Polska Brain Jelly

… and I won!

Well, sort of.

By “law” I mean “Parking Rules and Regulations,” and by “I won” I mean “Found Not In Violation.”

Basically I parked my motorcycle on a patch of curb about four feet long.  This curb is painted brown (which denotes commuter parking) but the white line that was placed was four feet from the end for some unknown reason, so where I was parked was outside of that white line.

I’ve parked in this spot for about the last year and a half.  It’s convenient while being out of the way.  I don’t block traffic (pedestrian or vehicular) and it allows the three marked parking spaces in front to be filled with cars.

I come back after class one day to see a ticket attached to my motorcycle.

Yay!  As if I didn’t have enough to do.  I take pictures of the parked motorcycle and proceed to the campus police station.

Anyway, I pay the fine, which is required before you get to appeal.  Then I grab an appeal form and take it to file.

Fortunately, that same day the appeals panel was meeting.  Put my name on the list and come back later that day to state my case.

It was a quick and painless process.  A panel of three campus representatives (one student, one faculty and one staff) hear your argument and ask questions.  My argument was simple: I was parked in an area marked for commuter parking, my permit was valid and there is nothing in the published parking regulations that state that I have to be within a white line.

The panel found in my favor, but stated that in the future I need to be within a white line.

So I get my $35 back, which is a win.  However, I get to watch that four foot area of perfectly good parking go to waste.