Monday, June 15, 2020

Monday, 6/15


I was walking down Third Street Saturday afternoon when I saw someone break the law.

It wasn't a big deal, and the only reason I bring it up is that I'm still trying to decide if I should've said something to the person violating the law. It wasn't a gross violation of any civic code, unless you consider illegal parking a gross violation of a civic code, but I'm still wondering if I should have brought it up.

I was walking down Third right by The Pasta Shoppe doing some recon work for my upcoming “Third Street: Day & Night” tour when I noticed a guy in a car pulling up to park. There were two empty parking spaces and a sign that said “No Parking Here To Corner” before you get to the corner of the street. Well, the guy in the car skipped over the two empty parking spaces, went passed the sign that said not to park anywhere else, and parked his car between the “No Parking Here To Corner” sign and the corner.

Clearly, he was illegally parked.

As he got out of his car, I thought about mentioning his illegal parking to him, if only to make sure that he didn't come back from wherever he went to find a ticket on his windshield. I know that if I was parked like that, I'd want someone to point out my mistake to me. After all, if given a choice between someone pointing out a mistake I made and me having to pay a fine, I'd take the mistake any day of the week.

So like I said, I was going to point out the mistake to him. The only thing is, he was getting out of the car with a woman. That in itself would've have stopped me from pointing out his mistake. But as he and the woman were getting out of the car they were having some rather pointed words with each other, and I got the feeling that they didn't want to me interrupted, especially by someone telling them they had done something wrong. They walked over to Stuckos, I continued down the street, and that was the last I saw of them.

Now, I have no idea why they were having pointed words with each other. I have no idea if, when they walked out of Stuckos, there was a parking ticket on their car. And I have no idea how a parking ticket would've impacted on upon the mood they were both in when they left the car. Like I said, I didn't want to interrupt that “mood” and make it worse by telling them they had made a mistake. But then, maybe if I had, I would've spared that “mood” from becoming even worse when they left the restaurant to find a parking ticket on their car.

See why I'm still wondering if I should've said something?

I really don't like getting involved with other people's business; after all, I enjoy my privacy as much as anyone else, and do appreciate it when others keep to themselves. But as I mentioned, I would like to know if I had done something that could lead to a ticket or some other bout of trouble, no matter what mood I was in. After all, even if you're bummed about something, you'll probably be even more bummed if you walk out to find a parking ticket on your car.

You know, people are always joking that they see me (and Loraine) walking everywhere, commenting about how we must get a lot of exercise that way. It's true; we do. But as you see, walking everyone can also bring up a situation or two you'd never get yourself into by staying off the sidewalk.

Ah, the things that happen on streets of Marquette, I tell ya!



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