I totally accept it was my fault and that I will have to pay the “fine” but, it doesn’t stop me grumbling as I am rather upset with myself.
As a bit of background, I took my beautiful wife out last night (people still tell me I pulled well above my station even although we have been together for 25 years this year) as part of our monthly “date night” series (more on this in “What plays have you just seen” if you are bothered) attending “The Magistrate” at the Lighthouse in Wolverhampton.
Arriving in Wolverhampton, we parked in the car park across from the Arts Complex: our space was only two away from the ticket machine. After purchasing the parking ticket (and commenting how reasonable £2 to park was), I opened the car door for my beloved and after her exit, placed the ticket on the dashboard as I have done many hundreds of times. Closing the door against the snow, we made a fast exit into the warmth of the centre.
That was where my costly mistake was: I failed to check that the ticket was displayed correctly. You can guess the rest: a £25 fine for not “clearly displaying a ticket.” (It had fallen, face up, onto the passengers seat, I suppose when I closed the door).
So, the moral of the story is check the ticket is displayed correctly (although I could argue that it would be impossible to display it “inside the windscreen” but hey ho!). That way, you won’t have a miserable and grumpy end to what had been a really rather good night out!
