I really want to swear...

...but I am controlling myself.

I got a parking violation. I was guilty. I'm more than willing to pay the $10 violation fee. What upsets me is that my payment is delinquent, my fine has been doubled, and I just found out about the violation TODAY.

Of coarse, I called the number. I explained that there was no ticket on my car. The customer service rep told me to hold, then came back and said sorry, but there was nothing they can do. Hmmm. Well, I called Parking Enforcement. They told me to call the customer service line again. I said I wanted to know who matched the badge number on my ticket. They told me to call back later because no one in the office has access to the computer. Seriously? I called customer service again. I asked to speak to a supervisor. There wasn't one there. Seriously? The customer service rep said that even though I didn't receive a ticket, I should have paid the fine when I got the first notice in the mail. Excuse me. The first notice. This isn't the first notice? Apparently not. Their "records show" that a preliminary notice was mailed out to my address on June 2. Never got it. Am I really supposed to believe that I am just unlucky enough to be the one person whose ticket blows away and whose first notice get lost in the mail? Sorry, but I don't. And it really upsets me that the only way to contest my ticket is to pay more than 5 times the cost of the ticket in court costs and probably the cost of the ticket and late fee as well, because what are the odds that I will see a judge before they come boot my car?

Maybe you don't understand why I am upset. Well, maybe you are a better person than me.

All I can do is pay the ticket and the fine, and call parking enforcement everyday until someone can tell me who wrote the ticket. I want a more sincere apology than, "Sorry, but you still have to pay the late fee because there's nothing you can do about it and we're on a big enough power trip to care that much about your ten dollars."