Last night
Eva and I went to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox beat the San Diego
Padres. Despite the $8.50 Budweiser’s we
had a wonderful time. The threat of rain held off and it was a perfecto summer
night of baseball at Fenway.
So you would
think at age 55 and having been taking advantage of numerous times that I would
learn the warning signs before it happens. Well…I’m not there yet. We drove in
to Boston looking to park in one of the lots around Fenway. There he was standing
in front of the Howard Johnson Inn on Boylston Street, rotating his right hand
like a softball pitcher and pointing into the parking lot. There was the official sign attached to the
fence which read: Parking for $45. I pulled up, rolled down my window and asked
how much? He said $40…little warning
bell number one went off in the back of my head (why $5 less?). I replied $40
in an “are you kidding me voice” and he replied smoothly, yes most of the other
lots will charge you $60. As I’m about to hand him the $40 I asked don’t I get
a parking pass for my window? He said no, no pass needed just pull into the right.
With little warning bell number two now ringing in my head I looked him square
in the eye and asked “Are you legit?” He firmly replied Yes, I work for this organization
pointing to Howard Johnson’s. Minus the uniform
he looked the part. At this very moment as
the warning bells in my head were getting louder I was also feeling the
pressure of blocking traffic on Boylston Street with the back end of my car and
pedestrians on the sidewalk with the front end. So I handed him the $40, the
bells now very loud in my head, but he stops the pedestrians on the sidewalk
and guides me in. As I’m driving down to
the back of the lot I’m looking at my side view mirror to see him walk across the sidewalk and disappear into the streets of Boston. I said Damn it Eva….we just got screwed. I was pissed at myself for not reading my gut
quick enough.
So now what?
Well we parked the car in the spot I paid for and walked to the Citizens Public House for a very tasty burger before the game. After the game we walked back to
the car expecting A) a boot on the wheel, B) it towed away, or C) a $200
ticket. The car was still there so option
B was dismissed. There was no boot on the wheel so option A was dismissed but
there was something sticking in behind the wiper blade. It seemed like option C
was going to be the answer but when we pulled out the paper from behind the
blade it was only a warning notice from Howard Johnson’s saying the lot was for
Authorized Guests Only and that all violators will be towed at their own
expense. The baseball gods were with
us. We didn’t get towed or ticketed and
even saved $5 on the price of parking.
Another lesson learned. Can I be
done now? Let’s Go Red Sox.
