You’re Chalk And They’re Cheese(d Off)

(I work as a parking enforcement officer for a police department while I’m attending college. One of my duties is to enforce the three-hour time requirement in a parking lot. As my partner and I are marking tires with chalk, a lady pulls in and parks her car, but instead of going to shop, she stands there and watches us. When my partner marks her tire, she leaps in her car and drives to a different spot, causing the mark to be erased. She sits in her car and flips us off and waits until we leave. Before we go though, we snap a cellphone picture of her car parked in the marked spot, making sure to catch the spot number and the license plate. Three and a half hours later, we return and ticket her car as well as several others. As we’re leaving, the lady comes rushing out, furious.)

Lady: “Excuse me! Why was I given a ticket?”

Partner: “This is a three-hour lot, ma’am, and you’ve been parked here for nearly four.”

Lady: “No, no, no! I moved my car when I was on my lunch. I work at [Store nearby].”

Me: “Do you have a local work permit exempting you from the three-hour rule?”

(The city gives these out for free as long as the worker can prove employment.)

Lady: “No! Why would I get one of those? You guys should just know that I work here and not ticket me!”

Partner: “I’m sorry, but we have no way of knowing that without the permit.”

Lady: “You need to take the ticket back; there’s no chalk mark.”

Partner: “Oh, no, we didn’t chalk your tire. We took a picture of your car parked in that exact spot at [time she parked].”

Lady: “Oh, really? What spot was I in and what’s my plate, then?”

Partner: “[Spot number] and [plate number].”

Lady: “F*** you both! You guys aren’t supposed to catch on to me. I specifically waited for you guys to chalk my tire so I could park here all day!” *storms off, mad*

(My partner and I shrugged at each other and moved on.)