every time

i see a parking meter

i think back

to my days

in grad school

it was a frenzied time

driving

everywhere

running

to classes

day and night

not sleeping much

running

to substitute teach

running

to student teach

running

to cater

running

to family events

running

to drive my daughter

back to college

ironically

we were university rivals

running

to interviews

and all that jazz

and

no money

and

no time

and so

parking

was not

on the radar

i was

always looking for a spot

close to class

in a hurry

playing the odds

parking

with construction crews

or

at almost expired meters

or

halfway in and halfway out

of legal street spots

and

tickets were piling up

until

one day

i came out

in between classes

and

my car was gone

  i called the police

they said they had it

but

 i had to

pay off all of my tickets

plus the new one

they had given me

before they towed it

to get it back

they had reached

their tipping point

i walked to the station

and got in line

with about 200 thousand or so

other students

paying off tickets

i waited patiently

i planned

when it was my turn

to tell them

that

i was a single mother

 working 2 jobs

 going to school

trying to balance everything

with no money

and

that i was doing all this

to follow my dream

and i hoped

they would grant me

compassionate dreamer’s amnesty

and call it even

but instead

they said

we’ll need 450$

cash or certified check

which seemed like a fortune

and so

 i called my daughters

to come to the station

and

pick me up

and

take me

to ransom

my car back

and

this meant

ramen noodles

would be back too

and

my amnesty bubble was popped

but my dream was still intact

===

i was complimented on my driving today.

someone left a note on my windshield that said, ‘parking fine’

– author unknown

–

image credits: annarbor.com, neatorama.com, wsj.com