Parking Lot Justice

This afternoon, Q and I met for lunch...because when you have kids, lunch for two at a non-chain restaurant is the equivalent of a big date. Anyway, the place we chose is located in one of these large "power centers" that houses several stores, a movie theatre, and many restaurants.

There's also an American Express call center, a hospital, and several doctors' offices nearby. That makes this strip mall a popular destination for office workers on their lunch breaks. Today, in particular was busier than usual, and parking was scarce. Q and I had to park out in the back forty, and we did so without complaint.

In the restaurant, we were seated at a table with a lovely view of the parking lot. As we dined on Caesar salad and tomato basil pizza, we watched as drivers jockeyed for empty parking spaces, and waited for the highly-prized close ones to empty out. We also witnessed a few near head-on collisions.

Then about half way through the meal, we spotted an older gentleman taking pictures of some cars. We weren't sure what he was doing at first. I thought maybe he was getting ready to sell his car in the Auto Trader. But then I noticed a patch on the sleeve of his blue polo shirt. It was the same emblem worn by the Phoenix Police. Suddenly, it hit me: this man is looking for handicap parking violators!


And he had one, too: a newer model silver Toyota. Q and I watched as the man photographed the Toyota from all angles. Then he returned to his pick-up truck, came back, and took a few more pictures. He then produced what looked like a ticket book. Yep, someone's going to be getting a $250 fine! And you thought parking at airports and sporting events was expensive.

We were hoping to see the parking lot scofflaw materialize while we were still there. We would have loved to see look on the person's face when they found the ticket on their windshield. Ah, it's fun to witness karma in action.

But no. Our check came, we paid for lunch, and the Toyota was still there. Anyway, Q had to get back to work. So we left the restaurant and made the trek back to our cars.

In the meantime, the parking lot guy had moved on to his next mark--a Mercury with a garish pink glitter paint job and gold rims. Go get 'em, Mr. Handicap Parking Monitor Guy! Even if he's parked legally, bad taste is still a crime!