipal building, which |
| lady pushing a walker and being led to the | | | | handles traffic violations, including |
| hoosegow by burly armed sheriff's deputies. | | | | handicapped parking sins, she located the |
| | | | municipal court clerk's office. |
| The whole thing started a few weeks ago when | | | | Unfortunately there was a sign on the door |
| she got a ticket because she parked her car | | | | that said the department was closed from |
| in a handicapped zone just as she does every | | | | 11:00am to 3:00 p.m. for a Thanksgiving |
| time she drives to the mall. This time | | | | party. It doesn't take much to exhaust an 88 |
| though, her parking permit had expired and | | | | year old lady, no matter in how good a shape |
| the decal stuck on her back window was out of | | | | she's kept herself, so she went home to fight |
| date. | | | | the battle another day. |
| | | | |
| Sounds simple doesn't it? Take a few minutes | | | | The day after Thanksgiving the situation |
| to write a check and send it to the address | | | | didn't improve much for the municipal clerk's |
| on the ticket that was under her windshield | | | | office was closed for the holiday. She did |
| wipers and the problem is solved. Wrong! | | | | get advice from an office employee who was |
| Governmental bureaucracy rears its ugly head! | | | | working over time. He looked at her summons |
| | | | and told her she could just mail the amount |
| Buying a new sticker would have been no | | | | of the fine into the office, thus saving her |
| problem if she'd remembered that the old one | | | | a lot of aggravation. |
| was expiring. Her memory was jogged last | | | | |
| week however, when she received a summons | | | | That's just what she did! The next day she |
| demanding that she pay up or the local | | | | sent the money for the fines and court costs, |
| constabulary would throw her in jail. | | | | including an additional amount for the fee to |
| | | | renew her handicap permit. Any governmental |
| As soon as she received the summons, without | | | | agency, when faced with more money than they |
| reading any farther than the first paragraph | | | | expected, does what comes naturally; they |
| where it threatened her with incarceration if | | | | keep it! They didn't apply it to the fines |
| she didn't pay the ticket immediately, she | | | | or to the new handicap decal. No one seems |
| drove downtown to the courthouse where she | | | | to know where the money is! |
| had gotten her parking permit, to pay the | | | | |
| fine. | | | | Unfortunately now, fees for her new |
| | | | handicapped permit had been sucked up into |
| It was the wrong place, but they did tell her | | | | governmental never, never land. Once again |
| that after paying the ticket she would have | | | | she had to pay again the fines for not |
| to return to the license bureau to get her | | | | having a decal, even though the clerk |
| new decals. They were even helpful enough to | | | | acknowledged that they had received her |
| give her the exact amount she would have to | | | | money. They just don't know where it is! |
| pay for the new permit; even telling her she | | | | |
| could just put it in the mail. | | | | After this was done, when she went back to |
| | | | the courthouse to get her new decal, she was |
| It's important to know that my mother-in-law | | | | told that she would now have to have a |
| is as deaf as a post unless her hearing aids | | | | another doctor's physical before she could be |
| are working properly. If they are working, | | | | issue a new handicap parking permit! |
| as often as not they emit a ultra high | | | | |
| frequency feed back, that drive all the dogs | | | | Evidently the 88 year old, white haired, |
| in the neighborhood nuts. Most of the time | | | | mostly deaf taxpayer had finally come to the |
| if she hears every 10th word, she's having a | | | | last straw. She reached across the counter, |
| good day. | | | | grabbed her application for handicap parking |
| | | | and told the clerk, "I just won't get another |
| One of the clerks was patient enough to write | | | | permit. It'll be easier to find another |
| down the address of the municipal building | | | | parking place at Wal Mart than to have to go |
| complex and the department she needed, along | | | | through all the red tape again! |